400-BKFC Dell 3.2TB NVMe Mix Use U.2 Gen4 2.5in Drive.

Product Specifications of Dell 3.2TB Enterprise NVMe SSD

General Information

• Manufacturer: Dell
• Dell Part Number: 400-BKFC

Technical Details

• Storage Capacity: 3.2TB (3200GB)
• Interface: PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express)
• Form Factor: 2.5-inch Small Form Factor (SFF)
• Drive Technology: Solid State Drive (SSD)
• Enclosure: Internal
• Endurance Class: Mixed Use

Performance and Endurance

• Endurance Type: Designed for mixed-use environments, balancing read and write operations.
• Protocol: High-speed PCIe Gen 4 interface ensures faster data transfer rates.

Compatibility with Dell PowerEdge Servers

• Compatible Models:
  • PowerEdge C6420
  • PowerEdge C6525
  • PowerEdge C6620
  • PowerEdge R440
  • PowerEdge R640
  • PowerEdge R6415
  • PowerEdge R6515
  • PowerEdge R6525
  • PowerEdge R660
  • PowerEdge R660xs
  • PowerEdge R6615
  • PowerEdge R6625
  • PowerEdge R670
  • PowerEdge R740xd
  • PowerEdge R7415
  • PowerEdge R7425
  • PowerEdge R7515
  • PowerEdge R7525
  • PowerEdge R760
  • PowerEdge R760xa
  • PowerEdge R7625
  • PowerEdge R770
  • PowerEdge R840
  • PowerEdge R940
  • PowerEdge R940xa
  • PowerEdge R960
  • PowerEdge T560
  • PowerEdge Xe9640
  • PowerEdge Xe9680
  • PowerEdge XR7620

Advanced Features and Benefits

• Enterprise-Class Reliability: Built for enterprise workloads, ensuring high durability and data integrity.
• U.2 Gen4 Interface: Provides an advanced interface for faster, more efficient data handling in large-scale environments.

Why Choose This Drive?

• Perfect for mission-critical applications requiring high performance and reliability.
• Optimized for mixed-use scenarios, offering a balance between write-intensive and read-heavy operations.

Designed for the Future

• The Dell 3.2TB Enterprise NVMe SSD is tailored for demanding enterprise environments and is ideal for servers running heavy databases, virtualization, or complex data analysis.

Dell 400-BKFC 3.2TB NVMe Mix Use U.2 Gen4 2.5in Drive 

The Dell 400-BKFC 3.2TB NVMe Mix Use U.2 Gen4 2.5in Drive is a cutting-edge storage solution designed to meet the demands of modern data centers, enterprise applications, and performance-driven environments. With its 3.2TB capacity, this NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) drive is engineered for mixed-use applications, offering an optimal balance between read and write performance.

This 2.5-inch U.2 Gen4 SSD delivers a higher data transfer rate compared to traditional SATA or SAS drives, ensuring faster boot times, quick access to frequently used data, and enhanced overall system performance. Its NVMe architecture takes full advantage of PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) Gen4, providing lower latency and faster I/O (Input/Output) operations. This makes it ideal for enterprise workloads that require high-speed data access, such as databases, virtualization, and high-performance computing.

High-Speed Performance with NVMe Technology

The Dell 400-BKFC NVMe drive leverages the advanced NVMe protocol, which was specifically developed to capitalize on the low-latency and high-throughput capabilities of PCIe storage devices. This drive can deliver sequential read speeds up to 7,000 MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 3,500 MB/s, significantly outperforming traditional SSDs that rely on SATA or SAS interfaces.

In terms of random read and write performance, the Dell 400-BKFC can handle over 1,000,000 IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second), making it an excellent choice for data-intensive applications that involve frequent access to large datasets. Whether used for mission-critical enterprise tasks or high-availability cloud services, this drive ensures data is retrieved and written with minimal delay, improving operational efficiency.

