basically that, I have the chance to get a couple of 7.68tb Kioxia CD6 drives and I was considering them to add to my truenas scale or even for VMs on my proxmox. Enterprise gear always fascinated me, just checking if there’s a reason not to do it.
I have two CD6-R with 7.68TB and they are working perfectly fine. The support for namespaces works as expected. Only thing you will be out of luck for is trying to get firmware for a firmware update. You need to live with the one that comes with the drives, but the drives I got over a year ago now work as expected.
Basically the same way you can partition a drive you can set namespaces on enterprise drives. You may have seen drives show up as nvme0n1 to your operating system. The n1-part is the namespace, here namespace 1. Consumer drives have only one namespace. Enterprise drives can have several. These namespaces partition you SSD into different virtual SSDs. Say you partition your SSD with two names spaces they would show up to your operating system as nvme0n1 and as nvme0n2. In an operating system like Windows or Linux they can be used like two separate SSDs, if properly implemented by the firmware this includes securely wiping one of them while the other stays intact. For example in the case of Proxmox you could have the first 500GB as nvme0n1 and install Proxmox on that, then nvme0n2 with 500GB and pass that trough to TrueNAS and then have nvme0n3 with 20GB as a log device and pass that through to Truenas and then nvme0n4 with 500GB as a special device for Truenas. All in all namespaces appear like separate SSDs to the operating system.
Those are for the CM6 though, I am not a 100% that this works for the CD6 as well. But what definitely works that if you let the total size of all namespaces be smaller then the total size of the drive, the controller can use the empty space for wear leveling and that can increase the durability of the drive. Not that 1DWPD would be little to start with.
I found this on the post: NVMe Namespaces · Drew Thorstensen.
The section “Namespaces for Overprovisioning” seems to corroborate what the Kioxia article says about performance, which is great, even if it’s not exactly the same as getting a higher endurance drive.
Just out of curiosity, I asked GPTo1 this question, and reading it made me think of a concern you may want to consider.
Enterprise drives usually generate more heat and are made with the assumption that they’ll have access to consistent airflow across their chassis. Now, chances are that you’re not going to be taxing this drive enough for this to be a concern, but it is something to consider.
If you are curious, here is GPTo1’s response to your OP…
Sure! In general, Kioxia’s (formerly Toshiba Memory) enterprise SSDs—like the CD6 series—are highly reliable and performant. They’re made with 24/7 data center workloads in mind, which often means very solid endurance, power-loss protection, and QoS (quality-of-service) characteristics. If you have the chance to pick them up at a reasonable price, they can be excellent choices for TrueNAS SCALE or Proxmox. Here are some considerations:
Check Form Factor and Compatibility
• Many enterprise SSDs are U.2 (2.5") NVMe form factor. Make sure you have the appropriate backplane or adapters, if needed.
• Ensure TrueNAS SCALE or Proxmox can see and properly initialize the drives. Generally, NVMe support should be fine, but it’s worth verifying your hardware’s compatibility.
Endurance and TBW (Total Bytes Written)
• Enterprise drives are typically rated for high TBW, but if they’re used, check how much life is left. SMART data (or the NVMe equivalent) can tell you the drive’s wear level.
• Full enterprise drives often have higher endurance ratings (e.g., 1 DWPD / 3 DWPD), which can handle heavier workloads over time.
Power Draw and Cooling
• Enterprise NVMe SSDs can draw more power (they’re designed for consistent performance at scale). Check your chassis/PSU capability.
• Also ensure adequate airflow to prevent overheating.
Firmware Updates
• With enterprise gear, firmware updates might be more rigid—some manufacturers require custom utilities or vendor tools, which can be a hassle if you don’t have straightforward access to them.
• If the SSD is still within official support, see what’s available on Kioxia’s support site.
Performance for Proxmox VMs and TrueNAS
• For VM storage, enterprise SSDs generally shine thanks to their sustained IOPS and latency characteristics.
• TrueNAS SCALE should also be able to leverage that performance, especially if you’re doing lots of throughput or have multiple workloads. Just confirm you’re setting up the pool in a way that aligns well with your performance/fault-tolerance goals.
Overall, there’s usually no major reason to avoid enterprise SSDs if the price is right and compatibility is confirmed. Most folks who pick up used enterprise NVMe/SAS drives in good condition end up very happy with the reliability, performance, and endurance they get—often at a fraction of the cost of brand-new consumer drives of the same size. Just be diligent about drive health, wear-level, and form-factor compatibility. If that all looks good, then you should be in great shape!
Thanks, this helps. I’m assuming the same, I won’t be taxing them so it shouldn’t be a problem, but I do have a couple of large and silent fans that should have that under control.
I’ll read more about the CD6-R characteristic to see if it makes more sense to use them for VM storage on on the NAS. For now I’m leaning towards the latter just because of the sustained speeds but maybe on a day to day use it would be more noticeable with VMs.
What I would typically do for our Datacenter is evaluate all my existing infrastructure and the workload requirements. If your workloads are not that read intensive and you aren’t doing anything nuts in the lab then these are a waste of money.
The only reason i’ve ever had a reason to deploy these was when I was doing HCI-VDI
Oh I absolutely have no need for this in my homelab, I haven’t pulled the trigger yes because I want to get new fans and check the temperature in the drive bay. I really don’t want a noisy rig.
If you are handling large amounts of video footage (RAW 4k), then offloading after a shoot makes enterprise SSDs worth it*. In my experience, consumer 4TB SSDs (TLC) will tank performance wise after about 1TB to 200GB (depending on % used) write.
*If you are impatient or time is money
Be aware how much writing your SSD can get done in 100 seconds: