back to article Samsung starts cranking out 512GB eUFS storage

Samsung has doubled the size of its largest Universal Flash Storage (eUFS) product to 512 gigabytes and started mass production of the chips. Samsung pitched previous generations of this kit at cars, which are expected to soon need to record a lot of sensor data, a VM or three to power various systems, some content for the …

  1. John Smith 19 Gold badge

    Wow. Stripping the active layer off 64 chips and stacking them together..

    And they are all still working together afterward


    But an OS that demands an LTE connection to work despite 512GB of local storage?

    Not very impressive.

    1. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

      Re: Wow. Stripping the active layer off 64 chips and stacking them together..

      Not quite. The article mixed 512GB and 512Gb together, so I checked Samsung's press release. There is a 512GB package which contains a flash controller chip and 8x 512Gb flash chips.

      The 512Gb chips are 64 layer. That is done by building up 64 layers of cells on the same chip just like CPU's (used to?) have about 10 layers of metal to connect the transistors. The impressive bit is that they drill a holes through all those layers to make the vertical connections for each stack of cells.

      1. cmaurand


        The holes are etched, not drilled.

    2. bombastic bob Silver badge


      "an OS that demands an LTE connection to work despite 512GB of local storage"

      "not very impressive"


      I don't think Win-10-nic (even on an ARM) will really sell these devices. However, dense high capacity storage on smart phones and slabs just might... take your entire music+movie collection with you on the plane, etc.. (THAT is a better selling feature for more+dense storage)

      /me points out that "being connected" is a requirement for Win-10-nic, so that Micro-shaft can TRACK YOU. 'Microsoft Login' and knowing what software you have loaded and what you're using, etc..

    3. Gigabob


      Agree an OS that needs an LTE connection as well as 512GB of storage is less that impressive, but with Win10 the path to rampant commercialization is apparently the only path forward as groups seek to monetize every click.

  2. WonkoTheSane
    Thumb Down

    Don't care.

    I just wish they'd return capacity to making desktop DDR4 memory chips, and end the massive rise (2-300%!) in prices (at least until I upgrade my PC)

    1. Baldrickk Silver badge

      Re: Don't care.

      I'm holding out for a decent price on NVMe storage. When I built my new machine, I gave myself the option of waiting a couple more seconds when loading into a game against adding another 40-50% to the cost of my build...

      I went with sparing a few seconds, and making a drink/reading something on my phone while I boot if the PC has been fully shutdown and is not just asleep

      1. WonkoTheSane

        Re: Don't care.

        I'm not talking about storage, the chips I mean are used to make RAM for PCs.

        SRAM != NVRAM

  3. Disgruntled of TW

    5G is not a "thing", yet

    Despite what the politicians say.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Off topic:

    I'll be in the market for a car in the next year or two. I really like my Volkswagen and Subaru's are great, but I'm looking for a lower end car with fewer electronics. I would like to go back to a car that has almost no fancy features. Electronic fuel injections sure, let's keep that. It improves the efficiency with which the fuel is burnt and that's a good thing; otherwise, I don't need electronic seats, an entertainment system, wifi hotspot, or electronic windows. AC and heated seats would be nice, but living on the east coast of Canada I can live without those.

    I'd like to go back to a simpler car. Maybe even something that enables me to change the lights without removing car parts integral to its operation or change the spark plugs without dropping the engine.

    Call me a heretic if you must, but cars have become unnecessarily complicated. Whether I can find one is yet to be seen. If not, I may opt for a Mitsubishi as they have the best warranty of which I am aware. At least amongst manufacturers that easily available here.

    Sorry about the off-topic rant.

    1. MonkeyBob

      Dacia make basic cars, I don't know if you can get them that side of the pond tho

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I don't think I've ever seen one here. Atlantic Canada is a pretty small market. Under two and a half million people in an area a little smaller (if you exclude Labrador, huge and largely unpopulated) than (the?) United Kingdom. What we have commonly here are cars from NA, the Asian rim and Germany.

