| Brand | Samsung |
|---|---|
| Model | PM863a |
| Capacity | 240GB |
| Usage Class | Enterprise |
| Host Interface | SATA 6Gb/s |
|---|---|
| Total Interface Bandwidth | 6 Gb/s |
| Form Factor | 2.5 |
|---|
| NAND Flash | Samsung V-NAND 3bit MLC (TLC) |
|---|---|
| Drive Writes Per Day | 1.3 |
| Total Bytes Written | 350 TBW |
| Sequential Read | 520 MB/s |
|---|---|
| Sequential Write | 480 MB/s |
| Random Read IOPS | 97000 |
| Random Write IOPS | 12000 |
| Average Latency | 100 μs |
| Mean Time Between Failures | 2 Million Hours |
|---|---|
| Uncorrectable Bit Error Rate | 1.0×10⁻¹⁷ |
| Power Loss Protection | Yes |
| MPN | MZ-7LM2400 |
|---|
Compared with the earlier MZ-7LM2400 generation, Samsung’s PM863a (MZ-7LM240NE) delivers a clear enterprise refresh with 350 TBW / 1.3 DWPD endurance and Samsung V-NAND 3bit MLC (TLC), giving 240GB SATA deployments more write headroom and longer service life in the same 6Gb/s infrastructure. Its 520/480 MB/s sequential performance and up to 97,000/12,000 IOPS make it a stronger fit than typical same-class SATA drives for read-centric virtualization, boot, and content-serving workloads where consistency, endurance, and drop-in compatibility matter most.
With an endurance rating of 350 TBW, the MZ-7LM240NE can sustain about 350,000 GB of total writes, which is far beyond the write volume of a typical OS, office, or boot-drive workload. In practical terms, for normal system-disk use, this level of endurance is generally sufficient to support many years of stable operation and can comfortably cover a 10-year low-write deployment scenario. Its Power Loss Protection (PLP) helps safeguard in-flight data and metadata during unexpected power interruptions, reducing the risk of corruption and improving operational confidence in business environments. An UBER of 1.0E-17 means the drive is designed for an extremely low uncorrectable bit error rate, supporting high data integrity, while the 2 million-hour MTBF further reflects strong enterprise-class reliability expectations.
1. The SATA interface lets this drive drop into mainstream enterprise servers and storage arrays without platform changes, delivering near-bus-limit streaming performance for cost-efficient upgrades.
2. Its strong sequential read capability helps accelerate boot storms, image distribution, backup restores, and other large-file access common in read-focused data center workloads.
3. The high random read throughput supports dense VM farms, OLTP databases, and metadata-heavy applications by keeping small-block access responsive under concurrency.
4. Its enterprise-class write endurance makes it a solid fit for mixed-use environments that generate steady daily rewrites, reducing replacement risk over long deployment cycles.
5. Samsung’s V-NAND TLC design, paired with low typical latency, provides a practical balance of capacity, consistency, and fast response times for latency-sensitive business applications.
Lower capacity reference: 120GB Higher capacity reference: 480GB At 240GB, the MZ-7LM240NE sits in the sweet spot of the series. Compared with the 120GB model, it gives meaningfully more headroom for OS images, logs, swap space, and application growth, reducing the risk of early capacity pressure. Compared with the 480GB version, it delivers nearly the same enterprise-class sequential and random performance while keeping acquisition cost and fleet-wide budget under tighter control. This makes it a strong fit for small to mid-size virtualization clusters, such as hosting boot and utility volumes for about 25 to 40 infrastructure-focused virtual machines.
Q: Is MZ-7LM240NE suitable for a write-heavy database server?
A: Yes, it can support write-intensive database workloads. With 1.3 DWPD, 350 TBW, low 100 µs latency, and PLP, it is suitable for mixed or moderately write-heavy enterprise server environments.
Q: How many full drive writes per day can it actually endure over its warranty period?
A: This model is rated at 1.3 DWPD, meaning it can handle about 1.3 full-drive writes per day during its warranty period. For 240GB capacity, that equals roughly 312GB of writes daily.
Q: Does it include power loss protection (PLP) and why is that critical?
A: Yes, it includes power loss protection. PLP helps preserve in-flight data and metadata during unexpected power outages, which is critical for preventing corruption and maintaining storage consistency in servers.
Q: What RAID level is recommended for this SSD?
A: For most server deployments, RAID 1 or RAID 10 is recommended to balance redundancy and performance. For capacity-focused environments, RAID 5 or RAID 6 may also be considered with proper controller support.