General

Brand	Samsung
Model	PM981
Capacity	256GB
Usage Class	Client

Interface

Host Interface	NVMe
Total Interface Bandwidth	32 Gb/s

Physical Dimension

Form Factor	M.2 2280

Flash & Endurance

NAND Flash	TLC V-NAND
Drive Writes Per Day	0.32
Total Bytes Written	150 TBW

Performance

Sequential Read	3000 MB/s
Sequential Write	1300 MB/s
Random Read IOPS	130000
Random Write IOPS	310000
Average Latency	50 μs

Reliability

Mean Time Between Failures	1.5 Million Hours
Uncorrectable Bit Error Rate	1.0×10⁻¹⁷
Power Loss Protection	No

Part Number

MPN	MZVLV256HCHP

Engineer's Note

The Samsung PM981 (MZVLB256HAHQ-000H1) delivers a strong generational step over MZVLV256HCHP, pairing TLC V-NAND with NVMe performance up to 3000/1300 MB/s and 130,000/310,000 IOPS to provide higher sustained write speed and substantially stronger random-write responsiveness in the same 256GB class. With 150 TBW and 0.32 DWPD, this MPN is a well-balanced OEM client SSD choice for boot drives, engineering workstations, and read-heavy virtualization nodes that need better burst handling and endurance consistency than the prior generation.

Endurance & Reliability

With an endurance rating of 150 TBW and 0.32 DWPD, the MZVLB256HAHQ-000H1 is well suited for typical OS, office, and general business workloads where daily write volume is moderate. In practical terms, this level of endurance is generally sufficient for use as a system or boot drive for many years, often supporting around a decade of normal endpoint usage without endurance becoming a concern. For reliability, the specified UBER of 1.0E-15 indicates a very low probability of unrecoverable bit errors, helping ensure dependable data reads across normal operation, while the 1.5 million-hour MTBF further supports stable long-term service. This model does not include power-loss protection, so while it is a solid choice for standard client and non-write-critical environments, systems with frequent sudden power interruption risk or strict in-flight write protection requirements should consider PLP-equipped alternatives.

Technical Specs & Insights

1. The NVMe interface minimizes protocol overhead, enabling faster host-to-storage communication for latency-sensitive virtualization, database, and analytics workloads.
2. Strong sequential read performance accelerates large-file access, reducing boot, backup, and dataset streaming time in enterprise servers.
3. High random read capability helps sustain responsive performance under heavily parallel access patterns such as OLTP, VDI, and metadata-intensive applications.
4. A light endurance profile is well suited to read-centric enterprise deployments where capacity efficiency matters more than sustained write intensity.
5. TLC V-NAND paired with low typical latency delivers a practical balance of density, cost, and consistently fast response for scale-out business infrastructure.

Capacity Sweet

Lower capacity reference: 128GB Higher capacity reference: 512GB Within this series, the 256GB model sits at a practical sweet spot. Compared with the 128GB version, it gives noticeably more headroom for OS images, logs, swap, and application growth, reducing early capacity pressure in always-on environments. Compared with the 512GB option, it preserves most of the same day-to-day performance profile while keeping acquisition cost and fleet replacement budgets under tighter control. In deployment terms, 256GB is well suited for a mid-sized virtualization cluster, such as boot and utility storage for about 40 to 60 lightweight virtual machines.

FAQ