Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:28:15 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/ SSD Reviews http://www.ssd-reviews.com/images//themes/ssd_reviews/images/ssd-reviews.jpg http://www.ssd-reviews.com/ davidyee@yahoo.com http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-140.html Super Talent Technology today launched their TeraNova SATA3 SSDs. Targeted at the Pro/Enthusiast seeking extreme performance, the TeraNova is the fastest 2.5” SSD that SuperTalent has released to date. Featuring the SATA3 Interface and SandForce 2200 processor with optimized firmware, the SuperTalent TeraNova was built for speed. By optimizing the transfer rate at various queue depths, the TeraNova delivers excellent performance in a variety of different conditions. Sure the TeraNova boots quickly and posts outstanding benchmark scores (over 500 MB/s for both read and write), but the TeraNova also excels in general responsiveness. Industry standard applications like: Photoshop, Premier, Miya and 3DS Max, load, render and perform much faster when compared to countless other SSDs available on the market. The TeraNova also includes new features that enhance reliability as well. In the event of a sudden power loss, the TeraNova reacts, protecting valuable data from corruption before it powers off. If you are looking to improve workstation productivity across the board, SuperTalent’s new TeraNova is an excellent choice. Available in 60, 120, 240 and 480GB capacities, the TeraNova begins shipping today. TeraNova SATA3 SSD Capacity Part Number 60GB FTM06N325H 120GB FTM12N325H 240GB FTM24N325H 480GB FTM48N325H Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:28:15 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-139.html OCZ Technology has released the RevoDrive 3 Max IOPS and RevoDrive 3 X2 Max IOPS solid state drives. Designed to deliver maximum throughput in multithreaded applications, the new Max IOPS edition is an extension of the company's industry-leading RevoDrive 3 product line, supporting workstation users that require greater transactional throughput and bandwidth. The RevoDrive 3 X2 Max IOPS series combines a proven cutting-edge PCI Express architecture and OCZ proprietary Virtualized Controller Architecture™ (VCA) 2.0 flash virtualization layer with premium NAND flash components to deliver exceptional 4KB random write performance of up to 245,000 IOPS, along with increased transfer rates at 1900MB/s reads and 1725MBs/ writes. "The new RevoDrive 3 Max IOPS solid state drives further expand on our original PCIe series, and are designed to deliver even more bandwidth for the most demanding applications," said Daryl Lang, VP of Product Management, OCZ Technology Group. "Engineered to leverage the benefits of multi-threaded processors and applications, the Max IOPS provides both the performance and features required by clients to address the most intensive workloads common in high performance computing and workstation environments." The RevoDrive 3 Max IOPS edition will be available in 120GB to 480GB capacities while the RevoDrive 3 X2 Max IOPS edition will be available in 240GB to 960GB capacities, providing ample space for primary persistent storage, multimedia files, and operating systems with the superior durability, energy efficiency, and reliability of SSDs. The new RevoDrive 3 Max IOPS and RevoDrive 3 X2 Max IOPS will be available throughout OCZ's global distribution channel and come with a three year warranty. RevoDrive 3 Max IOPS RevoDrive 3 X2 Max IOPS Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:06:18 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-138.html OCZ has just introduced its first products that are the result of its acquisition of Indilinx. Let's hope these drives don't have the terrible reliability issues OCZ SSDs have had with its 25nm Sandforce SATA2 SSDs, as well as BSOD problems with its SATA3 Sandforce SSDs. Here is the press release: --- OCZ Technology today launched the Indilinx Everest-based Octane SATA 3.0 and SATA 2.0 SSD series, striking the ideal balance between capacity, physical size, and speed. In addition to being the world's first SSD to achieve up to a 1TB capacity in a compact 2.5 inch format, OCZ's Octane SSD series combines high-speed data transfer rates with record-breaking access times to provide a superior user experience and improved application performance. "OCZ has reached an important milestone in the development of its own controller technology," said James E. Bagley, Senior Analyst with Storage Strategies NOW. "The high sustained performance, even with compressed files, the rapid boot feature and high access speeds using SATA 3.0 protocol puts their controller technology in the major league." "Until now SSDs have been tailored for specific applications, forcing users into a product which maximizes performance for a narrow band of applications, but is significantly lacking in others," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology. "The Octane Series solves this problem by providing the highest level of performance across varied workloads including mixed file sizes and mixed compressible and uncompressible data, all while nearly doubling NAND flash endurance." The Octane series leverages the cutting-edge Indilinx Everest platform to deliver up to 560MB/s of bandwidth and 45,000 IOPS and is optimized for the complete spectrum of file types and sizes. In particular, the Octane's proprietary page mapping algorithms allow for steady mixed-workload performance, mirroring real world conditions across a wide range of applications. The Octane series also includes a number of advanced features unique to Indilinx, including innovative latency reduction technology, enabling both read and write access times as low as 0.06ms and 0.09ms respectively, the lowest of any commercially available SSD. This enhances application responsiveness and enables features such as "fast boot" in consumer applications. Octane SSDs also come equipped with Indilinx's proprietary NDurance™ technology, increasing the lifespan of the NAND flash memory, ensuring the most consistent and reliable performance as well as minimizing performance degradation even after the drive's storage capacity is highly utilized. In addition, Octane series drives support AES and automatic encryption to secure critical data. Octane Product Features: - Dual Core CPU - Up to 512MB DRAM cache - 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB models - High sequential speeds: Octane (SATA 3.0) Read: 560MB/s; Write: 400MB/s Octane-S2 (SATA 2.0) Read: 275MB/s; Write: 265MB/s - High transactional performance - Optimized for 4K to 16K compressed files Octane (SATA 3.0) 45,000 random read 4K IOPS Octane-S2 (SATA 2.0) 30,000 random read 4K IOPS - Industry-low latency: Read: 0.06ms; Write: 0.09ms - Strong performance at low queue depths (QD 1 – 3) - Up to 8 channels with up to 16-way Interleaving - Advanced BCH ECC engine enabling more than 70 bits correction capability per 1KB of data - Proprietary NDurance™ Technology: increases NAND life up to 2X of the rated P/E cycles - Efficient NAND Flash management: Dynamic and static wear-leveling, and background garbage collection - Boot time reduction optimizations - NCQ support up to 32 queue depth - End-to-end data protection - TRIM support - Industry standard SMART reporting Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:11:53 -0500 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-137.html Kingston has announced the SSDNow KC100, the company’s first SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s) business-equipped SSD. KC100 utilizes the latest award-winning SandForce controller. This powerhouse SSD delivers exceptional performance and instantly boosts the productivity of any client system. Products include the SKC100S3/120G, SKC100S3/240G and SKC100S3/480G. KC100 is backed by a five-year warranty to match the industry average for product refresh cycles in the enterprise. Utilizing SandForce’s DuraClass™ technology, KC100 delivers world-class data integrity protection. Corporations can rest assured their data is safe as the drive offers advanced wear leveling and garbage collection to maintain optimal endurance and performance. Data integrity protection runs transparently in the background so it never disrupts daily business. KC100 is the only