MZILS3T8HMLH-000C3 Samsung PM1633A 3.84TB SAS-12GBPS SFF SSD

Samsung PM1633A Series SSD

Core Attributes

• Manufacturer: Samsung
• Series Line: PM1633A
• Part Number: MZILS3T8HMLH-000C3
• Category: Internal Solid State Drive

Storage & Build Details

• Storage Volume: 3.84 Terabytes
• Drive Format: Small Form Factor
• Connection Protocol: SAS interface supporting 12Gb/s bandwidth

Data Throughput & Operational Speed

• Daily Write Capacity: 1 full drive write per day
• External Transfer Velocity: Up to 1.2 Gigabits per second
• Internal Read/Write Rates: 1250 Mbps for both reading and writing
• Random Access Performance:
  • Read Operations: 200,000 IOPS
  • Write Operations: 35,000 IOPS

Durability & Reliability Metrics

• Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF): Estimated at 2 million hours
• Unrecoverable Bit Error Rate (UBER): 1 error per 10¹⁷ bits read

Interface & Compatibility

• Port Type: Single SAS 12Gb/s connector
• Drive Bay Fit: Designed for 2.5-inch slots

Samsung PM1633a SAS SSD Overview

The Samsung MZILS3T8HMLH-000C3, more commonly known in the industry as the PM1633a, represents a pinnacle of enterprise storage technology. This 3.84TB SAS-12Gbps SFF (Small Form Factor) Solid State Drive is engineered for the most demanding data center and enterprise applications where uncompromising performance, exceptional reliability, and massive capacity are non-negotiable. Built upon Samsung's legendary V-NAND technology and featuring a robust dual-port SAS interface, this drive is designed to accelerate critical workloads, from high-frequency trading databases and virtualized environments to large-scale analytics and content delivery networks, ensuring zero downtime and maximum IOPS throughput.

Core Architectural Specifications

The Samsung PM1633a is built upon a foundation of cutting-edge hardware designed for relentless operation. Its architecture is a testament to Samsung's commitment to pushing the boundaries of flash memory and controller technology.

Form Factor and Interface

2.5-inch SFF (Small Form Factor)

The drive utilizes the ubiquitous 2.5-inch form factor with a height of 15mm. This allows for high-density deployments in standard server and storage array bays, maximizing terabytes per rack unit. The SFF design is critical for modern data centers where physical space is at a premium.

SAS-12Gbps Dual-Port Interface

Unlike consumer SATA SSDs, the PM1633a employs a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface, specifically the 12Gb/s generation. This interface offers numerous enterprise-centric advantages:

• Dual-Port Capability: Two separate data paths to the drive enable redundant connections to two different host controllers. This is a fundamental requirement for high-availability (HA) configurations, ensuring continuous operation even if one controller, HBA, or cable fails.
• Full Duplex Performance: SAS supports full-duplex communication, meaning it can read and write data simultaneously at full speed on both ports, dramatically increasing aggregate bandwidth.
• Enhanced Signal Integrity: The SAS protocol is designed for superior signal integrity over longer cables and in large, complex storage topologies, reducing errors and retries.
• Enterprise TCO: SAS supports advanced features like zoning and multipath I/O, simplifying storage management and improving overall efficiency.

Capacity and NAND Flash Technology

3.84TB Usable Capacity

The drive offers a usable capacity of 3.84 terabytes. This specific figure is not arbitrary; it results from the combination of the raw NAND flash capacity and the dedicated over-provisioning (OP) allocated by Samsung. This extra space, not visible to the host system, is crucial for maintaining performance and longevity through advanced garbage collection and wear leveling algorithms.

3D V-NAND (Vertical NAND)

At the heart of the PM1633a is Samsung's pioneering 3D V-NAND technology. Instead of scaling planar NAND cells smaller, which increases cell-to-cell interference and reduces endurance, V-NAND stacks cell layers vertically. This architecture provides:

• Higher Density: Enables large capacities like 3.84TB in a single drive.
• Superior Endurance: Larger cell structures are more robust and can withstand significantly more Program/Erase (P/E) cycles than planar NAND.
• Lower Power Consumption: Operates at a lower voltage than planar NAND, reducing energy costs in large-scale deployments.
• Enhanced Performance: Reduces write amplification and latency, contributing to consistent, high-speed data access.