PCIe Gen4 vs Gen3: The Generation Gap

One of the standout features of the Dell 400-BKFC drive is its support for PCIe Gen4, which offers twice the bandwidth of the previous generation, PCIe Gen3. While PCIe Gen3 provides a maximum throughput of around 32 GB/s, PCIe Gen4 doubles that to 64 GB/s, making it a vital component for systems that require extremely high data transfer rates. This boost in bandwidth allows the drive to handle more data concurrently, providing enhanced scalability for expanding workloads.

The adoption of PCIe Gen4 is particularly beneficial for applications such as virtualization, where numerous virtual machines (VMs) are competing for storage resources. With the Dell 400-BKFC drive, organizations can ensure their infrastructure is future-proof, accommodating not only today’s workloads but also the increased demands of tomorrow’s data-driven applications.

Benefits of NVMe in Enterprise Environments

In enterprise environments, the benefits of NVMe technology, and specifically the Dell 400-BKFC drive, are numerous:

• Reduced Latency: NVMe drives minimize the latency caused by traditional storage protocols, improving overall system responsiveness.
• Scalability: PCIe Gen4 ensures that the Dell 400-BKFC drive can scale to meet future performance requirements without being bottlenecked by slower interfaces.
• Reliability: With enterprise-grade endurance and error correction features, this drive can handle mixed workloads without sacrificing reliability or data integrity.
• Energy Efficiency: Designed with low power consumption in mind, the drive contributes to reducing the operational costs associated with high-performance data centers.

Advanced Data Integrity and Security Features

In today’s digital landscape, data integrity and security are critical concerns for organizations of all sizes. The Dell 400-BKFC 3.2TB NVMe drive includes several advanced features to ensure the security and reliability of stored data. These features not only safeguard sensitive information but also enhance the longevity and performance of the drive in mission-critical applications.

End-to-End Data Protection

To maintain data integrity from the point of storage to retrieval, the Dell 400-BKFC is equipped with end-to-end data protection. This feature ensures that data is accurately transmitted across the entire path from the host system to the drive and back. It verifies the integrity of data blocks during transfer, reducing the likelihood of data corruption due to transmission errors.

This functionality is particularly useful in enterprise environments where large volumes of data are constantly being processed and accessed. Whether running high-transactional databases, online transaction processing (OLTP), or other data-heavy applications, end-to-end protection ensures that all data remains accurate and unaltered during transit, which is critical for maintaining operational continuity and business efficiency.

Power Loss Protection

The power loss protection feature built into the Dell 400-BKFC drive is designed to prevent data loss in the event of an unexpected power outage. During a sudden loss of power, the drive uses on-board capacitors to temporarily store enough energy to complete any pending write operations, ensuring that no data is lost. This is crucial for environments where uptime and data integrity are paramount, such as in financial institutions, healthcare systems, and government agencies.

Additionally, this feature can help prevent file corruption and reduce downtime caused by incomplete transactions, which is essential for businesses that rely on continuous data availability.

Encryption and Data Security

Data security is a top priority for businesses handling sensitive information, and the Dell 400-BKFC NVMe drive comes equipped with built-in encryption capabilities to protect data at rest. Using hardware-based 256-bit AES encryption, this drive ensures that even if it is removed from the system, the data stored on it remains inaccessible to unauthorized users.

This encryption is transparent to the end-user and does not impact the drive’s performance, providing a seamless experience while adhering to strict security protocols. Organizations can further enhance their data security strategy by implementing additional software-based encryption measures on top of the hardware encryption provided by the drive.

Optimized for Mixed-Use Workloads

The Dell 400-BKFC 3.2TB NVMe drive is classified as a mix-use SSD, which means it is optimized for applications that require a balance between read and write operations. These workloads are common in environments that need to handle both high-transactional activities and frequent data retrieval.

Understanding Mixed-Use Performance

Mixed-use workloads are characterized by their need for simultaneous read and write operations. Common applications include database management, e-commerce platforms, and virtualized environments where data is continuously read, modified, and rewritten. The Dell 400-BKFC NVMe drive is tailored for these scenarios, delivering consistent performance under mixed loads without compromising on endurance or speed.

