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Octane

1TB OCZ SSD Coming Later This Month

Subject: Storage | May 2, 2012 - 08:34 AM |
Tagged: ssd, ocz, Octane, mlc, 1TB

According to a recent press release, OCZ Technology Co. is going to up the Octane ante with a 1TB solid state drive. Coming in at an MSRP of $3,238 USD (approx. 260,000 yen), the SSD features 1TB of synchronous MLC flash, 512MB of DRAM, and an Indilinx Everest controller bundled in a 2.5” form factor.

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The SATA 3 (6Gbps) OCT1-25SAT3-1T SSD not only brings gobs of storage, but puts up some respectable performance numbers. It is capable of 460MB/s sequential reads and 330MB/s sequential write speeds. Also, it can deliver a maximum of 24,000 4K read IOPS (input/output operations per second) and 32,000 4K random write IOPS [the translation may be off here, I was expecting to see the higher IOPS reflected as 4K reads and not writes]. Other drive features include TRIP support, ECC (error correction), AES-256 drive encryption, SMART diagnostics, and a MTBF (mean time between failures) of 1,200,000 hours.

The 1TB SSD is slated for a mid-May release and will come with a 3 year warranty. You know, my birthday is coming up in a couple months... (hehe)

Source: hermitage aklhabara

Are OCZ's Indilinx Everest and Everest 2 Controllers Actually Marvell Hardware?

Subject: Storage | April 11, 2012 - 09:43 PM |
Tagged: Vertex 4, ocz, Octane, Marvell, everest

We've covered the OCZ Octane and more recently the new OCZ Vertex 4. We've also seen how they behave under wildly differing firmware revisions. What have we not yet seen? Turns out the hardware powering both the Octane and Vertex 3 controllers was actually from Marvell.

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Judging from the performance we saw from the Octane, it's clear that Indilinx is cranking out some great firmware for this hardware, but it's a bit of a surprise to us that the Indilinx arm of OCZ chose to go this route as opposed to spinning their own next gen controller, especially in light of how well the original Indilinx Barefoot was received back in the day.

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It turns out that 'Indilinx Infused' is more than just a catch phrase.

As evidenced by some commenters over at the source, some feel cheated that this news did not come to light earlier. My take on it is that an SSD is a package deal - controller hardware *and firmware* make up that package. If a company can deliver both in a reliable and well performing manner, then it's that companies product you are buying, not just the controller.

Source: Anand

It ain't easy being the littlest sibling in a family of SSDs

Subject: Storage | February 23, 2012 - 06:19 PM |
Tagged: Octane, Indilinx Everest, Octane 128GB, ocz, 6gbps

The trade offs with SSDs are a little harsh compared to HDDs, where size does not impact performance to a large degree only the physical location of the data.  The price per gigabyte tends to be a little higher than larger models but again is relatively close.  With an SSD you not only take a noticeable hit to performance with the smaller models you also pay a big premium on the price per gigabyte.  That said, some people simply cannot afford $300+ for an SSD over 200GB. 

For those who want SSD performance for a reasonable price of admission, the 128GB OCZ Octane is worthy of consideration.  There have been no reports of drive failure but at the same time The Tech Report could only find 10 user reviews so it is possible that the sample size is too small to make a definitive conclusion.  If you don't draw that conclusion the Octane becomes a little less attractive as competitor's drives tend to be cheaper to buy, even if you lose 8GB of space.  Check out the full review before you go shopping for a small SSD.

TR_wide.jpg

"We were impressed by OCZ's Indilinx-powered Octane SSD when we reviewed the 512GB version last year. Now, we have the 128GB model in-house to see if the Octane's appeal extends to the sweet spot."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

Storage

 

Source: The Tech Report

High Octane drives from OCZ

Subject: Storage | December 12, 2011 - 02:14 PM |
Tagged: ocz, Octane, Octane 512GB, Indilinx Everest, Indilinx Barefoot, ssd, sata 6Gbs

As has been covered on the front page before, OCZ is making their new Octane lineup of SSDs a little confusing for the enthusiast.  If you are not careful you can end up with the non-SATA 6Gbs S2 model.  The new Octane series does offer an advantage to those using non-compressible data, the Indilinx controller does not do the same compression technique which SandForce uses which will make the performance of this drive consistent regardless of the data being manipulated.  As you might expect Legit Reviews testing does see the top speeds of the new Octane lagging behind SandForce based drives in some cases but the overall performance is neck and neck with Intel as they also do not compress data.  Check out the full review to see a return to Indilinx and a renewal of competition for SandForce controllers.

