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high reliability flash SSDs  for embedded and high reliability servers
SSD articles on popular themes

the SSD Buyers Guide - 8th annual series

the Fastest SSDs - key specs all form factors

the Top 10 SSD OEMs - future market winners?
1,000 storage company profiles here
new directory - SSD videos
Editor:- March 15, 2010 - whenever I'm asked -"What do you do for a living?" - the best answer I come up with is - "I waste my time so my readers don't have to waste theirs."

Few things are so time-wasting on the web - in my opinion - as videos which talk about the SSD market. In 99.9% of cases the same points have already been made - earlier, better, and about 30x quicker - on static webpages.

It's several years since a reader asked me - "Why isn't there a directory of SSD videos on StorageSearch.com?"

Well - there is now. I datamined and filtered it from the tens of thousands of hours I've spent reading and writing about SSDs.
SSD videos on StorageSearch.com - I waste my time so you don't have to waste yours It's the smallest list of links in any directory page I've created since the web started - and at this rate of progress will struggle to reach double digits by the time the SSD market ends. Less is better - when it comes to wasting your time. ...read the article
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$100? - too much to pay for a 32GB MLC SSD - says OCZ
Editor:- March 10, 2010 - OCZ today announced it's shipping a 32GB 2.5" MLC SSD for under $100.

R/W speeds are unremarkable - at a mere 125MB/s and 70MB/s respectively - but the main point of this launch - according to OCZ's CEO, Ryan Petersen - is to publicize the price point and show what the company is doing "to make SSDs more affordable to end-users."

Editor's comments:- You get exactly what you pay for in SSD pricing. The big problem is knowing what you want.
Notebook SSDs OCZ's new Onyx is a very low capacity, slowish notebook SSD which is unsuitable for server apps. But it does appear to be a good price today according to this comparison. (It may not look so good later.)
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Web-Feet tallies SSD numbers
Editor:- March 8, 2010 - Web-Feet Research has just published a quarterly update to its 7th annual report on SSD Markets and Applications (annual price $9,000).

This update focuses on the SSD market dynamics for the year ending 2009 covering the Client, Enterprise, and Commercial markets.
Addressed in each of these markets are the drivers of SSD adoption, price points, and issues associated with SSD adoption. Web-Feet Research has compiled aggregate SSD shipments and revenue by form factor and application markets covering 2009.
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STEC samples slim SSDs with deep roots
Editor:- March 2, 2010 -STEC has started sampling a new family of SlimSATA and SATA-CF 32GB/64GB flash SSDs for use in embedded markets.

Performance is 15,000 / 6,000 R/W IOPS and R/W transfer rates are up to 135MB/s and 130MB/s respectively.

"Increasing demand for high performance and high reliability SSDs within the embedded markets is a trend we are beginning to see and on which we have put ourselves in a position to capitalize," said Manouch Moshayedi, Chairman and CEO of STEC. "The introduction of our new lines of small form factor SSDs for embedded applications is in line with our strategy to help proliferate the use of SSDs across a broad range of applications."

Editor's comments:- in a way this is STEC going back to its roots.

In the server market - where it is better publicly known - STEC is dependent on the success of partners like EMC whose secret ingredient in the SSD cola experience is bottling the water.

STEC is also vulnerable to being substituted out for other 2.5" SSDs (or sideswiped by PCIe SSDs) at any time.

But STEC knows how to market to designers in embedded markets. These are currently much smaller than the other segments in the classic SSD market penetration model. Nevertheless it's a way of boosting revenue.

And here's something else to think about... which links together the oldest segments in the flash SSD market with the newest one for SSD backup - which is still at the birth stage.

The important feature in these new products is the ratio of sleep mode power to operating mode power - which is 10 to 1. That's not too far off the ideal ratio (100 to 1) I think it needs to reach in the next 5 years to support the concept of putting petabytes of SSD archive storage into 2U racks. More about that later...
miniature SSDs approx 1 inch and smaller In the meantime experience gained in the unsexy (but reliability obsessed) embedded SSD modules market can be viewed as a long term investment in what will be the biggest market for SSD shipments long after the current SSD market bubble bursts.
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RunCore's new Express Card SSD

Editor:- March 1, 2010 - Among the many SSDs which RunCore will show at CeBIT 2010 this week is an Express Card flash SSD designed for notebooks

As well as providing upto 64GB capacity (R/W speeds 120MB/s and 90MB/s) - the Express 34 module also provides 2x USB 3.0 ports with connectors for linking the notebook to external devices.
... RunCore's  Express Card SSD / USB 3.0 adapter
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Seagate adds 2TB SAS track to
18 years grooving 7,200 RPM HDDs
Editor:- February 22, 2010 - Seagate today announced it's shipping 2TB 3.5" 7,200 RPM hard drives with a 6Gbps SAS interface.

The new Constellation ES includes host-selectable power reduction options - upto 35% for slow or idle periods.

Editor's comments:- coming 6 months after 2TB SATA enterprise hard drive shipments from other hard disk oems - (Hitachi - Ultrastar A7K2000 and WD RE4 ) - the distinguishing feature about this is the SAS interface.

