DS-C9148V-24IK9=: How Does This Cisco Switch
Core Architecture and Key Specifications Th...
Technical Specifications and Mechanical Architecture
The UCS-M2-I240GB-D= is a 240GB NVMe M.2 SSD engineered for Cisco’s UCS C-Series and B-Series servers, designed to deliver fast, secure boot capabilities and low-latency caching for enterprise workloads. Optimized for reliability in high-availability environments, it integrates Cisco’s management ecosystem for seamless deployment. Key specifications include:
- Interface: PCIe Gen3 x4, NVMe 1.4 compliant.
- Form Factor: M.2 2280 (80mm) with single-sided NAND layout for airflow optimization.
- Sequential Performance: 2,100 MB/s read, 900 MB/s write.
- Endurance: 1.5 DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) over 5 years, totaling 657TBW.
- Power Consumption: 3.8W active, 0.08W idle (with Cisco Adaptive Power Management).
- Security: FIPS 140-3 Level 2 encryption, TCG Opal 2.01, and Cisco Secure Erase for cryptographic sanitization.
Design Innovations for Enterprise-Grade Resilience
Thermal and Power Integrity
- Dynamic Thermal Monitoring: Adjusts NAND clock speeds in 1°C increments to maintain ≤65°C under sustained loads, preventing throttling in confined UCS C240 M7 chassis slots.
- Enhanced Power Loss Protection (PLP): Utilizes multi-layer ceramic capacitors to safeguard 16MB of in-flight data during outages, critical for RAID controller journaling.
Firmware and Ecosystem Synergy
- UCS Manager 4.3+ Integration: Automates drive health checks and firmware updates via service profiles, reducing manual tasks by 95%.
- RAID 1 Mirroring Support: Pairs with a second UCS-M2-I240GB-D= for HA boot volumes in hyperconverged infrastructures, achieving 99.999% uptime in Kubernetes control planes.
Target Applications and Deployment Scenarios
1. Stateless Server Boot Drives
Enables 7-second ESXi 8.0 boots in VMware vSphere clusters, supporting zero-touch provisioning for 500+ Cisco Intersight-managed nodes.
2. Metadata Acceleration for AI/ML
Caches TensorFlow/PyTorch checkpoint data in distributed training jobs, reducing epoch save/load times by 35% compared to SATA SSDs.
3. Edge Database Log Storage
Stores MySQL InnoDB redo logs in 5G MEC deployments, sustaining 25,000 write IOPS at sub-50μs latency.
Addressing Critical User Concerns
Q: How does it compare to PCIe Gen4 SSDs in boot-critical workloads?
While Gen4 drives offer higher throughput, the UCS-M2-I240GB-D= provides 40% lower boot latency variability (σ=0.2ms vs. 0.5ms) due to deterministic firmware tuning for Cisco UCS servers.
Q: Can encryption keys be managed in hybrid cloud KMS platforms?
Yes, via Cisco UCS Director 8.0+, which integrates with AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, and HashiCorp Vault for unified key lifecycle management.
Q: What’s the recovery process for a failed drive in RAID 1?
Cisco’s Auto-Failover Boot Mirroring rebuilds from the secondary drive in <8 minutes without interrupting production workloads.
Q: Is it compatible with third-party hypervisors like Proxmox?
Yes, but full performance telemetry (wear-leveling stats, encryption alerts) requires Cisco UCS Manager or Intersight.
Comparative Analysis: UCS-M2-I240GB-D= vs. HPE MK000240GWULB
| Parameter | HPE MK000240GWULB | UCS-M2-I240GB-D= |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe Gen3 x2 | PCIe Gen3 x4 |
| Encryption | TCG Opal 1.0 | FIPS 140-3 + TCG Opal 2.01 |
| Endurance | 1.0 DWPD | 1.5 DWPD |
| Management | HPE iLO 5 | Cisco UCS Manager/Intersight |
Installation and Optimization Guidelines
- RAID Configuration: Deploy RAID 1 via Cisco UCS S3260 Storage Server for mission-critical boot volumes.
- Secure Erase: Execute Cisco Secure Erase through UCS Manager to meet NIST 800-88 Rev. 1 standards before decommissioning.
- Monitoring: Enable Intersight Workload Efficiency Analytics to predict NAND wear-out 30 days in advance.
Procurement and Serviceability
Certified for use with:
- Cisco UCS C220/C240 M7 Rack Servers
- Cisco UCS B200/B480 M6 Blades
- Red Hat OpenShift 4.12 and Microsoft Azure Stack HCI
Includes 5-year 24/7 TAC support. For bulk orders and lead times, visit the UCS-M2-I240GB-D= product page.
The Unseen Value of Boot-Optimized Storage in Modern Infrastructure
In 18 enterprise deployments, the UCS-M2-I240GB-D=’s deterministic boot performance has proven indispensable. While NVMe Gen4 drives dominate benchmarks, this SSD’s FIPS 140-3 compliance and PLP enabled a federal agency to meet CJIS requirements for encrypted boot volumes—an achievement Gen4 alternatives couldn’t match due to lacking certifications. Critics may dismiss 240GB as “limited,” but in edge AI deployments, its endurance profile handled 70+ daily reboots across 500 nodes without failure over 4 years. As infrastructure grows more distributed, this drive’s blend of Cisco ecosystem integration and resilience redefines “foundational reliability”—proving that in enterprise hardware, consistency often outweighs raw specs.