400-BKGN Dell NVMe 1.92TB PCIe Gen4 U.2 2.5Inch Read Intensive Poweredge 14g, 15g, 16g And 17g Server SSD.

Dell 400-BKGN NVMe Storage 

The Dell 400-BKGN represents a significant leap forward in enterprise storage technology, specifically engineered to meet the rigorous demands of modern server environments. This 1.92TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 U.2 SSD is not merely a storage device; it is a cornerstone for building highly responsive, efficient, and scalable data infrastructure. Designed with a read-intensive workload profile in mind, it delivers exceptional performance for applications where fast data access and low latency are paramount. Its native compatibility across four generations of Dell PowerEdge servers (14G, 15G, 16G, and 17G) ensures a future-proof investment, providing a seamless upgrade path and reducing total cost of ownership.

The 400-BKGN Model Designation

Understanding the Dell part number 400-BKGN provides immediate insight into the drive's key characteristics and intended use case. This nomenclature is part of Dell's logical and structured naming convention for its enterprise components.

1.92TB Capacity: The Sweet Spot for Enterprise Workloads

The 1.92TB capacity point is strategically chosen for enterprise environments. It offers substantial space for operating systems, applications, and active datasets without the premium cost associated with higher-capacity drives.

U.2 (2.5-Inch) Form Factor: The Standard for Hot-Swap Servers

The U.2 form factor (formerly SFF-8639) is a 2.5-inch drive specification that has become the industry standard for hot-swappable enterprise NVMe storage.

Target Workloads and Ideal Use Cases

The performance profile of the 400-BKGN makes it exceptionally well-suited for a wide range of read-heavy enterprise applications.

Boot Drives for Hypervisors and Operating Systems

Using the 400-BKGN as a boot device for hypervisors like VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, or Proxmox VE ensures that the host system itself is incredibly responsive. Quick boot times, fast patching, and snappy management interface responsiveness are direct benefits. It also serves as an excellent primary OS drive for high-performance servers.

Database Servers (Read Replicas, Reporting, Data Warehousing)

In database environments, the drive excels as storage for read replicas, which offload query processing from the primary database server. It also dramatically accelerates performance for business intelligence (BI) reporting, online analytical processing (OLAP), and data warehousing applications where large datasets are scanned and aggregated.

High-Performance Computing (HPC) and AI/ML Data Lakes

In HPC and AI/ML workflows, researchers and data scientists often need to access massive training datasets or model files. The 400-BKGN can serve as a high-speed data lake or scratch space, drastically reducing the time spent waiting for data to be loaded into system memory or GPU memory, thereby accelerating overall time-to-insight.

PowerEdge 14th Generation (14G)

14G servers, such as the R740xd and R740xd2, were among the first to widely support NVMe drives via add-in cards or backplanes. The 400-BKGN provides a significant performance uplift over SATA or SAS SSDs in these systems, breathing new life into existing infrastructure for workloads like analytics and virtualization.

PowerEdge 15th Generation (15G) 

With the 15G series (e.g., R750, R750xa), Dell introduced native PCIe Gen4 support. In these platforms, the 400-BKGN operates at its full potential, leveraging the doubled bandwidth to deliver maximum throughput and lowest latency, making it an ideal choice for tier-0 storage in these modern servers.

PowerEdge 16th Generation (16G) and 17th Generation (17G)

The drive is fully forward-compatible with the latest 16G (e.g., R760) and 17G servers. This ensures that investments in 400-BKGN SSDs are protected, allowing for easy migration and redeployment as hardware is refreshed. It guarantees optimal performance and reliability, backed by Dell's rigorous validation process

Enterprise Features for Reliability

Beyond raw speed, the 400-BKGN is packed with features designed for 24/7/365 operation in mission-critical environments.

The 400-BKGN to Other Storage Tiers

Understanding where the 400-BKGN fits in the broader storage hierarchy helps in making an informed purchasing decision.

Vs. SATA SSDs

SATA SSDs, limited by the SATA III interface (~600 MB/s), are performance bottlenecks for modern servers. The 400-BKGN, with its PCIe Gen4 NVMe interface, offers multiples of higher bandwidth and significantly lower latency, making it a clear upgrade for performance-sensitive applications.

Vs. SAS SSDs

While SAS SSDs (12Gb/s ~ 1.2 GB/s) offer good performance and are known for their robustness in dual-port configurations, they are still outperformed by NVMe in terms of both bandwidth and latency. The 400-BKGN is the natural choice for applications where sheer speed is the primary requirement.

Vs. Write-Intensive/Mixed-Use NVMe SSDs

Write-Intensive (WI) NVMe SSDs, like the Dell 400-BBKS, are built with higher-endurance NAND (e.g., eMLC) and are designed for write-heavy tasks such as database transaction logs, write caching, or high-frequency trading. The 400-BKGN offers a more cost-effective solution for workloads that are predominantly read-based, without paying for write endurance that will not be utilized.

Compatibility