Micron SAS SSDs, solid state for the enterprise grows up
Subject: General Tech | February 27, 2013 - 01:11 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ssd, enterprise ssd, SAS, micron, micron p410m
Micron has announced a new SSD, the P410 SSD which will use a Serial Attached SCSI interface, perfect for dropping into existing enterprise servers. SATA is perfectly fine for SOHO users and enthusiasts but for large businesses with a need for extreme reliability, SAS has been the interface of choice. Adoption of SSDs has been slowed in large businesses in part because it would require changing the existing architecture to SATA in order to incorporate SSDs into their systems. With the new Micron drive that is no longer necessary, at 7mm it will support high density servers and with the 25nm MLC NAND it is expected to survive for five years of duty with 10 full drive fills every day. Read more at DigiTimes.
"Micron Technology has announced another addition to its growing lineup of solid state drives (SSDs) targeted at data center appliances and enterprise storage platforms. The new Micron P410m SSD is a high-endurance, high reliability 6Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drive built to provide the performance necessary for mission-critical tier one storage applications that require uninterrupted, 24/7 data access."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- AMD to sell a cut down version of Sony's Playstation 4 APU @ The Inquirer
- Google offers a single sign-on system, embraces 10 partners @ The Inquirer
- Benchmarking Ubuntu Linux On The Google Nexus 10 @ Phoronix
- Intel takes on all Hadoop disties to rule big data munching @ The Register
- Stuxnet worm dates back to 2005, Symantec reveals @ The Inquirer
- First Debian/Ubuntu Bootable ARM64 Images Released @ Slashdot
Intel's got a new SSD controller to show off to enterprises
Subject: Storage | January 17, 2013 - 03:05 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: DC S3700, Intel, ssd, HET MLC, enterprise ssd
Before getting into the speed of the new Intel DC S3700 SSD, take a moment to consider the expected lifespan of the HET MLC flash, it was described to hardCOREware as "10 full drive writes per day over the 5-year life of the drive". Now that will not have a big impact on home users, but Enterprise and image/video editors will certainly take note as moving that much data is a common occurrence for those businesses and the questionable lifespan of some flash memory has been contributed to the slow pace at which SSDs have been taken up by large businesses. With the Intel name behind these drives, an assurance of long term usability and the impressive steady state performance they provide you may soon see these in a server room near you.
"The Intel SSD DC S3700 introduces a new Intel SSD controller for the first time in years. With a heavy emphasis on consistent performance, these drives bode well for the future of Intel SSD products. It may also refresh your opinion on some current SSDs that don't perform as consistently as others once they enter a steady state."
Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
- SanDisk Ultra Plus SSD @ SSD Review
- OCZ Vector 256GB SSD Review @ Techgage
- Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB SSD Upgrade Kit Review @ NikKTech
- OCZ Vector 512GB @ Legion Hardware
- Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD @ Tweaktown
- SanDisk Ultra Plus SSD @ AnandTech
- Micron P320h PCIe Enterprise SSD @ Tweaktown
- oshiba THNSNF 512GB SSD review: with proprietary controller @ Hardware.info
- Western Digital RE 4TB HDD @ TechwareLabs
- ICYDock MB981U3N-1SA SATA/IDE Hard Drive Adaptor @ PCSTATS
- Patriot Gauntlet (PCGTW320S) @ Bjorn3D
- EonNAS 1100 NAS Network Storage Server @ Benchmark Reviews
- Synology DS413j NAS Designed for Home & Offices Review@ Madshrimps
- ADATA DashDrive UD310 Jewel-Like Flash Drive Review @ Pro-Clockers
- Kingston DataTraveler HyperX Predator 512GB @ Kitguru
- Patriot SuperSonic Rage XT 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review @ NikKTech
- Kingston DataTraveler HyperX USB 3.0 64 GB @ techPowerUp
- Kingston DT Elite USB 3.0 64GB Thumb Drive Review @ XtremeComputing
- Kingston DataTraveler HyperX Predator 512GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review @ Legit Reviews
SSDs Might Just Get a Little More Solid: Write Wearing Fixed?
Subject: General Tech, Storage | December 5, 2012 - 10:01 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Macronix, ssd, enterprise ssd
I have not been too worried about my SSD failing due to excessive write-erase wear and tear. Typical flash cells fail somewhere between a few thousand write cycles with high endurance drives creeping over the ten-thousand cycle border. It is quite rare for me, like many home users, to write to my SSD outside of application updates or profile changes on my web browser.
Enterprise customers tend to hammer on drives quite a bit more ferociously, however. It will primarily be those customers who are most interested in news recently published with the IEEE: modifications to the integrated circuit holding the flash cells can be made to recondition dead NAND cells.
SSDs have been able to be restored from write-erase degradation through excessive heating, think several hours at two-and-a-half times the sea-level boiling point of water. Clearly tossing SSDs in a range with your fries and chicken strips is not an ideal solution and would not be wise to recommend.
Macronix, the company who claims to have invented the technology based on research into competing Phase Change RAM (PCRAM), assert that their flash will survive at least ten-thousand times longer than enterprise NAND. Their integrated circuit has been designed to deliver extreme heat, 8-times the boiling point of water, local to the flash cell for a very brief time. The article boasts at least 100-million cycles because that was their point where their patience in testing the flash ended: the flash was still ready for more.
That said I do not claim to have too much knowledge about solid state flash so tune in for the December 5th PC Perspective Podcast for more discussion from smarter people. If you found this quick enough you could also tune in live just after this publishes!
New Fusion ioFX Will Accelerate Professional Workloads
Subject: Storage | April 17, 2012 - 01:11 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: ssd, ioFX, fusion-io, enterprise ssd
Popular PCI-E SSD maker Fusion-io recently announced a new product aimed at professional content creators. Based on the company’s ioMemory technology, the new Fusion-io ioFX is a professional SSD designed to speed up video encoding, CAD work, 3D renders, and motion graphics.
The new solid state drive uses the PCI-E bus and 420 GB of fast QDP MLC NAND flash to deliver less than a millisecond of sustained access speed and an impressive 1.5 GB/s of bandwidth. The PCI-E SSD uses a physical x8 connector but is electrically a x4 connection. What I found interesting about the device was the presence of a fan, which our Storage Editor Allyn says is necessary in order to keep the super fast flash chips from overheating. When the SSD needs active cooling, that at least implies this drive is going to scream performance wise!
Another interesting aspect about this new drive is a piece of software called the ioSphere. The software will allow studios to remotely monitor all the Fusion ioMemory products deployed in the studio through a single interface. Unfortunately, there is not much more in the way of detailed performance specifications but I will definitely keep an eye on this for the drool factor alone. Fusion-io is currently listing the ioFX for $2,495 USD, and it will be available later this Spring 2012. More information should be posted to their site as the SSD gets closer to launch here.
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