But the "6Gbps" part looks like vanity rather than substance - because (like all hard drives) the magnetic media delivers lower throughput and IOPS than you can get from many common 3Gbps 2.5" SATA SSDs.
hard disk drives articles and directory On a historical note Seagate started shipping the world's 1st 7,200 RPM HDDs in 1992. That really was a time when hard disks were getting faster.
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storage news - Pliant's SSD benchmark video
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SSD directories sorted by form factor

1.0" SSDs / 1.8" SSDs /2.5" SSDs / 3.5" SSDs

ExpressCard SSDs / PCIe SSDs / rackmount SSDs
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SSD directories sorted by interface

FC SSDs / PATA SSDs / SATA SSDs / SAS SSDs
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SSD directories sorted by memory type

Flash SSDs / Hybrid Drives / RAM-based SSDs
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Storage arrays sorted by interface

AoE / iSCSI / NAS / RAID (all) / SAN
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more classic storage themes

Analysts - SSD market

Analysts - storage all

Analyzers

ASAPs - Auto-tuning SSD Accelerated Pools

Backup software

Books - citing StorageSearch.com

Boxes / Enclosures / JBODs

Chips - storage processors etc

Data recovery

Disk to disk backup

Disk sanitizers

Duplicators - optical (DVD etc)

Duplicators - HDD / SSD

Events

Fibre-channel HBAs

FireWire storage

Flash Memory

Gone away companies

Hard disk drives

Industry trade associations

InfiniBand

Jargon - re RAID

Jargon - re flash SSD

Jukeboxes

Marketing - ads, PR, web visibility

Military storage

Notebook SSDs

Online Backup

Optical drives

People

Publications - other storage

RAID controllers

RAID systems

RAM

Record breaking storage

Reliability

Removable drives

SAS storage

SATA storage

SCSI (parallel) adapters

Security

Services

Software

SSDs

SSD controller chips & IP

Switches (storage)

Tape drives

Tape libraries

Test Equipment

Training

USB storage

VARS (storage) - USA

VARS (storage) - UK

VARS (storage) - Japan

VC funds in storage
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Top news stories in recent weeks gone by
Each link below takes you to a week of news.

Seagate ships 2TB SAS HDD
Toshiba samples 600GB 2.5" SAS HDD
Foremay samples 200k IOPS PCIe SSDs
Silicon Motion's SSD SoCs - Ready for 20nm
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click for more info about Pliant Technology click to see more SSD  Bookmarks
SSD Bookmarks series

suggested by - Greg Goelz - VP of Marketing, Pliant Technology
Here's an article written by or about Pliant...

Enterprise Flash Drives Target the Data Center - published in Byte and Switch

Greg Goelz says he chose this because - "This article provides an overview of Pliant Technology's Enterprise Flash Drive solution, and discusses the key issues facing data centers with respect to increasing I/O performance and storage reliability requirements, as well as new "Green IT" requirements."

Other SSD article suggestions...

When to expect solid state drives in the enterprise - in which SearchStorage.com interviews Mark Peters, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group.

The Top 5 Trends in High Performance Computing for 2009 - published in Computer Technology Review

Greg Goelz says - "These articles provide insight and projections on the market opportunity for SSD technology, and highlight the key factors (e.g., I/O performance, energy efficiency, reliability) that will drive enterprise SSD adoption and market growth."

Editor:- thanks Greg for sharing your SSD links.

see also:- Pliant Technology - editor mentions on StorageSearch.com and Pliant's blog which regularly discusses enterprise SSD themes.
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Top Storage Articles & Subjects - February 2010
  1. the SSD Buyers Guide
  2. the SSD Bookmarks
  3. War of the Disks: HDDs vs. Flash SSDs
  4. the Fastest SSDs
  5. the Top 10 SSD OEMs
  6. SSD Myths and Legends - "write endurance"
  7. PCIe SSD Market
  8. 2.5" SSD Market
  9. Disk to disk backup / virtual tape
  10. SSD news & directory
  11. NAS, DAS or SAN?
  12. Flash Memory vs. Hard Disks - Which Will Win?
  13. Clarifying SSD Pricing
  14. Hard Disk Market news & comment
  15. A Storage Architecture Guide
  16. 3.5" SSD Market
  17. 1.8" SSD Market
  18. RAM SSDs versus Flash SSDs - which is Best?
  19. Are MLC SSDs Safe in Enterprise Apps?
  20. 2010 - 1st Fizz in the SSD Bubble?
  21. RAM SSD Market
  22. the Benefits of SAS for External Subsystems
  23. SATA SSD Market
  24. After SSDs... What Next?
  25. the Problem with Write IOPS - in flash SSDs
  26. What's a Solid State Disk?
  27. Storage Market Outlook 2010 to 2015
  28. Notebook SSD Market
  29. Can you trust flash SSD specs & benchmarks?
  30. SSD jargon
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Clarifying SSD Pricing - where does all the money go?
Editor:- one of the most popular new articles published here on StorageSearch.com in recent weeks is - Clarifying SSD Pricing.

SSDs are among the most expensive items of computer hardware many of you will ever buy. Understanding the factors which determine SSD costs is often a confusing and irritating process.
Clarifying SSD Pricing - where does all the money go? - click to read the article And it's not made any easier when market prices for identical capacity SSDs can vary more than 100x to 1!

This value for money guide suggests simple tactics to help you. ...read the article
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We have hundreds of SSD articles on StorageSearch.com
Here, below, are some examples.
  • SSD Market History - lists product and technology milestones in the 30 years of the SSD market upto the end of 2009.
  • RAM Cache Ratios in flash SSDs - it's important to know the underlying RAM cache architecture - even if you're happy with the R/W and IOPS performance.
  • 2010 - 1st Fizz in the SSD Bubble? - even the dogs in the street know this is going to be a multibillion dollar market. Greed will play as big a part as technology in shaping the SSD year ahead.
  • the pros and cons of using SSD ASAPs - auto tuning SSD appliances are a new category of SSD which entered the market in the 2nd half of 2009 to accelerate servers without needing human tune-ups. How can you tell if they are right for you? And how well do they work?
  • the Problem with Write IOPS - in flash SSDs - long established as a useful performance modeling metric - this article explains why some specs are exaggerated when applied to flash SSDs - or predict the wrong results for many common applications.
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