Samsung PM9A3 Datasheet: U.2 Part Numbers, M.2 Figures, Endurance and UK Prices

Samsung PM9A3 datasheet: U.2 part numbers by capacity

Samsung's PM9A3 data sheet, Revision 1.0 of August 2022, covers one form factor: the 2.5-inch U.2 drive, 7 mm thick, for data centre and server use. It lists four sizes, each with a model name and a part number. Check a listing against either string, and treat the capacity in a title as the seller's wording until the part number agrees.

All four part numbers end -00W07 on this sheet. We have not found a Samsung document that decodes that suffix or lists others, so a number with a different ending is outside this grid and should not inherit its figures.

• Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4 with NVMe 1.4.
• NAND: Samsung V-NAND TLC on the data sheet. The brief calls it V6, 128 layer.
• Controller: Samsung in-house on the data sheet. The white paper names it Elpis, with 8 channels.
• Dimensions: 100.20 x 69.85 x 7.0 mm.
• Sector sizes: 512 and 4096 bytes, from the brief.
• Uncorrectable bit error rate: 1 sector per 10^17 bits read, from the brief.
• MTBF: 2.0 million hours.
• Temperature: 0°C to 70°C operating and -40°C to 85°C non-operating, with humidity of 5% to 95% non-condensing.

Samsung PM9A3 NVMe speed and power: 960GB, 1.92TB, 3.84TB, 7.68TB

These are the data sheet's 'up to' figures for the U.2 drive. Samsung's measurement note cites FIO 2.7 on CentOS 7 at a queue depth of 32, across the full drive in a sustained state, and says actual performance varies with use conditions. Active read power is measured on 4 KB random read and active write power on 4 KB random write.

Sequential reads barely move with size: 6,500 MB/s at 960GB and 6,900 MB/s at 3.84TB. Sequential writes do move, from 1,500 MB/s to 4,100 MB/s across the same span, about 2.7 times on our arithmetic. The largest drive is not the fastest on every row either: 7.68TB leads on random read and write, whereas 3.84TB holds the top sequential figures.

• Samsung PM9A3 960GB: the one size where active write, at 8.0 W, draws less than active read, at 9.5 W. On the other three sizes write draws more.
• Samsung PM9A3 1.92TB: 2,700 MB/s sequential write and 3,504 TB of warranty TBW. Its random read is a figure Samsung's documents disagree on, as set out further down.
• Samsung PM9A3 3.84TB: the data sheet's top sequential figures, 6,900 MB/s read and 4,100 MB/s write.
• Samsung PM9A3 7.68TB: the top of the data sheet, with 1,100 KIOPS random read, 200 KIOPS random write and 14,016 TB of warranty TBW.

Samsung's white paper also covers older hosts. It says the drive offers superior write speeds when paired with PCIe Gen3 servers and quotes a sequential write of 3,500MB/s, a random read of 800,000 IOPS and a random write of 200,000 IOPS. That sentence names no capacity, so read it as a maker's statement and not a per-model rating.

Samsung PM9A3 M.2: white paper figures, no part numbers

The 2022 data sheet stops at U.2, so the M.2 figures here come from Samsung's white paper, whose table runs M.2 at 3.84TB, 1.92TB and 960GB. The module is 22 x 110 mm, and the brief gives it 4 mm of thickness. We have not found a Samsung document with an M.2 part number, so any M.2 listing needs its number checked with the seller.

At the same 3.84TB, M.2 sequential and random write both come in just under half the U.2 figure on our arithmetic, with lower active and idle power. The smaller M.2 models list 5,500 MB/s read, 2,000 MB/s write, 800 and 85 KIOPS and 8/8.2 W at 1.92TB, then 5,000 MB/s, 1,400 MB/s, 550 and 60 KIOPS and 7.5/6.5 W at 960GB. There is one small conflict here: the brief caps M.2 power at 8 W for read and write, whereas the white paper prints 8.2 W at 3.84TB, and 8.2 W write at 1.92TB.

Samsung's form-factor table gives M.2 an 8.25W maximum and marks it as neither hot-swap nor dual-port. Check that your host has a slot that takes a 110 mm module. We hold no list of boards or servers for this drive.

Samsung PM9A3 endurance: 1 DWPD, TBW and the warranty

Samsung's brief states 1.0 DWPD (Drive Writes per Day) for 5 years, and the white paper prints the same thing as 1 at 5 years. The data sheet expresses endurance differently: a TBW (Total Bytes Written) figure per capacity over a 5 year limited warranty, with coverage for the stated period or the TBW, whichever comes first.

