UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV Cisco 1.92TB SSD SATA 6GBPS SFF Enterprise Value

Cisco UCS Enterprise Value SATA SSDs: Optimizing Storage Economics

Understanding the UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV 1.92TB SATA SSD

The Cisco UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV represents a strategic balance between performance, capacity, and cost-effectiveness within Cisco's Unified Computing System storage portfolio. Designed specifically for read-intensive applications, this 1.92TB 6Gbps SATA SSD delivers enterprise-grade reliability at a compelling price point, making it ideal for organizations seeking to enhance their storage infrastructure without compromising on quality or support.

Enterprise Value Series Positioning

Positioned within Cisco's Enterprise Value SSD family, this drive addresses the growing need for affordable high-capacity storage in virtualized environments, big data analytics, and archival applications. Unlike consumer-grade SSDs that lack the endurance and reliability features required for 24/7 data center operation, the UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV maintains enterprise-level specifications while optimizing cost structures through careful component selection and design efficiency.

Cost-Per-Gigabyte Advantage

The Enterprise Value series specifically targets workloads where absolute maximum performance isn't required, but consistent latency and reliability remain critical. By focusing on the SATA interface rather than more expensive SAS or NVMe alternatives, Cisco delivers substantial storage capacity with minimal infrastructure changes, allowing organizations to extend the life of existing storage systems while significantly improving performance over traditional hard disk drives.

Comprehensive Key Specifications

Physical and Interface Characteristics

The UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV employs the standard 2.5-inch Small Form Factor (SFF) design with a SATA 6Gbps interface, ensuring broad compatibility with existing server infrastructures. The drive features a 7mm z-height profile, making it compatible with most modern server drive bays and storage enclosures without requiring special mounting hardware or adapters.

Capacity and NAND Technology

With a formatted capacity of 1.92TB, this SSD utilizes enterprise-grade Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash technology optimized for read-centric workloads. The specific capacity point represents an optimal balance between available storage space and over-provisioning requirements, ensuring consistent performance throughout the drive's lifespan while maintaining data integrity under continuous operation.

Performance Metrics

The drive delivers sequential read speeds up to 540MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 500MB/s, with random read performance reaching 75,000 IOPS and random write performance of 15,000 IOPS at queue depth 32. These specifications comfortably exceed the capabilities of 10,000 RPM and 15,000 RPM hard drives while providing significantly lower latency and power consumption.

Endurance and Reliability Specifications

Rated for 1.3 drive writes per day (DWPD) over a 5-year warranty period, the UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV offers substantial endurance for enterprise read-intensive applications. With a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) of 2 million hours and support for end-to-end data path protection, the drive maintains data integrity from host to NAND and back, critical for business-critical applications.

Optimal Workload Applications

Virtualization and VDI Environments

The UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV excels in virtualization scenarios where multiple virtual machines require consistent storage performance. In VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) implementations, the drive can efficiently handle boot storms and user login sequences while providing responsive performance for day-to-day operations. The 1.92TB capacity allows for substantial VM density per drive, reducing the overall storage footprint while maintaining performance.

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure

In HCI environments using Cisco UCS servers, these Enterprise Value SSDs provide an excellent balance for capacity-oriented nodes. They can serve as primary storage for less performance-sensitive workloads or as caching layers in hybrid storage configurations, delivering significantly better performance than hard drives while maintaining cost efficiency across large deployments.

Big Data and Analytics Workloads

For big data applications where large datasets require rapid access for analytical processing, the 1.92TB capacity provides substantial local storage for reference data, intermediate processing results, or complete datasets for smaller implementations. The consistent read performance ensures predictable query times and reduces processing bottlenecks compared to traditional storage media.

Database Applications

While not designed for write-intensive database workloads, the UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV performs well for read-heavy database operations, reporting databases, or as secondary storage for database archives. The consistent low latency improves query performance for business intelligence applications and reporting systems.

Power Efficiency and Thermal Characteristics

With typical power consumption of 3-5 watts during active operation and less than 1 watt during idle states, the UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV contributes to overall data center power efficiency. The optimized thermal design allows for operation in standard server environments without requiring special cooling considerations, maintaining reliability across varying environmental conditions.

Enterprise Reliability and Data Protection

Advanced Error Correction and Data Integrity

The UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV implements sophisticated error correction codes (ECC) capable of correcting multiple bit errors per page, significantly exceeding the capabilities of consumer SSDs. This robust error correction ensures data integrity even as NAND flash cells approach their endurance limits, maintaining data accessibility throughout the drive's operational life.

End-to-End Data Protection

From the host interface to the NAND flash media, data protection mechanisms verify integrity at every transfer point. This comprehensive approach prevents silent data corruption and ensures that any transmission errors are detected and corrected, critical for maintaining data integrity in enterprise environments.

Power-Loss Protection

Enterprise-grade power-loss protection circuits ensure that in-flight data is preserved during unexpected power interruptions. This prevents data corruption and maintains filesystem integrity, allowing the drive to recover gracefully when power is restored without requiring lengthy consistency checks or risking data loss.

Wear Leveling and Bad Block Management

Advanced wear-leveling algorithms distribute write operations evenly across all available NAND flash blocks, preventing premature wear on frequently written areas. Combined with sophisticated bad block management that identifies and retires failing memory cells, these features extend the usable life of the drive while maintaining consistent performance.

S.M.A.R.T. Attributes and Predictive Analytics

The drive implements comprehensive S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) attributes specifically tailored for enterprise deployment. These include detailed wear indicators, temperature history, error statistics, and remaining life estimation, enabling proactive maintenance and capacity planning before issues impact production systems.

Comparative Analysis with Alternative Solutions

Higher-Performance Cisco SSD Options

Compared to Cisco's Performance and Extreme Performance SSDs, the Enterprise Value series trades peak performance for cost efficiency. While Performance SSDs might deliver higher IOPS and lower latency, the UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV provides substantial capability at a significantly lower cost per gigabyte, making it ideal for workloads where maximum performance isn't required but enterprise reliability remains essential.

Traditional Hard Disk Drives

The performance advantage over 10,000 RPM and 15,000 RPM SAS hard drives is substantial, with orders of magnitude improvement in random I/O performance and significantly reduced latency. While HDDs may offer lower cost per gigabyte for purely archival purposes, the performance characteristics of SSDs often justify the premium through improved application performance and reduced server count requirements.

Consumer-Grade SSDs

Unlike consumer SSDs that may offer similar peak performance specifications, the UCS-SD19TBKSS-EV maintains consistent performance under sustained workloads, offers comprehensive power-loss protection, and includes features like end-to-end data protection that are typically absent in consumer-grade alternatives. The enterprise firmware also includes optimized garbage collection and wear leveling designed for 24/7 operation.