With a write endurance of up to 3.8 DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day), the Dell 400-BKFC can reliably handle heavy write operations over an extended period, making it ideal for 24/7 data center operations. The combination of high endurance and balanced performance means that this drive can be used for both read-intensive and write-intensive tasks, offering flexibility for a variety of use cases.

Enhanced Reliability for Critical Applications

Reliability is one of the most critical factors when selecting a drive for enterprise environments, and the Dell 400-BKFC excels in this area. With advanced wear-leveling algorithms and enterprise-grade NAND technology, this drive ensures a long operational lifespan even under continuous heavy use. This makes it particularly suitable for industries such as healthcare, finance, and cloud services, where system failures and downtime are not an option.

The drive also features S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) capabilities, allowing administrators to proactively monitor the health and performance of the drive. By detecting potential issues before they lead to failure, S.M.A.R.T. helps to minimize unplanned downtime and extends the overall lifespan of the storage system.

Use Cases for Mixed-Use NVMe Drives

Some of the common use cases where the Dell 400-BKFC 3.2TB NVMe drive excels include:

• Database Management Systems (DBMS): Handling frequent read/write operations for transactional databases, ensuring quick access to large datasets.
• Virtualization: Supporting virtualized environments where multiple VMs need high-speed storage to run smoothly.
• Enterprise Applications: Delivering consistent performance for enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) applications.
• Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Ensuring fast and reliable content delivery, especially for media-rich applications and websites.

Form Factor and Compatibility

The 2.5-inch U.2 form factor of the Dell 400-BKFC 3.2TB NVMe drive ensures that it can be easily integrated into a wide range of server and storage configurations. This form factor is popular in enterprise environments due to its compact size and ability to support high-density storage solutions.

Hot-Swap Capabilities

The U.2 interface of the Dell 400-BKFC drive allows for hot-swapping, meaning the drive can be added or removed from a system without needing to shut down the server. This feature is essential in environments where uptime is critical, as it allows administrators to replace or upgrade drives with minimal disruption to operations.

Compatibility with Dell PowerEdge Servers

The Dell 400-BKFC drive is fully compatible with Dell PowerEdge servers, ensuring seamless integration with existing Dell infrastructure. Dell PowerEdge servers are known for their robust performance and scalability, and the addition of NVMe storage enhances their ability to handle demanding workloads.

By utilizing the Dell 400-BKFC NVMe drive, businesses can take full advantage of the enhanced data transfer speeds and lower latency provided by PCIe Gen4, ensuring that their server infrastructure can keep up with the demands of modern enterprise applications.

Industry Standards and Certification

This NVMe drive adheres to industry standards for data storage devices, ensuring compatibility not only with Dell hardware but also with other servers and systems that support U.2 NVMe interfaces. Additionally, it has undergone rigorous testing and certification processes, including Dell’s own stringent quality control standards, ensuring it meets the reliability and performance expectations of enterprise customers.

Whether used as primary storage or as part of a larger hybrid storage solution, the Dell 400-BKFC drive provides the flexibility and reliability needed to support a wide range of workloads in modern data centers.

Conclusion

In summary, the Dell 400-BKFC 3.2TB NVMe Mix Use U.2 Gen4 2.5in Drive offers a powerful combination of performance, reliability, and security, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking to enhance their storage capabilities. With its high-speed data transfer rates, advanced data protection features, and compatibility with Dell PowerEdge servers, this drive is well-suited for a variety of enterprise applications, from virtualization to database management.

Its support for PCIe Gen4 ensures that organizations can future-proof their storage infrastructure, while its mix-use classification provides the flexibility to handle both read- and write-intensive workloads. For businesses seeking to optimize their data center operations, the Dell 400-BKFC drive delivers the performance and reliability necessary to meet the demands of today’s data-driven world.