The two agree on our arithmetic. Each TBW figure divided by its capacity gives 1,825 full-drive writes, which is one a day for 5 years of 365 days. At 3.84TB that means 3.84 TB a day and 7,008 TB in total. A server writing more than that reaches the TBW limit before the 5 years are up, and on Samsung's wording the coverage ends there.

That wording is a statement about the product. The data sheet refers to a detailed warranty statement at samsung.com/samsungssd. We have not found a Samsung document stating how the warranty applies to a drive sold as OEM, pulled or bulk, so ask the seller who stands behind a PM9A3 before you buy, and check the condition shown on any row.

Samsung PM9A3 power loss protection, encryption and management

Samsung's brief says the PM9A3 includes enterprise power loss protection (PLP). On an unexpected power loss, the drive uses energy stored in its PLP capacitors to move cached data from DRAM to flash. We found that statement in the brief and not on the data sheet, and the brief marks its data as provisional and subject to change.

The data sheet lists AES 256-bit full disk encryption, TCG/Opal V2.0 and IEEE1667 encrypted drive support. The brief adds secure boot, which verifies each firmware image's RSA 3072 digital signature, and out-of-band management through NVMe Basic Management Command over SMBus. The white paper says the drive adheres to the Open Compute Project's NVMe Cloud SSD Specification. These are the maker's descriptions, and this page has no test of them.

Where Samsung's PM9A3 documents disagree

The three Samsung documents do not match on every line, and we print the differences. The data sheet's revision history dates it August 2022. The white paper carries a 2021 copyright. We found no date on the brief, which marks its data provisional. That order is why the per-capacity tables above use the data sheet.

We could not separate the brief's form-factor blocks cleanly. We read its 6,800 and 4,000 MB/s as the U.2 figures because the other values on those rows, 5,500 and 2,000 MB/s, match the white paper's M.2 figures.

The test set-ups differ: FIO 2.7 on CentOS 7 for the data sheet, fio 3.3 on CentOS 7.6 for the white paper. We cannot say whether that explains 850 against 740 KIOPS. If a random read figure at 1.92TB matters to your sizing, get it confirmed in writing by your supplier for the exact part number.

The 15.36TB model is the gap to note. The white paper's performance table stops at 7.68TB and prints no 15.36TB column, and we have not found a 15.36TB part number or a Samsung document giving its speed or TBW. A listing described as a 15.36TB PM9A3 cannot be checked against anything on this page.

Samsung PM9A3 U.2, E1.S or M.2: the form factors explained

Samsung's white paper defines a form factor as the size and physical configuration of a device, and counts five for this generation: U.2, U.3, M.2, E1.S and E1.L. So the first question is which bay or slot your host has, and the second is which capacity that form factor reaches.

The last three rows describe the form factor and not this drive. We have not found a Samsung document stating that the PM9A3 itself runs dual-port. The brief's three form-factor blocks run together in the copy we read, so we tell them apart by their dimensions.

A white paper co-authored by Kioxia, Meta and Microsoft gives E1.S as 33.75 mm wide and 118.75 mm long, a touch wider than the 33.6 mm in Samsung's documents. It also says the 22 mm width of M.2 limits flash placement and so high capacities, which fits the PM9A3's lower M.2 ceiling of 3.84TB. SNIA's 2022 slides describe the 2.5-inch device evolving into PCI Express U.2, and list hot-plug support among EDSFF features.

A footnote in Samsung's white paper says E1.S, E1.L and U.3 perform similarly to U.2 and go to contracted and selected OEM companies, and that Samsung 'will not provide detail numbers'. We have not found a Samsung document with part numbers for the M.2, E1.S, E1.L or U.3 versions. The four -00W07 numbers above are the only PM9A3 part numbers this page can vouch for.

Samsung PM9A3 price on Amazon.co.uk

When the table holds rows, "Prices checked" at the top of the page gives the time of reading. Prices are pounds sterling inc VAT, sorted per TB, and each row shows its condition. The table holds 1 listing right now. That includes 1 listing in new condition. By form factor: U.2, 1 listing; M.2, no listings.

Titles are the seller's wording. Settle capacity and form factor from the part number and the grids above, and if a listing gives no part number, ask for it before you press Buy on Amazon. The per-TB sort can mix sizes and form factors, so narrow to what your host takes before comparing rows. For the choice of interface before the model, enterprise SSD covers SATA, SAS and NVMe.

In-stock alternatives

None of these is the product this page covers: they are what is in stock on Amazon.co.uk beside it right now. Each row says why it is listed. Check the interface, form factor and part number against your system before buying.