business-equipped SSD to offer enterprise-level S.M.A.R.T attributes. The SSD’s usage statistics, health and life stage can be monitored with industry standard and publicly available S.M.A.R.T monitoring tools. This provides peace of mind for IT departments knowing their employees are taken care of as the KC100 client-side SSDs are reliable and running optimally. “Kingston® is thrilled to offer the new business-equipped KC100 SSD to enterprises,” said Ariel Perez, SSD business manager, Kingston. “Data integrity is important to every company and the KC100 is sure to deliver the highest standards of data protection on the client systems in which it is installed. Users can rest assured that with the combination of its endurance, reliability and performance, KC100 will become a very important asset in the workplace.” The new KC100 self-encrypts to provide full and immediate client-level data encryption. With two embedded encryption engines, running in both AES-128 and AES-256, encryption is performed at the drive level without draining host system resources and slowing down data transfer r ates. KC100 is also backwards-compatible with current SATA 2 systems so investments are future-proofed for the next client system upgrade. A video with more information on the KC100 business-equipped SSD is available here: http://www.youtube.com/embed/_6PTLFG43UA. SSDNow KC100 ships in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities, as a standalone or as an upgrade bundle kit. It is backed by a five-year warranty, 24/7 tech support and legendary Kingston reliability. For more information visit www.kingston.com. Kingston SSDNow KC100 Features and Specifications: Sequential Reads 6Gb/s¹: SATA Rev. 3.0 – 120GB & 240GB: 555MB/s; 480GB: 540MB/s SATA Rev. 2.0 – 120GB, 240GB & 480GB: 280MB/s Sequential Writes 6Gb/s SATA Rev. 3.0 – 120GB & 240GB: 510MB/s; 480GB: 450MB/s SATA Rev. 2.0 – 120GB, 240GB & 480GB: 260MB/s Sustained Random 4K Read/Write²: 120GB: 20,000 / 60,000 IOPS 240GB: 40,000 / 60,000 IOPS 480GB: 60,000/45,000 IOPS Max Random 4K Read/Write 120GB: 90,000 / 70,000 IOPS 240GB: 95,000 / 60,000 IOPS 480GB: 77,000 / 45,000 IOPS Form factor: 2.5" Interface: SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s), SATA Rev 2.0 (3Gb/s) and SATA Rev 1.0 (1.5Gb/s) Guaranteed: five-year Kingston warranty, 24/7 tech support Enterprise S.M.A.R.T Tools: Reliability Tracking, Usage Statistics, Life Remaining, Power Loss, Wear Leveling, Temperature, Drive Life Protection Capacity³: 120GB, 240GB, 480GB Storage temperatures: -40°C - 85°C Operating temperatures: 0°C - 70°C Dimensions: 69.85mm x 100mm x 9.5mm Vibration operating: 2.17G Vibration non-operating: 20G Operating shock: 1500G Power specs: 0.455 W (TYP) Idle / 1.6 W (TYP) Read / 2.05 W (TYP) Write Kingston SSDNow KC100 Business Equipped Solid-State Drive Part number Capacity and features MRSP (U.S. only) SKC100S3/120G 120GB KC100 Stand-alone SSD $ 337.00 SKC100S3/240G 240GB KC100 Stand-alone SSD $ 650.00 SKC100S3/480G 480GB KC100 Stand-alone SSD $ 1,270.00 SKC100S3B/120G 120GB KC100 Upgrade Bundle Kit $ 353.00 SKC100S3B/240G 240GB KC100 Upgrade Bundle Kit $ 665.00 SKC100S3B/480G 480GB KC100 Upgrade Bundle Kit $ 1,285.00 Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:15:12 -0500 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-136.html Kingston has announced it is shipping the HyperX® SSD, its first SATA Rev. 3.0 6Gb/s solid-state drive. The Kingston® HyperX SSD features the latest SandForce® controller and is designed for enthusiasts, gamers and performance users. Kingston HyperX SSD highlights include: 120GB and 240GB capacities*. Ships as a standalone SSD (includes HyperX branded 2.5" to 3.5" desktop mounting plate); or as a bundle with the HyperX Upgrade Kit for easy installation (includes Acronis® True Image™ HD migration software, desktop mounting plate, external drive bay, multi-head screwdriver, SATA data cable. Incredible sequential read/write throughputs of 555 / 510MB/s1. SandForce SF-2281 controller featuring SATA Rev 3.0 (6GB/s). Max 4KB random read/write of 95,000 / 70,000 IOPS2 (120GB). Premium Intel 25nm Compute NAND (P/E 5K). Kingston HyperX SSD available from Amazon.com, Buy.com, Newegg.com, TigerDirect.com. (U.S. only) SH100S3/120G 120GB Stand-alone SSD $ 269.99 SH100S3B/120G 120GB HyperX Bundle Kit $ 284.99 SH100S3/240G 240GB Stand-alone SSD $ 519.99 SH100S3B/240G 240GB HyperX Bundle Kit $ 539.99 * Some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions and thus is not available for data storage. For more information, please consult Kingston’s Flash Memory Guide at Kingston.com/Flash_Memory_Guide. 1 Based on internal testing. Performance may vary based on system settings. 2 Based on “out-of-box performance with IOMeter08. 3 Limited time at launch. Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:17:10 -0500 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-135.html The first product by OCZ after its Indilinx acquisition has emerged in the Indilinx Everest SSD Controller. Here's the Press release: --- OCZ Technology today unveiled the Indilinx Everest SATA 3.0 SSD platform. The Everest platform features support of 6Gbps interface speeds, high transactional performance that is optimized for compressed files, and maximum capacities up to 1TB. "The new Indilinx Everest platform is a complete customizable solution that delivers superior storage performance, features, and capabilities designed to exceed the needs of the most demanding SSD applications," said Bumsoo Kim, President of Indilinx. "Combining a 6Gbps SATA Revision 3.0 host interface, a dual-core CPU, and support for the latest, most advanced NAND Flash memory technology available, Everest offers SSD manufacturers unparallel flexibility in optimizing their designs for both performance and cost." As a true next generation solution the new Indilinx Everest platform includes a complete spectrum of enhanced capabilities including: Supports Next Generation Flash Technologies The Everest Platform supports state-of-the-art, Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND components and next generation three bit per cell NAND Flash. The ability to leverage Triple-Level Cell (TLC) NAND Flash with proprietary Everest and Indilinx Ndurance Technology provides customers with significant cost reductions associated with moving to the new process. Advanced Architecture Optimized for High Speed and Density The Everest Platform features the only controller to support 200 mega transfers per second (MT/s) synchronous-mode flash, up over the 166 MT/s supported by other NAND Flash controllers. Everest supports 1TB capacities in a single controller SSD design with current generation Flash components. Its innovative eight channel design with up to 16-way interleaving for maximum performance, supports full data path and power fail protection to deliver best-in-class data integrity and reliability for enterprise applications. Performance Optimization Everest's leading-edge design delivers high sequential speeds up to 500MB/s and is optimized for small file writes at the 8K file size with next generation page mapping technology, which increases transactional performance optimized for 4K to 16K compressed files , by matching file sizes to the 8K page size typical in newer generation NAND Flash. Enhanced Boot Time Indilinx's new boot time reduction algorithms can be configured to decrease system boot time by up to 50% over existing SSD controller architectures for customers that require faster boot times and an instant-on experience in their applications. This provides the real world benefits users seek from their storage solutions and enables quicker access and greater responsiveness, allowing clients to take full advantage of solid state storage as a boot device. Indilinx Everest Platform Complete Feature-Set: - SATA Revision 3.0 – Supports 6Gbps, 3Gbps, and 1.5Gbps interface speeds - Dual Core ARM CPU - 1TB Maximum Capacity - High Sequential Speeds - High Transactional Performance - Optimized for 4K to 16K Compressed Files - Up to 8 Channels of ONFI 2.0/Toggle 1.0 Flash at up to 200MT/s with up to 16-way Interleaving - Advanced BCH ECC engine -over 70 bits per defined sector - 400MHz DDR3 DRAM Cache Interface with Support for up to 512MB - Proprietary Ndurance™ Technology - Enhanced Power Fail Protection - Supports up to 1xnm Node NAND Flash with 1, 2, or 3 bits per cell - Efficient NAND Flash Management – Dynamic and Static Wear-Leveling, and Background Garbage Collection - Boot Time Reduction Optimizations – Collaborative Platform Development - NCQ Support up to 32 Queue Depth - End-to-End Data Protection - TRIM Support - Numerous Over-Provisioning Options - Industry Standard SMART Reporting The Indilinx Everest SSD platform is now available to OEMs for validation. Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:40:13 -0500 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-134.html SuperTalent has introduced their own Sandforce 2200-based SSDs in the FTM06P325H, FTM12P325H, FTM24P325H and FTM48P325H. Here is the complete press release: --- Super Talent Technology today announced their next generation SSD, the TeraDrive PT3. Featuring the SandForceTM 2200 processor, SATA3 interface, and Double Data Rate, ONFiTM flash, the new TeraDrive PT3 offers a significant leap in performance over drives offered just a few months ago. The union of these 3 new technologies has forever changed the storage landscape. Right out of the gate, this new generation SSD stretches well within the new found bandwidth promised by the SATA 3.0 bus and breaks the 500MB/s barrier in both Read and Write scores. The comparisons between SSDs and HDDs just became a little harder to justify. The only SSD processor to compress data before writing, SandForce's unique set of technologies enables the new TeraDrive PT3 to offer enhanced performance, flash durability and data integrity. Add to that the introduction of ONFi, double data rate flash, and the SATA 3.0, 6Gbps interface, and we have one of the largest incremental leaps in performance that the storage market has ever seen. "To reach this level of performance, just a few months ago, required two SSDs in a RAID array. Now a new generation NAND flash and the SATA 3.0 interface have clearly moved the performance bottleneck elsewhere", Peter Carcione, SuperTalent Director of Product Marketing. Available in capacities 60, 120, 240 and 480GB, the TeraDrive PT3 begins shipping today!!! TeraDrive PT3 (DDR) Capacity Part Number 60GB FTM06P325H 120GB FTM12P325H 240GB FTM24P325H 480GB FTM48P325H Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:50:44 -0500 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-133.html OCZ today launched the Deneva 2 SSD line for enterprise clients. Taking full advantage of the cutting-edge SATA 6Gb/s interface, Deneva 2 SSDs are designed for a wide range of enterprise applications including servers, cloud computing, and data centers. The Deneva 2 series delivers maximum performance while meeting the stringent reliability, security, performance and economical needs of enterprise storage environments. "Data centers are one application where the speed benefits of a fast SSD visibly fall straight to a company's bottom line," said SSD analyst Jim Handy of Objective Analysis. "This has driven the enterprise to be the fastest-growing market for SSDs - Objective Analysis forecasts for enterprise SSD unit shipments to grow at an average annual rate of 83 percent, nearly doubling every year." As the demand for increased storage efficiency, maximized data throughput, and a smaller operating footprint broadens across various industries, more and more companies are turning to the benefits of SSDs to significantly optimize their storage infrastructures. With these requirements in mind, OCZ has been a pioneer in the design and development of SSDs for the enterprise environment, pushing the envelope to develop solutions that combine industry-leading performance with a robust feature-set. Deneva 2, the company’s latest offering, features several enterprise-critical options not available in OCZ's consumer product lines, including power loss data protection, best-in-class endurance (e.g., minimal write amplification, intelligent block management and wear-leveling), and advanced encryption and ECC. “Processing data is critical to any business looking to compete in a rapidly changing, global marketplace. However, many enterprise organizations are limited by outdated storage solutions, which limits their ability to process the necessary data they require to operate their businesses,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO at OCZ Technology Group. “Deneva 2 SSDs are optimized for high-volume storage applications, offer industry-leading reliability, and leverage the latest NAND and controller technology to deliver superior performance. This combination means that enterprises can overcome previous roadblocks, and use their data in real-time.” Based on SandForce SF-2000 SSD processors, the Deneva 2 series delivers up to 80,000 4KB random write IOPS and 550MB/s of potential bandwidth. Along with world-renowned performance, Deneva 2 SSDs are specifically designed to deliver superior reliability and are manufactured with the latest flash components specific to the customer’s needs. In addition, the series includes enterprise-grade multi-level cell (eMLC) NAND flash technology, which offers improved endurance for write-intensive applications. Deneva 2 SSDs can also be customized, come in a wide variety of interface options including PCIe, and are available in 2.5, 3.5, and 1.8 inch form factors for use in very high density computing environments, including blade servers. OCZ Deneva 2 solutions overcome the performance, durability, and maintenance obstacles inherent to mechanical HDD storage. OCZ's ability to provide a tailored solution ensures ultimate compatibility, reliability, and cost-savings, resulting in products that are optimized to specifically address the unique needs of enterprise clients. Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:56:26 -0500 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-132.html OCZ Technology today launched the OCZ Talos series, a line of Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) SSDs designed for enterprise applications that require ultra-fast, high capacity solutions equipped with multi-level cell (MLC) NAND. Talos brings new strength to the Company's storage lineup by expanding the availability of OCZ's proprietary Virtualized Controller Architecture™ (VCA) technology to storage OEMs. "We have experienced considerable demand for our high-capacity VCA-enabled SAS products, both with and without enhanced power fail protection," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "The new OCZ Talos SSD series delivers the ultimate combination of performance, scalability, and reliability. Talos series drives are tailored to meet the needs of most enterprises in a non-customer specific format, including balanced compressed and incompressible data performance and balanced read/write IOPS, all in the highest capacity SAS 6Gbps drive available today." Talos SAS SSDs deliver incredible speed with up to 64,000 4K random IOPS and are specifically optimized for enterprise storage applications, providing clients who require substantial transactional processing with superior performance and cost-savings. Additionally, the Talos SAS interface offers the benefits of interoperability and integration with existing devices, flexibility for traditional storage environments, and the ability to scale greater amounts of drives, providing larger aggregate pools of storage. The drives also deliver world-class reliability features including superior power loss protection, endurance, encryption, and ECC protection. Unique to OCZ products, the Talos series leverages VCA technology which provides customers with robust enterprise features including TRIM, SMART monitoring, native command queuing (NCQ), tagged command queuing (TCQ), power fail management, and wear-leveling; all within a single streamlined solution. With Talos and VCA technology, clients can now deploy an SSD solution that delivers advanced application performance, all the necessary enterprise features, and substantial power savings, at a better total cost of ownership. To address the complete spectrum of customer applications, Talos SSDs are available in 3.5-inch form factors (2.5-inch to follow) and range from 200GB to 960GB. OCZ is now sampling Talos to strategic customers and the drives will be made available to SMB and enterprise clients through OCZ's business-to-business channel. Thu, 12 May 2011 11:25:47 -0500 