This Is The Highest Capacity SSD You Can Buy Right Now

For more than five years since its release, the Nimbus Data ExaDrive DC100 remains the highest-capacity solid-state drive you can buy. Launched in 2018, it shattered previous records with its 100TB capacity packed into a standard 3.5-inch form factor. Despite advances in flash storage, no mainstream vendor has surpassed it.

This SSD wasn't built for consumers. It's made for hyperscale data centers and cloud services looking to cut down on physical rack space. It holds the equivalent of 20 million songs or 20,000 HD movies, delivering up to 500 Mbps read/write and 100,000 IOPS (input/output operations per second). It's definitely not one of the fastest SSDs you can buy, but capacity is the name of the game here, not speed.

Power efficiency is another key selling point. It draws as little as 0.1W per terabyte, up to 85% less power than other enterprise SSDs. And with enterprise-grade 3D MLC (multi-level cell) NAND, DRAM caching, and unlimited write endurance over a 5-year warranty, it's made to last.

But it's not cheap. As of the last available price, the 100TB model sells for around $40,000, or $400 per terabyte. That's roughly 4x the cost of high-capacity SATA SSDs like the Samsung 870 QVO.

You'd think storage would've doubled by now. But since Nimbus launched the DC100, no major competitor has built a bigger single SSD. Even newer 122.88TB drives from companies like Kioxia haven't reached general availability.

Part of the reason is market demand. The ultra-high-capacity SSD market is tiny. Most data centers use hard drives, not SSDs, due to their lower cost-per-terabyte. Meanwhile, big SSD vendors like Samsung, WD, and Seagate chase higher volume in mobile, laptops, and server boot drives.

On top of that, Nimbus holds patents around its scale-out architecture, giving it a lead in dense NAND packaging. To hit 100TB, it used 3,072 32GB NAND dies.  Even as 1 TB and larger NAND dies hit the market, others haven't followed. Add in pandemic-related supply chain issues and the chip shortage, and priorities shifted to lower-risk, high-volume production.

There were hints of a 200TB ExaDrive, but as of 2025, it still hasn't launched. It's possible that the existing 100TB model meets current demand, and the pricing is steep enough to hold margins without scaling further just yet.

The 100TB ExaDrive DC100 is available in SATA and SAS versions, both with the same price tag. Performance varies depending on interface: the SATA model peaks at 500 Mbps with up to 114,000 IOPS, while the SAS variant trades some speed for compatibility.

Internally, the DC100 has four flash controllers and a central protocol processor to handle I/O. It's built with enterprise-class 3D MLC NAND and includes capacitor-based power-loss protection, ECC, and encryption. MTBF is rated at 2.5 million hours. It also integrates easily into existing 3.5-inch storage arrays and is compatible with server systems from Dell, Cisco, HPE, and others. The downside? Cost. While SSD prices are going up in general, at $40K, it's not even remotely close to consumer-grade storage.

But that's the point. This is a halo product. It exists to set a benchmark in density and endurance, not to sit inside your gaming rig. And for now, it remains unmatched. Until something bigger and better ships with proven specs and broader availability, Nimbus still holds the crown. But if you do want a little something more practical for everyday use, here are some major SSD brands ranked from worst to best.