LR_indilinx-drives.jpg

"It's interesting to see how OCZ is marketing these Octane new Solid State Drives. They are 'Indilinx infused' vesrus 'SandForce driven'. Indilinx drives have nDurance technology while SandForce has DuraClass technology. I can't help but be reminded of the movie Coming To America where Cleo McDowell comments on his feud with McDonald's: "Look... me and the McDonald's people got this little misunderstanding. See, they're McDonald's... I'm McDowell's. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds..."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

Storage

 

Source: Legit Reviews

Careful which model of OCZ Octane you pick up

Subject: Storage | December 6, 2011 - 02:47 PM |
Tagged: Octane, ssd, sata 6Gps, ocz, Octane 512GB, Indilinx Everest

If you are looking at OCZ SSDs and are considering the Octane line, please bear in mind that the S2 model which is selling for less than the non-S2 model is a SATA 3Gbp/s drive not a new 6Gb/s capable drive.  The testing done at The Tech Report was on the 6Gbp/s model and they compared this Indilinx Everest powered SSD against a variety of competing SSDs.  The drive comes with a 3 year warranty and comes in 128GB, 256GB, the 512GB model The Tech Report reviewed as well as a 1TB model which will cost a pretty penny.  If you do choose a smaller drive, remember that the reduced channel count will make the drive perform more slowly than the larger models.

TTR_OCZ_Oct.jpg

"OCZ bought SSD controller maker Indilinx earlier this year, and the first product of that acquisition is now out. Join us for a look at the Octane SSD and its new Everest controller."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

Storage

 

Source: The Tech Report

Podcast #180 - NVIDIA GTX560 Ti 448 Core, OCZ Octane 512GB SSD, Battlefield 3 Laptop performance and more!

Subject: Editorial | December 1, 2011 - 04:07 PM |
Tagged: ssd, podcast, ocz, Octane, nvidia, Intel, battlefield 3, amd, 560ti 448

PC Perspective Podcast #180 - 12/01/2011

Join us this week as we talk about the NVIDIA GTX560 Ti 448 Core, OCZ Octane 512GB SSD, Battlefield 3 Laptop performance and more!

You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.

The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!

  • iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
  • RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader
  • MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file

Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Josh Walrath, Jeremy Hellstrom, and Allyn Malvantano

Program length: 1:17:32

Program Schedule:

  1. 0:00:54 Introduction
  2. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
  3. http://pcper.com/podcast
  4. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
  5. 0:01:23 Did you listen to our The Inside Perspective?  Send us your feedback?
  6. 0:02:35 Battlefield 3 Laptop Performance Review: Road Warrior?
  7. 0:04:00 Video Perspective: Antec P280 Case Review
  8. 0:09:30 OCZ Octane 512GB SSD Full Review - Indilinx Has Returned With Everest
  9. 0:20:40 Amazon Kindle Fire Review: Can $200 Buy a Great Tablet?
  10. 0:22:30 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core Limited Edition Graphics Card Review
  11. 0:31:45 This Podcast is brought to you by MSI Computer, and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!
  12. 0:32:45 Thermaltake Frio OCK Universal CPU Cooler Review
  13. 0:34:00 Seagate says hard drive industry will take a year to recover
  14. 0:42:20 Video Perspective: CyberPower Gamer Ultra 2098 System
  15. 0:44:00 Batman: Arkham City DX11 Stuttering Issue
  16. 0:46:00 TSMC finds its 28nm dance card a little overbooked
  17. 0:52:28 AMD Releasing Branded DDR3 Memory To Compliment Desktop Platforms
  18. 0:58:20 Gear Up with MSI: Win Intel Motherboards, GeForce Graphics Cards
  19. 1:01:00 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
    1. Ryan: Skyrim?  Level 11!
    2. Jeremy: Let's here it for PC Gaming
    3. Josh: Arkham City for $25... last Friday on Origin.
    4. Allyn: A possible free 50GB cloud storage investment
  20. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
  21. http://pcper.com/podcast   
  22. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
  23. Closing

Source:

OCZ's new Indilinx powered Octane SSD

Subject: Storage | November 24, 2011 - 05:57 PM |
Tagged: ssd, sata 6Gbs, sata, ocz, Octane, Indilinx, everest

OCZ's new Octane SATA 3 SSDs will be available in sizes up to 1TB, though you can expect to pay a pretty penny for it; not that a 1TB HDD is inexpensive right now.  It uses a pair of new Indilinx controllers and sports 512MB of SYNC DDR3 SDRAM to help those controllers work to peak effectiveness.  It uses OCZ's proprietary NDurance technology to add to the longevity of the drive, a topic near and dear to the SSD enthusiasts heart even if we have yet to see significant failure rates; though certainly the decrease in performance early SSDs showed is both a concern and very much real.  SSD Review had no qualms handing it a Top Value award at the end of their review.