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-131.html OCZ Technology today launched the OCZ Agility 3 and Solid 3 SATA3 SSD product lines. The Agility 3 and Solid 3 are designed to cater to speed-seeking enthusiasts in search of the best value for performance. Using the latest technology, these new series deliver nearly double the performance of the previous generation and offer a more cost-effective alternative to current SATA 6Gbps SSDs on the market. “With increased availability of SATA III platforms, the demand for the latest generation SSDs has grown rapidly,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ technology Group. “We are addressing this demand with new products that offer both the best performance and value for consumers. The new Agility 3 and Solid 3 SSDs make it easier than ever for consumers take advantage of the new SATA III interface. When coupled with the speed and reliability benefits that our SSDs offer over traditional hard drives, it makes the two new series the ideal choices for mobile and desktop applications.” Agility 3 and Solid 3 SSDs feature the leading-edge SandForce SF-2200 SSD processor and help improve the overall computing experience compared to traditional mechanical hard drives and SATA II SSDs. The Agility 3 delivers up to 525MB/s reads, 500MB/s writes, and up to 60,000 4KB random write IOPS while the value-oriented Solid 3 features 500MB/s reads, 450MB/s writes, and 20,000 4KB random write IOPS. Available in a new boot-drive size 60GB capacity as well as 120GB and 240GB options, Agility 3 and Solid 3 SSDs feature TRIM support to optimize performance over the drive’s lifespan. Both solutions come backed by a 3-year warranty. Tue, 10 May 2011 13:19:00 -0500 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-130.html Seagate today powered up the Pulsar 2 SSD which the company says is the first MLC-enabled, (up to 800GB) SSD from an enterprise HDD vendor delivering the price/performance, data integrity, and endurance needed for performance-hungry enterprise applications. Unlike other MLC SSDs that have been designed for consumer applications and lack the robust data integrity and endurance feature set required for enterprise applications, the Pulsar.2 SSD has been designed from the ground up for the enterprise. It has the intelligence to automatically detect and correct a multitude of data errors than can occur during normal drive operations to deliver the highest levels of enterprise-class data integrity and endurance. By enabling MLC NAND technology for the enterprise, this drive addresses the market concerns on SSD cost and endurance and will enable adoption of SSDs in the enterprise. The Pulsar.2 supports both native 6Gb/s SAS and SATA 6Gb/s interfaces. Seagate Pulsar XT.2 Solid State Drive The Pulsar XT.2 is a 2.5-inch, SLC-based, native 6Gb/s SAS, up to 400GB enterprise SSD from Seagate, the world leader in enterprise storage. The Pulsar XT.2 SSD delivers the highest levels of consistent performance, data integrity, and drive endurance for the most demanding enterprise environments. The Pulsar XT.2 is the fastest drive in the Seagate portfolio, with sustainable random reads at 48K and writes at 22K IOPS and sequential reads at 360MB/sec and writes at 300MB/sec. The Pulsar XT.2 is optimized for real world, complex, mixed workloads typical of enterprise environments. Both the Pulsar.2 and Pulsar XT.2 drives leverage Seagate’s leadership in meeting enterprise customer expectations in product development, qualification, fulfillment and ongoing support on a worldwide basis. Over 200 man-years of development went into the 2 nd-generation Pulsar SSD products, with enterprise reliability verified by a team with over 1,500 collective years of experience in the storage industry. And with a 0.44% AFR and 2 million hour MTBF rating, the Pulsar XT.2 and Pulsar.2 provide the storage reliability that enterprise data centers can count on. The Pulsar XT.2 is currently shipping to OEMs. Both the Pulsar XT.2 and Pulsar.2 will be generally available to the channel beginning Q2 of this year. Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:49:19 -0500 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-129.html Very interesting developments indeed. Personally I haven't seen any new Indilinx products on the market for awhile, and it seemed like maybe the company was not going to keep up with the like of Sandforce, Intel and Samsung. Now you think- is OCZ going to come out with its own SSD controllers or simply add features using Indilinx technology. Below is an excerpt of the official press release: --- OCZ Technology today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Indilinx Co., Ltd, a privately held fabless provider of flash controller silicon and software for SSDs. Indilinx is headquartered in South Korea and currently sells its line of flash controllers to SSD manufacturers and Tier One OEMs for use in a broad array of products addressing multiple markets, including embedded and industrial as well as laptops and PCs. Indilinx controllers have been deployed within OCZ's SSD products since December 2008, and are currently featured in the Z-Drive series of PCIe-based SSDs. Indilinx's technology is expected to enable OCZ to expand its presence into the embedded, hybrid storage, and industrial markets. OCZ will gain substantial intellectual property from Indilinx including approximately 20 patents and patent applications related exclusively to the business as part of the transaction. For example, the acquisition is expected to extend OCZ's capabilities with advanced controller technology including Tinkerbell™, a high performance eMMC 4.4 x controller that replaces SSDs in consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs, GPS units, and netbooks. Tinkerbell improves the user experience in consumer mobile devices for applications such as internet browsing, gaming, social networking applications, emails, and multimedia play. Following its acquisition by OCZ, Indilinx will continue to produce and supply its line of controller products to SSD manufacturers and OEMs on a global basis. The Indilinx controller business, and its 45 employees, will remain intact under the leadership of Bumsoo Kim, the founder and President of Indilinx, and Hyunmo Chung, Indilinx's Chief Technology Officer. OCZ will continue its own R&D program to develop new proprietary technologies and products to expand its own solid state drive offerings. The Indilinx acquisition notwithstanding, OCZ plans to continue utilizing controllers from other manufacturers including long-term partner SandForce, who currently supplies SSD processors for a wide range of the Company's SSD products including the Vertex 2, Agility 2, RevoDrive, customizable Deneva enterprise drives, and the upcoming Vertex 3 family of SSDs. "This transaction is an important step in OCZ's strategy and significantly enhances our ability to capitalize on the worldwide demand for Solid State Drives," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "This combination brings together two organizations that are committed to advancing solid state drive design, and provides a unique opportunity for OCZ to increase both customer and shareholder value as well as expand our reach into embedded markets." Under the terms of the agreement, OCZ will acquire Indilinx for approximately $32 million of OCZ common stock. Indilinx shareholders will own approximately 9.5% of the OCZ shares outstanding after issuance of the shares. The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of each company, and is expected to close within 30 days, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. OCZ expects the transaction to become accretive to its earnings per share toward the end of this fiscal year on a non-GAAP basis, excluding acquisition-related expenses, restructuring charges, and amortization of intangibles. Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:59:04 -0500 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-128.html Super Talent today powered up the SuperTalen TeraDrive SSDs. Featuring the 2nd generation SandForceTM controllers, a SATA III 6Gbps interface, and the new ONFi Double Data Rate NAND flash, these new drives promise to deliver twice the performance of their predecessors. At 3 Gbps, the SATA 2 interface posed a bottleneck to existing SSD designs but little performance was to be gained by changing to SATA3. That just changed. As double data rate (DDR) NAND becomes available, SSD performance stands to double overnight. Since the new 2nd generation SandForce controllers support both SATA3 and DDR flash, we are now able to unleash the performance of these new designs. "It's the convergence of several new technologies that makes this drive possible. The double data rate (DDR) ONFi NAND enables drives to go twice as fast as previous generations but we were already hitting the limit of SATAII. We needed a controller that would support this new flash type and provide the faster SATA3, 6Gbps, bus interface. The SandForce 2200/2500 controllers, enabled us to do both"., CH Lee COO of SuperTalent. The TeraDrive CT3 is designed for the pro-sumer. Featuring the new SandForce 2200 controller, this drive offers advanced features with a focus on capacity and performance. The TeraDrive FT3 is designed Enterprise environment. Featuring advanced provisioning, endurance and wear leveling algorithms and SuperCap support the SF-2500 is perfect demanding Enterprise environments. Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:54:17 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-127.html Transcend today introduced the Transcend SSD18C3 USB3 external Solid State Drive. The new portable SSD combines the benefits of USB 3.0 with all the performance and durability advantages of solid-state technology, providing unparalleled speed and stability that conventional portable hard drives cannot compete with. Turbo Mode: Data transfer rates up to 260MB/s The new USB 3.0 SSD18C3 is a true Solid State Drive, based on high quality NAND flash memory. It includes an innovative device driver engineered to dramatically enhance USB transfer speeds. Once installed, the SSD will switch into Turbo mode, boosting data transfer speeds up to an incredible 260MB/s when connected to a USB 3.0 port. This exceptional performance makes the SSD an ideal storage solution for read-intensive applications; even an entire DVD movie takes a mere 15 seconds to process. Also compatible with USB 2.0, the SSD18C3 ensures that users will be able to transfer files on computers not yet equipped with a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port. Extra durable with rubberized exterior Due to the absence of moving parts, the SSD18C3’s internal SSD runs silent and cool, and can withstand excessive shock or vibration. To add more durability, the SSD is housed in a vibration-absorbing and slip-resistant silicone outer shell. Its robust housing and shockproof storage technology make the SSD18C3 perfect for users who need high performance on the go, without having to worry about accidental impact damage. Aabout the size of a deck of pokerbout the size of a deck of poker playing cards, the SSD18C3 is ultra light and easy to carry. One Touch auto-backup & JetFlash Elite software The SSD18C3 offers an array of state-of-the-art features, including an extremely convenient One Touch auto-backup button. The One Touch backup system, which can be enabled with the preloaded Backup Manager software, allows users to instantly backup and synchronize their data with one easy button press. Users can also download Transcend’s exclusive JetFlash Elite data management tools to help them use their SSD more productively, such as for automatic website authentication, or checking non web-based email accounts remotely just by plugging the SSD into any computer with Internet access. Transcend’s new SSD18C3 Solid State Drive is now available for a suggested price of US$224 for the 64GB model and US$448 for the 128GB model. Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:34:35 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-126.html Patriot Memory has launched the new Patrio Wildfire SSDs driven by a new SandForce SF-2200 processor. The Patriot Wildfire series obliterates expectations of storage devices and delivers enterprise-class performance to consumer desktops and notebooks. Storage bottlenecks are a thing of the past with the Patriot Wildfire series SSD. The new SandForce SF-2200 SSD processor enables the Patriot Wildfire series to shatter previous performance records with up to breathtakingly-fast 500MB/s sequential read and write speeds backed by a SATA 6.0 Gb/s interface. "The Patriot Wildfire is the fastest SSD drive we have ever released to the public," says Les Henry, Patriot Memory's Vice President of Engineering. "SandForce® has done a fantastic job engineering the SF-2200 SSD processor and combined with our research and development, we are able to further tweak the design and maximize performance with the processor and our flash memory." "We are happy to see Patriot Memory is expanding their current SandForce Driven™ product line with the new SandForce SF-2200 and SF-2100 Client SSD Processors," said Kent Smith, Sr. Director of Product Marketing of SandForce. "Patriot has won numerous awards and we anticipate they will win even more with our latest generation 6.0 Gb/s client processor." The Patriot Wildfire series feature a standard 2.5-inch form factor for compatibility with notebooks and select desktops. A 2.5-inch to 3.5-inch mounting bracket is included with the Patriot Wildfire for compatibility with standard hard drive mounting. Expect the Patriot Wildfire to ship in Q2 2011 in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities. General details - New Patriot Wildfire series SSDs 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities - SandForce SF-2200 SSD processor - SATA 6.0 Gb/s interface - Up to 500 MB/s sequential read and write speeds Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:29:47 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-125.html OCZ Technology today launched the OCZ Vertex 3 SATA 3 SSDs aimed at both client and enterprise applications. Harnessing the 6Gbps speed of the SATA III interface, the new series delivers double the performance of the previous generation. The Vertex 3 is the first solution to feature the new SandForce SF-2200 SSD processor, and raises the bar in performance with up to 550MB/s read and 500MB/s write transfer rates and up to 60,000 IOPS (4k random write). This maximized speed significantly improves gaming, multimedia, and the overall computing experience over traditional mechanical hard drives, as well as other competing SSDs. "The new Vertex 3 solid state drive series builds on the success of our previous two generations of products and delivers exceptional performance by utilizing fast synchronous mode 2Xnm MLC NAND flash technology," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "These storage solutions feature both the highest sequential speeds available with a SATA 6GBps SSD and the highest IOPS of any current 2.5 inch SSD on the market today, allowing us to once again set the benchmark for industry leading SSD performance and reliability." Also included in the new series is the enterprise-class Vertex 3 Pro which not only delivers industry-leading performance, but is optimized to provide unparalleled reliability, security, and endurance. Featuring the premium SF-2500 SSD SATA III processor, Vertex 3 Pro SSDs are the ideal solution for clients seeking enterprise-grade MLC (Multi-Level Cell) SSD storage for their server farms and IT infrastructures. Due to its ability to implement MLC, Vertex 3 Pro provides an optimized balance of reliability and component-based cost-savings, resulting in superior TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) for enterprise clients. The new Vertex 3 Series will be showcased at next week's international CeBIT tradeshow in Hanover, Germany, and will begin shipping following the event through OCZ's global channel. Vertex 3 SSDs will be available in capacities of 120GB and 240GB, while the Pro edition comes in 100GB, 200GB, and 400GB models. The entire Vertex 3 line features TRIM support to optimize performance over the drive's lifespan and a 3 year warranty to ensure customer satisfaction. Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:06:10 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-124.html SandForce has introduced the SandForce SF-2200 and SF-2100 SSD Processors optimized for SSDs deployed in client computing applications. The SF-2200 processors feature a 6 Gigabit-per-second (Gb/s) SATA host interface, an unprecedented sustained sequential read/write performance of up to 500 Megabytes per second (MB/s), and award-winning DuraClass™ Technology. The SF-2100 processors feature a 3 Gb/s SATA host interface, read/write performance up to 250 MB/s, and the same powerful DuraClass Technology. In addition to leading-edge performance, the SF-2200 and SF-2100 Client products support state-of-the-art, high-speed ONFi2 and Toggle flash interfaces in single-level & multi-level cell (SLC & MLC) NAND flash families from all major suppliers. "With high profile products now incorporating SSDs as standard storage media and most other system vendors offering them as options, the market for client SSD applications is poised for growth as SSD prices decline,” said Joseph Unsworth, Research Director, NAND Flash & SSD at Gartner. “SSD controllers that can deliver superior performance and reliability without the dependence on DRAM will have a compelling value proposition across a wide range of client applications.” The SF-2200 and SF-2100 Client SSD Processors address the needs of cost-sensitive client storage markets with many inherent enterprise-class features. These devices feature the highly sought-after SandForce DuraClass Technology including RAISE™ and patented and patent-pending DuraWrite™ features to deliver the ultimate in performance, endurance, reliability, and power management. Additionally, SF-2200 and SF-2100 Client SSD Processors feature: • Support for advanced 30nm- and 20nm-class NAND flash from all leading flash vendors with Asynch/ONFi1/ONFi2/Toggle interfaces with data transfer rates up to 166 Mega Transfers per second • Trusted Computing Group (TCG) OPAL security with 256-bit AES encryption and automatic, linerate double encryption with a drive-level password • Advanced ECC engine correcting up to 55 bits per 512-byte sector to assure high data integrity and support for future generations of flash memory • Power and performance optimization and tuning features to maximize mobile battery life • Single-chip “DRAM-less” solution enabling highly compact and flexible designs “As with our first-generation product, the new SF-2200 and SF-2100 Client SSD Processors break new ground in terms of reliability, performance, and affordability by optimizing access to the most advanced NAND flash technologies,” said Michael Raam, President and CEO for SandForce. “Manufacturers building client SSDs can now introduce even higher performance products that further optimize the computing user experience and enhance overall productivity which will continue to accelerate mainstream laptop and PC market adoption of SSDs.” Live SF-2200 and SF-2100 Product Demonstrations at CeBit SSD manufacturers and system OEMs will demonstrate their SandForce Driven™ SF-2200 and SF-2100 products at the CeBit show in Hanover, Germany, on March 1-5, 2011. Be sure to look for the various online product reviews that will follow those demonstrations. Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:28:19 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-123.html Super Talent has launched the today announced their CoreStore line of SSD solutions designed to bring a new level of performance to the SSD market. By combining the very latest Marvel controller (88NV9143), new DDR ONFi 2 flash and plugging directly to the PCIe bus, Super Talent is now able to create two solutions that deliver unforeseen performance. CoreStore SSDONFI 2PerformanceMLC350 MB/s READ , 80MB/s WRITESLC350 MB/s READ , 220MB/s WRITE Available in two standard formats, mini-PCIe and PCIe Card, Super Talent has a drive to fit many popular applications. The mini-PCIe card (30mm x 50.95mm) is perfect for embedded applications, Industrial PCs, All-in-One PCs, Netbook PCs, Notebooks. Don’t have a min-PCIe slot, Super Talent also offers a version of this product that will plug directly into a standard PCIe card slot; perfect for any Desktop PC. Note: Gen 2 PCI slot required for top speeds. "By utilizing our relationships with both first tier controller manufactures and DDR flash manufactures, we are able to create innovate solutions such as the CoreStore SSD and offer them to our customers before anyone else"., CH Lee COO of SuperTalent. DescriptionCapacityPart NumberMLCSLCCoreStore MVMini PCIe SSD 16GBSR16C6ME1SR16D6ME132GBSR32C6ME1SR32D6ME164GBSR64C6ME1SR64D6ME1128GBSR28C6ME1n/aCoreStore MPPCIe SSD 16GBSR16C6MP1SR16C6ME132GBSR32C6MP1SR32C6ME164GBSR64C6MP1SR64C6ME1128GBSR28C6MP1n/a Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:17:47 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-122.html OCZ today launched the OCZ OCZSSDPX-ZD3P84300G, OCZSSDPX-ZD3P84600G and OCZSSDPX-ZD3P841.2T OCZ Z-DRIVE R3 P84 PCI-EXPRESS SSDs. Demoed for the first time at CES 2011, the Z-Drive R3 updates the existing lineup with greater performance, reliability, and design flexibility with a new compact footprint for server applications, and is the first SSD to officially deploy OCZ’s proprietary Virtualized Controller Architecture (VCA) technology. Creating a ‘virtual super controller,’ OCZ’s VCA (Virtualized Controller Architecture) pools the resources of two or more NAND flash controller interfaces, MCPs, storage processors, and a physical interface complete with customizable features and interface options that eliminates the need to re-spin expensive silicon. VCA is able to address NAND flash in an innovative way through the use of a massively parallel array, eliminating bottlenecks by increasing both read and write speeds up to the theoretical interface limit while keeping access latencies to a minimum. With VCA, IT Architects can now take advantage of enterprise-rich features that are not available when utilizing traditional raid cards with an array of SSDs in their servers. With the Z-Drive R3, which makes use of VCA technology, clients can now overcome this obstacle and deploy a single solid state drive that not only delivers exceptional bandwidth but also beneficial enterprise features including TRIM, SMART monitoring, native command queuing (NCQ), tagged command queuing (TCQ), power fail management, and wear-leveling. “The Z-Drive R3 lineup of PCI-E SSD’s delivers superior performance and flexibility to enterprise clients who require high bandwidth coupled with high transactional performance,” commented Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology. “Clients gain both the benefits of increased performance and reduced size with the Z-Drive R3, the half height and half length card can fit in even the slimmest servers and yet is capable of delivering up to 135k IOPS in a half height and 250k 4K Random write IOPS, in a full height configuration, due to OCZ’s unique Virtualized Controller Architecture. This innovative new technology will provide customers with robust enterprise features including TRIM, SMART monitoring and power fail management all within a single streamlined solution.” The Z-Drive R3 takes the SATA/SAS bottleneck out of the equation and by implementing PCI-E Gen. 2 x8 interface and multiple SSD processors to deliver up to 1GB/s transfer speeds and 135,000 4k random write IOPS for maximum productivity in an professional IT environment. Available in up to 1.2TB capacities using a variety of NAND flash, this drive features a half-height and half-length form factor to maximize its application potential for servers and racks. OCZ will also introduce a new full height card that offers even higher performance and up to 250,000 4k random write IOPS. The Z-Drive R3 with VCA takes enterprise data storage to new heights, providing the benefits of SSDs in a server environment for a cooler, quieter, more cost-effective solution than mechanical hard drives. OCZ’s complete range of Z-Drive R3 is now available in SLC, MLC, eMLC NAND flash in 150GB, 300GB, 600GB, and 1.2TB capacities to fit the demanding needs of today’s storage networks, data centers, and supercomputers. Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:28:24 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-121.html Transcend today introduced its upgraded 2.5” solid state drives (SSDs). Built on a faster and newer controller, the revamped SSDs provide random read speeds of up to 40MB/s, resulting in significantly faster system boot up and application launch performance. The newly released SSDs are available in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities. Thanks to their use of the new advanced controller chip and 64MB of built-in DDR2 DRAM cache memory, the new SSDs feature sequential read and write speeds up to 260MB/s and 240MB/s, and random read/write speeds of 40MB/s and 27MB/s. This dramatically improved performance not only reduces average system boot times, but also offers stutter-free response and stability for netbooks, notebooks, high-end gaming PCs and industrial computers. Users can also take advantage of their cool, noiseless operation to enjoy the perks of silent and practical computing. For added value, Transcend’s new 2.5" SSDs fully support the TRIM command used by modern operating systems to help maintain optimum write speeds and reduce long-term SSD wear. Engineered for long life and maximum reliability, the upgraded SSDs have built-in Error Correction Code (ECC) functionality and static wear leveling that evenly distributes data written to or erased from the drive’s flash memory cells. All models are guaranteed to conform to RoHS standards for manufacturing without the use of hazardous materials. Transcend’s 2.5” SATA SSDs are extremely durable and are built with a robust tamper-resistant outer casing. All Transcend 2.5” Solid State Drives are backed by a two-year limited warranty. Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:24:09 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-120.html Super Talent Technology today introduced the SLC-based DuraDrive AT2 SATA SSDs in 64GB (FTD64GW25x), 32GB (FTD32GW25x) and 16GB (FTD16GW25x) capacities. Right on heels of our resent announcement of ZIF and PATA interfaces, the new DuraDrive AT2 now completes this family line by offering the same industrial grade durability, reliability and performance with the SATA II interface. The DuraDrive was designed for use in environments considered "too harsh" for a standard drive. The DuraDrive series utilized Solid State Disk technology, meaning it performs faster, use less power, offers greater reliability, shock and vibration than their HDD counterparts. By carefully selecting the finest components available, including an advanced industrial controller and premium NAND flash, we are able to further enhance the temperature specifications making the DuraDrive ideal for mission critical and embedded applications. The DuraDrive line also has optional support for the Secure Erase features required for many Military and Industrial applications. With ECC/EDC support, bad bit management firmware and patented wear leveling technology, this drive offers extreme reliability and endurance; even in the most demanding of environments (-40oC to 85oC ). "The new DuraDrive Series demonstrates Super Talent's commitment to the Industrial, Embedded and Military markets. While other manufactures are focused on large volume products for the masses, SuperTalent is focused on designing products for customers who are looking for more. SuperTalent is making durable industrial spec built - to order products. Supporting SLC and Secure Erase options for our most trusted customers"., said Super Talent COO, CH Lee. Twice as fast as its previous versions, our new DuraDrive line of SSD's reach impressive sequential R/W speeds of 125, 110 MB/s respectively. DuraDrive SSD's enhanced reliability is ideal for industries associated with, but no limited too; the Medical industry, Casino gaming, Enterprise computing, Gaming, or embedded industrial systems. Utilizing the industry standard 2.5-inch form factor and industry standard SATA II interface, the DuraDrive ET2 is 100% interchangeable with conventional 2.5-inch SATA hard drives. The DuraDrive AT2 SLC SSDs is now shipping. The following options are available on the DuraDrive series: # SLC - For increased Longevity and Reliability # iTemp - Mission Critical often requires itemp (-40oC to +85oC ) # Secure Erase- for Sensitive Data, Don't just Erase it, Eradicate it with Secure Erase. Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:57:18 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-119.html Micron Technology today launched the Micron RealSSD C400 series of SSDs. "SSDs are bringing excitement back into personal computing," said Dean Klein, vice president of memory system development at Micron. "Micron is accelerating this enthusiasm with our new RealSSD portfolio, providing even greater performance and higher capacities than our previous generation SSDs." The new portfolio is the first SSD product line to incorporate Micron's 25-nanometer (nm) NAND flash technology, creating a broad portfolio of capacities ranging from 64-gigabyte (GB) to 512GB. The drives will be available in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch form factors. As with its predecessor, the product line also supports the SATA 6Gb/s interface, which opens up the data path between the host processor and the SSD delivering improved overall system responsiveness including faster boot times and speedier application loads. The new drives reach read speeds up to 415 megabytes (MB)/second, which is 17 percent faster than Micron's previous generation drives. With write performance varying by capacity, the new 512GB drive achieves up to 260 MB/second write speeds, which is more than 20 percent faster than the fastest C300 drive. The new SSDs also provide benefits that desktops, workstations and industrial applications can take advantage of including low power consumption, lightweight construction and resistance to shock and vibration. "At IDC we expect total portable PC SSD shipments to increase significantly every year for the next three years," said Jeff Janukowicz, research manager for Solid State Storage Technologies at IDC. "The use of leading-edge NAND technology and product innovations, such as in Micron's RealSSD drives continue to bring SSDs into the mainstream by enabling higher performance and lower power consumption in a more cost effective solution." Micron is currently working with notebook manufacturers to qualify its new RealSSD drives under the C400 product name. With samples of the RealSSD C400 drives available now, Micron expects mass production to begin in February. Bringing the drives to business customers and consumers, Crucial, a division of Micron, will begin selling the portfolio under the name, Crucial® m4 SSD. The Crucial m4 SSD product line is expected to be available online at crucial.com and through select global channel partners in the first quarter of 2011. Micron Offering NAND Flash Design to System Solutions As a NAND developer and manufacturer, Micron is in a unique position to apply proprietary management algorithms to its RealSSD portfolio that yield tremendous performance gains and maintain quality control. Micron continues to push NAND process geometries—the company is currently at 25nm with visibility into several more generations—which brings great benefits to solid-state storage applications including greater capacity and more cost-effective designs. Mon, 03 Jan 2011 23:11:12 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-118.html Samsung today unveiled the fact that the company has started sampling 100, 200 and 400 gigabyte (GB) multi-level-cell (MLC) solid state drives (SSDs) for use as the primary storage in enterprise storage systems. "As more and more server makers are adopting SSDs for use in eco-friendly platforms that consume less electrical power, the need for high-density SSDs in the server market is growing rapidly," said Byungse So, senior vice president, memory product planning & application engineering team, Samsung Electronics. "While Samsung is already well situated in the SSD market for enterprise servers with high-performance SSDs using single-level-cell (SLC) NAND flash memory, we are now expanding our line-up to include high-density SSDs using MLC NAND flash memory." By employing 30-nanometer-class* MLC NAND flash chips with a Toggle DDR interface and a controller that uses a 3Gb/s (gigabits per second) SATA interface, the performance of Samsung's new MLC-based SSDs closely approaches or even exceeds some of the SLC NAND-based SSDs now in the marketplace. The new drives can process random read commands at 43,000 input/outputs per second (IOPS) and random writes at 11,000 IOPS. This compares to a 15K RPM HDD which has an IOPS rate of 350, amounting to a 120X gain in random IOPS read performance and a 30X gain in random IOPS write performance. In terms of power consumption, the new enterprise SSDs have a 150 times higher IOPS/Watt rate compared to 15K RPM HDDs, making them able to process 150 times more data while consuming the same amount of energy. In addition, the new Samsung SSD features an 'end-to-end data protection' function with advanced data encryption algorithm to assure reliability and security for the drive. With the new SSDs, Samsung widens its range of SSD densities for server and storage applications to include 2.5 inch 50, 60, 100 and 120GB SSDs using SLC NAND flash memory, and 2.5 inch 100, 200 and 400GB SSDs using MLC NAND flash memory. Samsung also now has 3.5 inch SLC-based SSDs in 100 and 200GB densities. Starting next month, Samsung will begin mass producing its new MLC-based enterprise drives. According to Gartner Inc., shipments of SSDs for servers and enterprise storage systems will increase to 6.3 million units in 2014 from 324K units in 2009. In revenue, the SSD enterprise market is expected to grow more than seven times from US$485 million to US$3.6 billion during the same period. Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:33:10 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-117.html PQI today launced the 2.5" SATA II PQI SSD S535 solid state disk. This model boasts the ultimate read/write speeds; both the highest read and write speeds top out at 250MB/s for the ultimate in high performance. And with a huge reduction in operating system boot/power down times, file transfers are faster and more convenient than ever, saving you time spent unnecessarily waiting around. The PQI S535 solid state hard drive features a mainstream SATA II interface that can not only be installed on a desktop computer's motherboard and used as the system disk, it's also suitable for use with notebook computers. Users need only a SATA II PC port to easily install on a notebook computer. Also, in a change from older SSDs that use SLC Flash, leading to low price-acceptance rates, this model breaks through the limitations of MLC Flash and controller technology. Using MLC Flash as a replacement along with a SandForce Solution, performance is unchanged at an even more affordable price. In addition, the external aluminum case is shock resistant, and coupled with the shockproof composition of a solid state disk, the S535's ability to withstand external shocks and protect internal data through its hard drive construction provides users with the ultimate in data protection. Also, the S535 offers huge capacity options that range from 64GB to 256GB and come with a 3 year warranty service. In addition, thanks to enhanced current SSD controller performance, data search times are accelerated. With shock resistance, high stability, and low power consumption, SSDs have already begun to gradually move from industrial applications to mainstream consumer market requirements. In the future, PQI will continue to provide diverse interface specifications, break through current capacity and speed limitations, and consistently release the latest in storage products. For the latest PQI-related information, please visit PQI's global website at http://www.pqigroup.com. To browse our full line of products, please visit the PQI online store at http://shop.pqigroup.com. PQI 2.5” SATA II SSD S535 Product Specifications: Interface: SATA II Transfer Speeds: R: Up to 250 MB/s W: Up to 250 MB/s Capacity: 64GB - 256GB Size: 99.9 x 70 x 9.3 (mm) Weight: 90g Warranty: 3 years Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:04:31 -0600 http://www.ssd-reviews.com/a-116.html LSI has launched the LSI WarpDrive SLP-300 acceleration card, a PCI Express (PCIe®) card offering performance up to 240,000 sustained IOPS and 300GB of SLC solid-state storage capacity within a low profile form factor. The WarpDrive card can help customers accelerate application performance, reduce energy costs and eliminate racks of storage by delivering the I/O performance of hundreds of hard disk drives while consuming less than 25 watts of power. "The LSI WarpDrive card sets a new standard for data center efficiency by providing IT administrators with previously unattainable levels of performance while helping to reduce operational and capital expenditures," said Brent Blanchard, director of worldwide channel sales and marketing, LSI. "The WarpDrive card complements the LSI CacheCadeTM and FastPathTM solid-state storage acceleration solutions, providing our channel partners with a one-stop shop to address the performance, deployment and integration requirements that high-performance applications and dense computing demand." The low-profile, half-length WarpDrive card plugs into a standard 8 lane PCIe Gen 2.0 server slot and is designed to deliver high performance with low latency and a low CPU burden independent of main memory size. It offers system builders, system integrators and their end customers a cost-effective, plug-and-play solution for maximizing the transactional I/O performance of applications such as Web serving, data warehousing, data mining, professional video and high-performance computing. A WarpDrive card can sustain up to 1,400MB/s of throughput, with reliable and consistent performance across both sequential and random reads and writes. It delivers up to 240,000 4K read IOPS and up to 200,000 4K write IOPS, with access latency of less than 50 microseconds. To achieve equal performance on a write IOPS basis utilizing hard disk drives would require over 400 drives, 36U of rack space and consume more than 300 times the power. "The LSI PCIe-based WarpDrive card offers simple, effective, and affordable application acceleration for enterprise servers," said Bob Farkaly, director of marketing, Storage System products for Exar. "Utilizing two WarpDrive cards combined with Exar’s BitWackrTM solution, we measured an aggregate performance of 1,028 MB/second, which is almost twice the speed we were able to achieve with other PCIe-based flash products." "Schooner’s MySQL and NoSQL solutions combined with the LSI WarpDrive card provide industry-leading performance for database and key-value stores, delivering over 9x performance throughput increase relative to hard drive configurations and over 3x performance throughput increase relative to alternative PCIe flash-based solutions," said Dr. John Busch, founder and CTO, Schooner Information Technologies. "Beyond raw IOPS and latency performance, we are very impressed with the LSI WarpDrive card's performance stability, observing negligible performance variance over time. Also, the LSI WarpDrive card's very low overhead consumption of server processor and DRAM memory resources enables even higher performance by leaving these resources available for useful application processing and data caching." The WarpDrive card utilizes industry-standard and widely deployed LSI SAS software drivers to provide channel partners with simple integration and management using existing SAS infrastructure. It features the LSISAS2008 6Gb/s SAS I/O controller and is based on the enterprise-proven LSI Fusion-MPTTM architecture. The WarpDrive card is bootable, has no external power requirement and installs as a single drive with no user configuration required. The WarpDrive card helps to ensure high reliability with a management infrastructure offering extensive monitoring, including health, error rate and drive failure. The WarpDrive card builds upon LSI enterprise-level experience in the design, manufacture and support of advanced server and storage solutions. The WarpDrive card is designed to provide system integrators and system builders with a robust and stable solution with assured interoperability and a low-risk path to market. The WarpDrive card also helps to minimize hardware requirements, reducing initial investment costs and eliminating points of failure for greater overall system reliability. Pricing(1) and availability LSI WarpDrive SLP-300: $11,500 The WarpDrive acceleration card extends the comprehensive LSI portfolio of storage building block solutions available in the channel, including MegaRAID® and 3ware® RAID controllers, host bus adapters, SAS switches, JBOD enclosures, the CTS2600 family of configurable storage components and advanced software options. Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:03:16 -0600