Key to Micron’s strategy is two important features of the XTR SSD. First, it boasts an 80% lower price compared to Intel’s Optane at similar capacities. Second, it delivers up to 35% of the random DWPD (drive writes per day) numbers, achieving an impressive 35 random drives written per day or up to 67TB written per day for the 1.92TB model.
In contrast to Optane’s focus on low latency, Micron has optimized the XTR and 6500 ION drives for write performance and endurance. The XTR exhibits read/write latency at 60/15ms, which is higher than its Intel counterpart. Micron recommends pairing the XTR with the 6500 ION, as the former’s single-level cell (SLC) design provides higher endurance, making it ideal for write-intensive workloads such as caching, logging, journaling, and OLTP.