You can also catch Al's review of this same drive at the top of our page.

SSDR_PCBFront4.jpg

"Our review today will be a long awaited look at the OCZ Octane 6Gbps 512GB SSD. Eight months ago, OCZ bought Indilinx with full intention of spreading their wings in the development of their own proprietary controller based on the Indlinx Everest design. OCZ has spoken of higher incompressible data performance, quicker disk access as well as better sustained write performance in a consumer driven SSD that will be immediately available in capacities up to 1TB."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

Storage

 

Source: SSD Review

OCZ Octane 512GB SSD Full Review - Indilinx Has Returned With Everest

Author:
Date: November 23, 2011
Subject: Storage
Manufacturer: OCZ
Tagged: ssd, sata, ocz, Octane, Indilinx, everest

Introduction, Specifications, and Packaging

Introduction

A few months back, OCZ acquired Indilinx. Ever since, we've been wondering if the next generation Indilinx offering could stand up to the competition, who has made leaps and bounds since the first generation SSD controllers were released.

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Specifications

  • 128GB Max Performance
Max Read: up to 535MB/s
Max Write: up to 170MB/s
Random Write 4KB: 7,700 IOPS
Random Read 4KB: 37,000 IOPS
  • 256GB Max Performance
Max Read: up to 535MB/s
Max Write: up to 270MB/s
Random Write 4KB: 12,000 IOPS
Random Read 4KB: 37,000 IOPS
  • 512GB Max Performance
Max Read: up to 535MB/s
Max Write: up to 400MB/s
Random Write 4KB: 16,000 IOPS
Random Read 4KB: 37,000 IOPS
  • 1TB Max Performance
Max Read: up to 560MB/s
Max Write: up to 400MB/s
Random Write 4KB: 19,500 IOPS
Random Read 4KB: 45,000 IOPS
 
Yes, you read that right. 1TB - in a 2.5" form factor SSD! HDD's hit this mark not too long ago, and while a 1TB Octane will most certainly cost a pretty penny, there's something to be said for SSD's so rapidly catching up to HDD's for a given form factor.

 

block diagram pic.png

Here's a basic block diagram of the new Everest controller from Indilinx. All of the usual bits are present, of particular note being the ability to drive 8 channels, with each channel rated at 4-way. This should mean an Everest could theoretically drive 32 flash chips.

Continue reading our review of OCZ's new Octane Indilinx Everest 512GB SSD!

OCZ Octane 512GB SSD Sneak Peek - Indilinx Has Returned

Subject: Storage | November 22, 2011 - 01:00 PM |
Tagged: ssd, ocz, Octane

A few months back, OCZ acquired Indilinx. Ever since, we've been wondering if the next generation Indilinx offering could stand up to the competition, who has made leaps and bounds since the first generation SSD controllers were released.

It appears that wait is over, well mostly at least. While OCZ's new Octane series does not officially launch until tomorrow, we've been authorized to give our readers a sneak peek:

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From our peek inside we were able to derive that OCZ is using IMFT Synchronous flash memory - the same present in OCZ's Vertex line. There's also a lot of it - our sample is the first 512GB 2.5" SSD being tested in our labs.

...and for those curious on performance, I've also been allowed to sneak a bench out to you. If you're only able to speak about an SSD with a single benchmark, ATTO is probably the way to go:

ocz octane - atto-4.png

Pushing 350 MB/sec writes and 540 MB/sec reads, with very good IOPS performance at 4K (roughly 45k write IOPS).

This new offering from Indilinx/OCZ is looking very good so far. More to follow once the OCZ Octane officially launches tomorrow!

Note: It appears OCZ's Octane product page is live. Hit the link below to check it out.

Source: OCZ Octane SSD Product Page

OCZ Technology Introduces Octane SATA 6Gbps and Octane-S2 SATA 3Gbps Solid State Drives

Subject: Storage | October 20, 2011 - 01:29 PM |
Tagged: Indilinx Everest, Octane, sata 6Gbs, sata, ssd, ocz

SAN JOSE, CA - Oct. 20, 2011 - OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCZ), a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs), 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.jpg

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

The OCZ Octane SSD Series will be available November 1st in models ranging from 128GB-1TB capacities throughout OCZ's global channel.

Source: OCZ Technology

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