Storage bridges have grow to be an ubiquitous a part of at this time’s computing ecosystems. The bridges could also be exterior or inside, with the previous ones enabling a spread of direct-attached storage (DAS) models. These could vary from thumb drives utilizing an UFD controller to full-blown RAID towers carrying Infiniband and Thunderbolt hyperlinks. From a bus-powered DAS viewpoint, Thunderbolt has been restricted to premium gadgets, however the variants of USB 3.2 have emerged as mass-market high-performance options. USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 allows the very best efficiency class (as much as 20 Gbps) in USB gadgets with out resorting to PCIe tunneling.
The final couple of years have seen many distributors introduce new merchandise on this 20 Gbps-performance class – together with transportable SSDs and M.2 NVMe SSD enclosures. Host assist has additionally began to lookup. The important thing challenges for enclosures and transportable SSDs supporting USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 embody dealing with energy consumption and managing thermals. We have now been analyzing these elements (along with common efficiency numbers) in our critiques of the 20Gbps-performance class PSSDs and enclosures. The evaluate under presents our analysis report of Akasa’s AK-ENU3M2-07 – a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 enclosure for M.2 NVMe SSDs.
Introduction and Product Impressions
SSD speeds and storage capability have improved considerably within the final decade, because of speedy developments in flash know-how in addition to high-speed interfaces / protocols. Ranging from 2.5-inch disk drives barely in a position to saturate the SATA III (6 Gbps) interface within the early 2010s, we now have gumstick- and palm-sized drives with PCIe 4.0 assist able to sustaining greater than 7000 MBps (56 Gbps).
These SSDs have additionally shaped the bottom platform for transportable SSDs. Historically, such drives have fallen into one of many six classes under, relying on the efficiency profile and inside parts. Lately, we have now seen direct flash-to-USB controllers throughout all however the highest efficiency tier listed right here.
- 2.5GBps+ class: Thunderbolt SSDs with PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe drives
- 2GBps+ class: USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 SSDs with PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe drives
- 1GBps+ class: USB 3.2 Gen 2 SSDs with PCIe 3.0 (x4 or x2) NVMe drives
- 500MBps+ class: USB 3.2 Gen 2 SSDs with SATA drives
- 400MBps+ class: USB 3.2 Gen 1 SSDs with SATA drives
- Sub-400MBps+ class: USB 3.2 Gen 1 flash drives with direct flash-to-USB controllers
Along with transportable SSDs, this kind of segmentation can be relevant to storage enclosures. For the reason that mid-2010s, we have now seen a daily stream of SSD enclosures hit the market, catering to 2.5″, mSATA, and M.2 form-factors.
Akasa is a widely known producer of thermal options for computing techniques focusing on industrial purposes in addition to dwelling customers. They’ve been sustaining a lineup of storage bridge merchandise catering to totally different market segments since 2013. We reviewed a bunch of their M.2 SATA and NVMe enclosures final 12 months, and got here away impressed with their complete lineup addressing totally different necessities. This evaluate seems to be on the AK-ENU3M2-07, an aluminum enclosure sporting a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 20Gbps Kind-C upstream interface and a M.2 2230/42/60/80 NVMe downstream port internally.
There are at present two transport gadget options for USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 – the Silicon Movement SM2320 utilized in transportable SSDs just like the Kingston XS2000 is a local UFD controller, whereas the ASMedia ASM2364 is a bridge answer extra appropriate to be used in enclosures. The AK-ENU3M2-07 makes use of the latter. The enclosure itself is product of stable aluminum with ridges to help in warmth dissipation. It comes with a single Kind-C to Kind-C cable rated for 20Gbps operation. A single thermal hole filler is provided within the bundle together with a carrying pouch and a person handbook.
One of many engaging elements of the AK-ENU3M2-07 is its tool-free nature. Accessing the inner board for SSD set up is an easy matter of loosening up the 2 screws on both aspect of the Kind-C port. They’re sufficiently big to unscrew with out the usage of any instruments. This permits the underside panel to be slid out. The board itself is affixed to this panel, and does not should be taken out for any function. A plastic tab to carry the M.2 SSD in place is affixed to the 2280 gap by default. Rotating this tab alongside the notch permits the SSD to be positioned in and locked in place. With out the SSD within the image, additional rotation to make the longer arm of the tab parallel to the rear panel permits it to be utterly taken out (and affixed to one of many different holes similar to 30mm, 40mm, or 60mm SSD lengths). After the set up of the SSD, the thermal hole filler may be positioned on prime. The gallery under supplies footage of the enclosure in addition to the SSD set up steps.
We consider M.2 NVMe storage enclosures utilizing the SK hynix Gold P31 1TB NVMe SSD. Since this SSD is utilized in all of the related critiques, it makes for an apples-to-apples comparability throughout totally different merchandise.
