Applications of Industrial SSDs in Purpose-Built Computers

Wallnut’s Industrial SSDs were developed in response to the significant demand from system builders and OEMs who are designing "Purpose-Built" and "Embedded" systems for various vertical market applications. The term "Industrial SSD" refers to solid-state drives that undergo a rigorous qualification process before being added to a system builder's Approved Vendor List (AVL) for their Bill of Materials (BOM).

Wallnut’s Industrial SSD product line includes drives that support both SATA and NVMe interfaces, available in various form factors, and provides the lifecycle management required by system builders. These SSDs are managed under a controlled BOM, ensuring that system builders can trust that the SSD they qualify at the project's outset will remain consistent throughout its lifecycle.

What is a Purpose-Built Application?

Purpose-built systems are specialized computers designed for specific applications. Examples of purpose-built applications include computers for digital signage, robotics, mobile vehicle applications, gaming, Point of Sale (POS) systems, video surveillance, smart devices, and wearables. Additionally, IoT devices are emerging across nearly every industry, including healthcare, agriculture, government, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications, and logistics. In many cases, these applications are too critical to rely on generic off-the-shelf SSDs. The risk of using standard SSDs lies in their lack of control over changing BOMs, mid-production product changes, end-of-life (EOL) notifications, and limited visibility into upcoming product transitions.

What is a Controlled BOM (Bill of Materials)?

When a system builder qualifies an SSD solution, they need assurance that the SSD they purchase will remain consistent over time. All Wallnut Industrial SSDs are managed under controlled BOMs, meaning that the SSD controller, firmware, and NAND flash memory will not change throughout the product's lifecycle.

What is a PCN (Product Change Notification)?

Although rare, if a change to an SSD is necessary during its lifecycle, system builders will receive a Product Change Notification (PCN) well in advance. This provides ample time to qualify the new BOM. PCNs are a crucial part of the product lifecycle management process, ensuring ongoing system compatibility and helping to avoid costly field service issues.

Sample and Qualification Stage

The Wallnut Industrial SSD Team is prepared to assist customers during the early stages of a project with SSD selection and sample delivery. Part of the team’s responsibility is to ensure that customers receive the right SSD for their application workload. While many purpose-built applications have relatively light read/write workloads, it is always best practice to verify this workload early in the design stage to prevent potential field issues later on. Wallnut may request a brief summary of the intended workload before the sample stage to ensure both parties agree on the SSD selection.

Avoiding Costly Field Service Issues

Although most functional issues can be identified during lab qualifications, it is impossible to test for every possible field scenario. Wallnut aims to collaborate with system builders by providing adequate samples and technical information necessary for thorough qualification. Wallnut enhances compatibility testing by conducting in-house test suites on customer-supplied systems to ensure quality, reliability, and consistency.