    2. Peter2 Silver badge

      I have a car built in 1999. Heated seats, air con, duel zone climate control, electric windows, cruise control, diesil engine nominally capable of 64mpg, built like a light armoured vehicle with better suspension than anything on the roads today and supremely comfortable. It uses keyed ignition, also requiring a small transponder built into the key, and thus is practically theftproof to todays theives who enjoy stealing keyless cars. Also, being near 20 years old no self respecting theif would ever try and steal my car in the first place.

      It cost me about £800 and has yearly asset depreciation of approximately zero. It does admittedly need occasional bits replacing due to age and mileage, and I have been moved to replace the casette player with a MP3 player/satnav but it's never broken down on me (probably because being an IT Pro I understand the need for preventitive maintenance!)

      In short, just buy an old car. You won't regret it much.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward



      2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        "In short, just buy an old car. You won't regret it much."

        Much as I agree with everything you say, this last part is the bit that will bite, slowly but surely. With the reported ban on sales of ICE cars from 2040, I predict that vehicle duty will begin to ramp up markedly for all ICE cars in the run up to 2040, possibly to the extent that ICE cars will be pretty much unaffordable to run by 2035 for most of us.

    3. Marc 13

      I'd like to go back to a simpler car

      Yup... I'm with you on that! We have a (LandRover) Disco 3 - its been in the shop about a year now in the last 3 chasing a LIMP mode issue... they just can't nail down what it is. (and its clearly electronics related, not physical)

      Meanwhile my daily is a '99 323 'vert:

      Electronic fuel injection - check

      Heated seats - Check

      AC - Check

      DAB radio/Bluetooth H/Free (retrofit/portable) - Check

      Too clever by half other electronic stuff - NONE, nada, nope :-)

      I get mid 30's mpg on most distance runs. service parts are <£30 every 10K, time based service parts/longer life parts might be £100 every 60K...

      I put 35K a year on it and it hasn't skipped a beat.

      and if it gets nicked/written off, its disposable. I'm £450 out of pocket buying a replacement (which is less than the voluntary XS!)

      1. Baldrickk Silver badge

        Re: I'd like to go back to a simpler car

        Not sure I'd call it a particularly simple car, in the same vein as the AC wanted, but I will agree with it being a nice car.

        So much so that I would take one over a 4 or a 5, where they have forgone the utilitarian roots of the vehicle and tried to make it "flash".

        My typical example is the way to get to the rear seats (7 seats).

        Discovery 3:

        Open door.

        Fold down seat back of side seat.

        Hit lever on side and whole seat lifts out of the way on spring loaded hinges.

        Climb in

        Seat unfolds.

        Discovery 5:

        Open door

        Tilt rear bench seat (yeah, anyone on that row has to get out first) forwards 45 degrees

        slide bench seat forwards about 20cm

        Realise that the rear of the seat has only moved forwards enough to reach the edge of the doorframe, leaving nowhere to put your feet as you climb in.

        Crawl over the seats to get to the rear row

        Realise that the rear seats are now no longer full size, and the headrest pushes against your shoulder-blades

        pull bench seat back into position.

    4. disgustedoftunbridgewells Silver badge

      You don't want electronic seats? The main regret I have in my car is that I didn't get one with the memory electric seats ( press 1 for my seating position, 2 for my tiny girlfriends seating position ).

      Keepfit windows? Really?

      Also heated front windscreens are the best thing since sliced bread.

      I've never understood why people don't like modern features.

      1. jmch Silver badge

        "heated front windscreens "

        Ugh! Test-drove one of those on a clear day, The super-fine lines that run through the glass are visible in bright sunlight, and even though thry are not seen hen focusing through the screen at the road, it still gave me an uneasy feeling and, after a while, a headache. Just a powerful blast of AC air from the inside is usually quite enough to clear tthe screen in a few seconds even if it's icy outside

        1. disgustedoftunbridgewells Silver badge

          I wonder if you were looking at particularly thick lines. You have to look for mine to know they're there.

          1. jmch Silver badge


            No, very thin lines actually, and as I said mostly invisible... BUT in direct sunlight* much more noticeable and making a refracrion pattern on the dashboard reflection. At first I hardly noticed them, but once noticed they are very difficult to un-notice!

            * Possibly for UK-based readers this is not a problem :)

        2. keith_w Bronze badge

          That would depend on where you live. Here in the Great White North (which includes our Atlantic Provinces which typically get more snow than the slightly more westerly province that I live in, it will frequently take many minutes of flowing air, hopefully warmed up to clear a reasonable portion of the windshield.