The desk under presents a comparative view of the specs of the totally different storage bridges and PSSDs offered on this evaluate.
| Comparative Storage Bridges Configuration | ||
| Facet | ||
| Downstream Port | 1x PCIe 3.0 x4 (M.2 NVMe) | 1x PCIe 3.0 x4 (M.2 NVMe) |
| Upstream Port | USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Kind-C | USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Kind-C |
| Bridge Chip | ASMedia ASM2364 | ASMedia ASM2364 |
| Energy | Bus Powered | Bus Powered |
| Use Case | Instrument-free M.2 2230 / 2242 / 2260 / 2280 NVMe SSD enclosure DIY 2GBps-class, compact, and durable transportable SSD with a gumstick form-factor |
M.2 2230 / 2242 / 2260 / 2280 NVMe SSD enclosure DIY 2GBps-class, compact, and durable transportable SSD with a USB flash drive-like form-factor |
| Bodily Dimensions | 122 mm x 46 mm x 15 mm | 105 mm x 40 mm x 12 mm |
| Weight | 112 grams (with out cable / SSD / thermal pad) | 60 grams (with out cable / SSD ; with thermal pads) |
| Cable | 29 cm USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Kind-C to Kind-C | 16 cm USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Kind-C to Kind-C 16 cmd USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-C to Kind-A |
| S.M.A.R.T Passthrough | Sure | Sure |
| UASP Assist | Sure | Sure |
| TRIM Passthrough | Sure | Sure |
| {Hardware} Encryption | SSD-dependent | SSD-dependent |
| Evaluated Storage | SK hynix P31 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD SK hynix 128L 3D TLC |
SK hynix P31 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD SK hynix 128L 3D TLC |
| Worth | GBP 69 | USD 139 |
| Assessment Hyperlink | Akasa AK-ENU3M2-07 Assessment | Yottamaster HC2-C3 Assessment |
The important thing side that stands out is how heavy the AK-ENU3M2-07 is, in comparison with different enclosures utilizing the identical bridge chip. Whereas the Akasa enclosure is 112g, the Silverstone MS12 is simply 53g, and the Yottamaster HC2 is 60g. This provides the enclosure the next thermal mass to chill down the SSD inside, and will probably end in higher thermal efficiency. Previous to wanting on the benchmark numbers, energy consumption, and thermal answer effectiveness, an outline of the testbed setup and analysis methodology is offered.
Testbed Setup and Analysis Methodology
Direct-attached storage gadgets are evaluated utilizing the Quartz Canyon NUC (basically, the Xeon / ECC model of the Ghost Canyon NUC) configured with 2x 16GB DDR4-2667 ECC SODIMMs and a PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD – the IM2P33E8 1TB from ADATA.
Probably the most engaging side of the Quartz Canyon NUC is the presence of two PCIe slots (electrically, x16 and x4) for add-in playing cards. Within the absence of a discrete GPU – for which there isn’t a want in a DAS testbed – each slots can be found. The truth is, we additionally added a spare SanDisk Excessive PRO M.2 NVMe SSD to the CPU direct-attached M.2 22110 slot within the baseboard with a view to keep away from DMI bottlenecks when evaluating Thunderbolt 3 gadgets. This nonetheless permits for 2 add-in playing cards working at x8 (x16 electrical) and x4 (x4 electrical). For the reason that Quartz Canyon NUC does not have a local USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port, Silverstone’s SST-ECU06 add-in card was put in within the x4 slot. All non-Thunderbolt gadgets are examined utilizing the Kind-C port enabled by the SST-ECU06.
The specs of the testbed are summarized within the desk under:
| The 2021 AnandTech DAS Testbed Configuration | |
| System | Intel Quartz Canyon NUC9vXQNX |
| CPU | Intel Xeon E-2286M |
| Reminiscence | ADATA Industrial AD4B3200716G22 32 GB (2x 16GB) DDR4-3200 ECC @ 22-22-22-52 |
| OS Drive | ADATA Industrial IM2P33E8 NVMe 1TB |
| Secondary Drive | SanDisk Excessive PRO M.2 NVMe 3D SSD 1TB |
| Add-on Card | SilverStone Tek SST-ECU06 USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Kind-C Host |
| OS | Home windows 10 Enterprise x64 (21H1) |
| Because of ADATA, Intel, and SilverStone Tek for the construct parts | |
The testbed {hardware} is just one section of the analysis. Over the previous few years, the everyday direct-attached storage workloads for reminiscence playing cards have additionally developed. Excessive bit-rate 4K movies at 60fps have grow to be fairly widespread, and 8K movies are beginning to make an look. Sport set up sizes have additionally grown steadily even in transportable recreation consoles, because of excessive decision textures and art work. Holding these in thoughts, our analysis scheme for direct-attached storage gadgets entails a number of workloads that are described intimately within the corresponding sections.
- Artificial workloads utilizing CrystalDiskMark and ATTO
- Actual-world entry traces utilizing PCMark 10’s storage benchmark
- Customized robocopy workloads reflective of typical DAS utilization
- Sequential write stress check
Within the subsequent part, we have now an outline of the efficiency of the Akasa AK-ENU3M2-07 enclosure in these benchmarks. Previous to offering concluding remarks, we have now some observations on the gadget’s energy consumption numbers and thermal answer additionally.