Performance Benchmarks and Real-World Impact

Raw specifications only tell part of the story. The true value of the PM1633a is revealed in its performance metrics, which directly translate to reduced application latency and faster data processing.

Blazing Fast Sequential Speeds

Leveraging the full bandwidth of the SAS-12Gbps interface, the drive delivers exceptional sequential transfer rates. With read speeds exceeding 1,800 MB/s and write speeds surpassing 1,200 MB/s, it is capable of handling massive data transfers, such as moving large video files, performing full database backups, or streaming large analytical datasets, in a fraction of the time required by slower SATA or SAS-6Gbps SSDs.

Exceptional Random IOPS

For enterprise workloads, random read/write performance, measured in Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS), is often more critical than sequential speed. The PM1633a excels here, offering up to 200,000 random read IOPS and 40,000 random write IOPS. This immense capability allows it to effortlessly manage:

• OLTP Databases: Processing thousands of concurrent transactions with minimal latency.
• Server Virtualization: Hosting dozens of virtual machines with noisy neighbor isolation.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI): Supporting boot storms and login storms for hundreds of users.
• Real-Time Analytics: Providing instant access to rapidly changing data points.

Reliability, Endurance, and Data Integrity

In an enterprise setting, data is the most valuable asset. The PM1633a is built with a suite of technologies designed to protect that data 24/7/365.

Unmatched Endurance: DWPD and TBW

The drive is rated for immense write endurance, a key metric for write-intensive applications. This is expressed in two ways:

• Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD): 3.84 TB x 3 DWPD = over 11.5 TB of data written every single day for the 5-year warranty period.
• Total Bytes Written (TBW): The drive is rated for a staggering 21,000 Terabytes Written (21 Petabytes). This immense lifespan ensures the drive will far outlive its useful deployment life in most scenarios.

Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and AFR

The PM1633a boasts an industry-leading 2 million hour MTBF rating. This statistic, derived from extensive reliability testing, translates to an incredibly low Annualized Failure Rate (AFR), minimizing the risk of unplanned downtime and data loss.

Advanced Data Integrity Features

Power-Loss Protection (PLP)

A critical feature for enterprise drives, PLP involves integrated capacitors that provide enough backup power in the event of a sudden power failure. This allows the drive's controller to complete any pending writes in the volatile cache buffer to the non-volatile NAND flash, preventing data corruption.

End-to-End Data Protection

The drive employs a robust data protection scheme that checks and verifies data integrity from the host interface, through the DRAM cache, and all the way to the NAND media. This ensures that any data corruption due to signal noise or other transient errors is detected and corrected automatically.

TSOP (Time-limited Self-recovery Of Page)

This Samsung proprietary technology allows the drive to autonomously detect and recover data from unstable memory cells in the background, without any impact on host performance or requiring administrator intervention. This proactive approach enhances long-term data retention and reliability.

Use Cases

The combination of high performance, massive capacity, and rock-solid reliability makes the Samsung PM1633a the ideal choice for a wide spectrum of demanding enterprise applications.

Data Center Storage Arrays & SAN

As a performance tier in all-flash arrays (AFA) or hybrid storage area networks (SAN), the PM1633a provides the low-latency, high-IOPS foundation needed to accelerate access to the most frequently requested "hot" data, serving thousands of client requests simultaneously.

High-Performance Database Servers

Database management systems (DBMS) for OLTP, OLAP, and NoSQL databases are notoriously I/O hungry. The PM1633a drastically reduces query times, accelerates transaction commits, and improves overall database responsiveness, directly impacting business productivity and user experience.

Server Virtualization & Cloud Infrastructure

Hypervisors generate a significant amount of random I/O. Deploying the PM1633a in virtualization hosts allows for higher VM density, faster VM boot times, and smoother operation during periods of high I/O load, making it a cornerstone of private and public cloud infrastructure.

High-Performance Computing (HPC) & Big Data

In HPC clusters and big data analytics platforms (e.g., Hadoop, Spark), the drive can serve as a fast scratch space for intermediate processing results or store large datasets for rapid analysis, reducing time-to-insight for researchers and data scientists.