KIOXIA introduces direct liquid cooling support for enterprise SSDs

KIOXIA CM9 series supports cold-plate cooling option in E3.S form factor for AI and other high-performance environments

  • Düsseldorf, Germany, 13 October 2026
  • KIOXIA Europe GmbH

KIOXIA Europe GmbH today announced the addition of direct liquid cooling (DLC) models to its KIOXIA CM9 Series enterprise SSD line-up to support cold-plate-enabled server designs. The new DLC models, in the E3.S form factor, also support traditional air-cooled environments.

As AI and other high-performance enterprise environments continue to advance, direct liquid cooling is becoming increasingly important to address growing computing power demands and associated cooling requirements. In order to fulfil the growing compute demands, increased power requirements are driving the need for innovative heat dissipation solutions.

DLC infrastructure can offer significant energy savings compared with conventional air cooling, while enabling more servers to be cooled per rack.

Beneficial for SSD Context Caching, the new KIOXIA CM9-DLC models include read-intensive (1 DWPD) and mixed-use (3 DWPD) endurance options.

"Scaling AI infrastructure is not simply about adding more compute – it also means finding more efficient ways to manage growing memory requirements and the heat generated by increasingly dense systems," said Paul Rowan, Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer at KIOXIA Europe GmbH. "The KIOXIA CM9-DLC Series addresses both sides of that equation, providing high-performance flash for SSD context caching that can relieve pressure on limited GPU HBM capacity, while supporting the transition towards direct liquid cooling in next-generation data centres."

Key features of the KIOXIA CM9-DLC Series SSD include:
 

  • PCIe 5.0, NVMe 2.0, NVMe-MI 1.2c specification compliant
  • Support for Open Compute Project (OCP) Datacenter NVMe SSD v2.5 specification
  • Dual-port support in the E3.S SSD form factor
  • Capacities up to 30.72 TB read-intensive (1 DWPD) and 25.6 TB mixed-use (3 DWPD) endurances
  • Sequential performance (128 kibibytes (KiB)/QD32) of up to 14.8 GB/s read and 11 GB/s write
  • Random performance (4 KiB) of up to 3,400 KIOPS (QD512) and 800 KIOPS (QD32)


KIOXIA CM9 Series drives are currently sampling to select customers[1] and will be showcased at the 2026 OCP Global Summit, taking place 12 to 15 October in San Jose, California.

Notes

[1] These samples are for the functional check purpose only and the specifications of the samples may differ in mass production.

Read and write speed may vary depending on various factors such as host devices, software (drivers, OS etc.), and read/write conditions.

Definition of capacity: KIOXIA defines a gigabyte (GB) as 1,000,000,000 bytes and a terabyte (TB) as 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. A computer operating system, however, reports storage capacity using powers of 2 for the definition of 1GB = 230 bytes = 1,073,741,824 bytes and 1TB = 240 bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes and therefore shows less storage capacity. Available storage capacity (including examples of various media files) will vary based on file size, formatting, settings, software and operating system, and/or pre-installed software applications, or media content. Actual formatted capacity may vary.

A kibibyte (KiB) means 210, or 1,024 bytes.

DWPD: Drive Writes Per Day. One full drive write per day means the drive can be written and re-written to full capacity once a day every day under the specified workload for the specified lifetime. Actual results may vary due to system configuration, usage and other factors.

The following trademarks, service and/or company names – PCIe, PCI-SIG, NVMe, NVM Express, Inc., OCP, OPEN COMPUTE PROJECT – are not applied, registered, created and/or owned by KIOXIA Europe GmbH or by affiliated KIOXIA group companies. However, they may be applied, registered, created and/or owned by third parties in various jurisdictions and therefore protected against unauthorised use.

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About KIOXIA Europe GmbH

KIOXIA Europe GmbH is the European based subsidiary of KIOXIA Corporation, a leading worldwide supplier of flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs). From the invention of flash memory to today's breakthrough BiCS FLASH™ 3D technology, KIOXIA continues to pioneer innovative memory, SSD and software solutions that enrich people's lives and expand society's horizons. The company's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH™, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, automotive systems, data centers and generative AI systems.

Information in this document, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is correct on the date of the announcement but is subject to change without prior notice.

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