Samsung MZQLB7T6HALA 7.68TB PM983a PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe 2.5 inch Read Intensive / Data Center Solid State Drive

General

Brand	Samsung
Model	PM983a
Capacity	7.68TB
Usage Class	Read Intensive / Data Center

Interface

Host Interface	PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe
Total Interface Bandwidth	32 Gb/s

Physical Dimension

Form Factor	2.5

Flash & Endurance

NAND Flash	Samsung V-NAND (96-layer) TLC
Drive Writes Per Day	1.3
Total Bytes Written	10935 TBW

Performance

Sequential Read	3100 MB/s
Sequential Write	2200 MB/s
Random Read IOPS	540000
Random Write IOPS	50000
Average Latency	85 μs

Reliability

Mean Time Between Failures	2 Million Hours
Uncorrectable Bit Error Rate	1.0×10⁻¹⁷
Power Loss Protection	Yes

Part Number

MPN	MZQLB7T6HMLA

Engineer's Note

Compared with the previous-generation MZQLB7T6HMLA, the MZQLB7T6HALA PM983a advances to Samsung 96-layer V-NAND TLC, giving it a newer flash platform with stronger sustained efficiency and durability, backed by 1.3 DWPD and 10,935 TBW at the same 7.68TB capacity point. For read-intensive virtualization, scale-out storage, and high-density cloud servers, it delivers a well-balanced Gen3 NVMe profile of 3,100/2,200 MB/s and 540K/50K IOPS, making it a more capable drop-in upgrade for operators who need higher practical service life without moving beyond PCIe Gen3 infrastructure.

Endurance & Reliability

With an endurance rating of 10,935 TBW and 1.3 DWPD, the MZQLB7T6HALA is designed to sustain heavy daily write workloads over a long service life. In typical enterprise use, this level of endurance is more than sufficient for roles such as boot, system, and mainstream server storage, providing confidence for many years of stable operation under normal deployment conditions. For enterprise reliability, the drive includes Power Loss Protection (PLP), which helps preserve in-flight data and protects metadata integrity during unexpected power interruptions. Its UBER of 1.0E-17, together with a 2 million hour MTBF, reflects a very low probability of uncorrectable read errors and supports dependable performance in business-critical environments.

Technical Specs & Insights

1. The PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe architecture removes legacy storage bottlenecks, giving virtualized databases and transactional workloads direct, low-overhead access to flash performance.
2. Its multi-gigabyte sequential read capability shortens backup restores, analytics scans, and large dataset loading windows in enterprise servers.
3. The drive’s very high random-read throughput, paired with microsecond-class response time, keeps OLTP, VDI, and metadata-heavy applications consistently responsive under deep queue pressure.
4. This endurance profile supports sustained full-drive writes every day throughout the warranty period, making it well suited for mixed-use enterprise deployments.
5. Samsung’s advanced V-NAND TLC enables a strong balance of capacity, power efficiency, and predictable reliability for always-on data center operation.

Capacity Sweet

Lower capacity reference: 3.84TB Higher capacity reference: 15.36TB At 7.68TB, the MZQLB7T6HALA sits in the sweet spot of the family. Compared with the 3.84TB version, it gives much better headroom for data growth, denser server consolidation, and longer refresh cycles before capacity becomes a constraint. Compared with the 15.36TB model, it usually delivers the best balance of acquisition cost, usable capacity, and enterprise-grade performance consistency, since sequential throughput and random IOPS remain broadly similar across the range. It is especially well suited for mid-scale virtualization clusters, mixed database nodes, and high-density read/write application servers.

FAQ