KIOXIA America is addressing the thermal bottlenecks of high-density compute by introducing direct liquid cooling (DLC) models to its KIOXIA CM9 Series enterprise SSD lineup. These new E3.S form factor drives are designed to support cold-plate-enabled server architectures, providing a hardware path for data centers transitioning away from traditional air cooling. The move targets the escalating power and heat dissipation demands found in modern AI-driven infrastructure.
KIOXIA CM9-DLC Performance and Capacity
The KIOXIA CM9-DLC Series utilizes the PCIe 5.0 and NVMe 2.0 specifications to deliver high-speed data throughput for intensive workloads. According to the company, the series offers sequential read speeds of up to 14.8 GB/s and write speeds of up to 11 GB/s. For random performance, the drives can reach up to 3,400 KIOPS (4KiB, QD512) and 800 KIOPS (4KiB, QD32). The lineup includes read-intensive options with 1 DWPD endurance and capacities up to 30.72 TB, alongside mixed-use options offering 3 DWPD and capacities up to 25.6 TB. These models also maintain dual-port support and comply with the OCP Datacenter NVMe SSD v2.5 specification, ensuring compatibility within standardized enterprise environments.
Addressing AI Thermal Demands
KIOXIA is positioning these DLC-enabled SSDs as a solution for the rising power densities required by generative AI and large-scale memory architectures. The company suggests that direct liquid cooling can offer significant energy savings compared to conventional air cooling while allowing for higher server density per rack. Specifically, the CM9-DLC models are identified as ideal for SSD context caching, which supports emerging AI architectures that rely heavily on KV cache resources. By integrating liquid cooling support into the E3.S form factor, KIOXIA aims to help operators manage the heat generated by the increased compute power necessary for data-intensive tasks. The drives are currently in the sampling phase for select customers and are scheduled for showcase at the 2026 OCP Global Summit.
Key Takeaways
- The KIOXIA CM9-DLC Series supports cold-plate direct liquid cooling in the E3.S form factor.
- Available capacities reach up to 30.72 TB for read-intensive (1 DWPD) and 25.6 TB for mixed-use (3 DWPD) models.
- The drives utilize PCIe 5.0 and NVMe 2.0 specifications to achieve sequential read speeds of up to 14.8 GB/s.
TechInsyte's Take
In our view, KIOXIA’s shift toward DLC-ready enterprise SSDs signals a critical hardware pivot necessitated by the thermal limits of air cooling in AI clusters. As compute density increases, storage can no longer be treated as a secondary thermal consideration. By targeting KV cache requirements and context caching through liquid-cooled E3.S drives, KIOXIA is acknowledging that high-performance storage must evolve alongside liquid-cooled accelerators. This move suggests that liquid cooling is moving from a niche specialty to a standard requirement for high-density enterprise storage.
Questions & Answers
How does the CM9-DLC series support AI-specific workloads?
The series is designed to handle the large-scale memory and KV cache requirements of emerging AI architectures, specifically through optimized endurance and capacity options suitable for SSD context caching.
What are the primary thermal advantages of this new hardware?
KIOXIA states that direct liquid cooling (DLC) infrastructure can provide significant energy savings over traditional air cooling and enables operators to deploy more servers per rack by managing higher power densities.
Which technical specifications govern the performance of these SSDs?
The drives are compliant with PCIe 5.0, NVMe 2.0, and NVMe-MI 1.2c specifications, as well as the OCP Datacenter NVMe SSD v2.5 specification.
What is the current availability of the KIOXIA CM9-DLC Series?
The drives are currently being sampled to select customers and are slated to be showcased at the OCP Global Summit in October 2026.
Source: KIOXIA