          I also would like memory seats and mirrors and dual temp controls.

        3. John Brown (no body) Silver badge


          Same here. Had one as a hire car for a week while mine was getting recall/fix done and even though I regularly do 1000+ miles per week, never got used to that. The eye keeps adjusting focus onto the nearest object, ie the heating elements in the glass. If you don't realise that is what is happening, I can easily see it being just an uneasy feeling leading to eye strain and maybe a headache.

      2. Aladdin Sane Silver badge


        Modern features are great. Built in sat-nav displays a map on the main screen and simplified instructions on my dashboard, meaning I can quickly get the info I need. Heated front windscreens are the mutt's nuts. I too regret not having electronic seats (I'm 6', gf is 5'3").

        Newer engines are simply more efficient, both through design and because they aren't clogged by the accumulation of crap that happens to any engine over the course of the years.

        Decent article here.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @disgustedoftunbridgewells

          "I'm 6', gf is 5'3"

          sounds fun.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "press 1 for my seating position, 2 for my tiny girlfriends seating position "

        Shag her on the passenger seat instead?

      4. Sgt_Oddball Silver badge

        The lack of heated front windscreen baffles me considering that my dad's old Granada had that in 92... (current car just has a high heat a.c. mode for defrosting the screen)

      5. elDog

        And the settings you had with Mollie?

        This could get rather intense.

        A whole menu of friends, positions, etc. I'll assume you'll need the seats to record some infometrics (and send them to some googly-slurping website for your and everyone else's evaluations.)

        Ok, I've gotten myself all hot and bothered - better hit the Submit button - over and over and over.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      May I suggest a Ultima EVO coupe?

      Simple doesn't have to be dull.

    6. mrtom84

      But wait... did I tell you about the porthole defoggers?

  5. JimmyPage Silver badge

    car entertainment system

    Sorry, but I don't want to be lumbered with whatever shitshow the car manufacturer wants to dump on me.

    Just give me decent bluetooth and speakers, and I'll bring my entertainment system myself.

    Same for sat navs.

  6. disgustedoftunbridgewells Silver badge

    What happens to the car when the disk goes read-only? Can they be replaced?

    1. Korev Silver badge

      Also, does the car stop running? If so do you have any control over where it stops?

  7. Juan Inamillion


    Slightly O/T.

    Living in London is great except for if you own a car. Admittedly I ride a (motor) bike most times but a car is an necessity for transporting luggage, computers, friends and, err... the lady (esp when dressed up). Also admittedly my annual car mileage is low, prob a few thousand if that. So for the past several years I've used Zipcars for short journeys (up to 60 miles before incurring mileage charges), includes fuel, Congestion Charge and insurance. £15 per month, first 3 hours in a month included, then an hourly charge (starting at about £6.50)

    Longer hires or journeys I can rent a car from Hertz for as little as £20 per day, unlimited mileage. Now I know the guys at the local rental they usually upgrade me to a much better one than I've booked!

    I don't think I've had any car older than 2 years or more mileage than 11,000. And they're always clean...

    Can't beat walking away from one and forgetting about it!

  8. Dinsdale247

    Waiting for the dev boards

    Arm development boards have been contrained to SD cards and slow emmc that top out at 10Mbps. I can't wait to see the smaller versions of these start to show up on dev boards once the price starts to drop.

  9. Datalas

    500 ish GB of storage in one chip is a great thing for enterprise IT and IOT

    Getting away from talks about gaming and cars, and back to the article.

    IoT and Edge controllers for IoT need storage for sensor data, and if the local CPU can do some filtering on the data it can reduce WAN impacts of monitoring.

    What we need to know is that is the wear leveling of the chip. If the chip is replaceable then if it wears out (max writes to a significant number of cells to require replacement) then this is a great idea, if this is only usable in a fixed configuration at manufacturing then the impact to Enterprises, remote IoT devices, and autonomous vehicles could result in catastrophic events where write events causes a design issue.

    A value that was not presented what the power consumption/heat generation of the component and if that would cause a problem vs the existing 256 GB product.

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