Aside from the Micron X100 and Crucial X8, Micron also introduced the 7300 and 5300 series SSDs for enterprise use at Micron Insight 2019. Compared to their respective predecessors, they bring quite a number of notable improvements.
Let’s start with the Micron 7300 series of SSDs. Curiously enough, it is a direct successor to the Micron 7100 series; there was no 7200 family. Nonetheless, the 7300 SSDs are low-power NVMe drives that use Micron’s latest 96-layer 3D TLC NAND flash memory, which lets the company to increase the maximum capacity of the drives while retaining the same size.
There are two models in the Micron 7300 series: the 7300 Max and 7300 Pro. The 7300 Max is the higher endurance option – with endurance rating between 3.0 to 4.2 DWPD – and it is available in capacities ranging from 800GB to 6.4TB for the U.2 (7mm) form factor. The M.2 format is limited to 400GB and 800GB.
As for the Micron 7300 Pro, it is available in U.2 (7mm) standard with capacities ranging from 960GB to 7.68TB; the M.2 (80mm, 110mm) option, on the other hand, is available in 480GB to 3.84TB. Endurance rating of the 7300 Pro is between 1.1 to 1.6 DWPD.
And then we have the Micron 5300 series, which are made up of the 5300 Max, 5300 Pro, and 5300 Boot. According to Micro, these successors to the 5200 family are the first enterprise SATA SSDs to be built on 96-layer 3D TLC NAND; the 5200 series only used 64-layer 3D TLC.
Out of the three options, the 5300 Max has the best endurance rating between 3.5 to 5.0 DWPD, with capacities ranging from 240GB to 3.84TB. This particular drive is only available in 2.5-inch form factor, while the 5300 Pro is offered in both 2.5-inch and M.2 options.
However, not all capacities of the 5300 Pro are available in both form factors. The 3.84TB and 7.68TB variants, for example, is only offered in 2.5-inch. Other capacities of the drive, which range from 240GB to 1.92TB, can be purchased in M.2 and 2.5-inch options. As for the endurance rating of the 5300 Pro, it is rated from 0.6 to 1.5 DWPD.
And then there’s the 5300 Boot; this particular SSD is offered with only 240GB of storage in M.2 format. As its name suggests, it’s meant to be used as a boot drive. The 5300 Boot also has a 1.0 DWPD endurance rating.
The Micron 7300 series SSDs will be available for order from December 2019 onwards, while there’s no official release date for the Micron 5300.