In the early days of the
SSD market
knowledge about fundamental issues like:-
how to optimally tune
servers (with high HDD
to SSD capacity gearing),
how to optimize the design of
SSD controllers, and
how best to manage flash SSD
endurance -
were regarded as proprietary secrets.
Nowadays users are discovering
that the more they learn about some of these arcane aspects of SSD technology -
the more reasons they have to worry that there may be more they need to learn
to avoid major disasters
with their SSD deployments.
Users don't have the option of sitting
back and waiting another 5 or 6 years for SSD technologies and architectures to
stabilize
into a stable set of best practise ideas.
If your competitors use
are using SSDs - to speed up their business processes, or increase the
efficiency of their knowledge workers - then you don't have any choice. You too
have to participate in the
SSD market bubble
- or run the risk of being regarded as irrelevant or uncompetitive to your
potential customers.
StorageSearch.com has been publishing articles
about SSDs since before most people even knew the market existed - and those
articles have helped to increase understanding within the industry and
accelerate the market's progress. But one of the frequent complaints I get from
readers is that they have spent hours reading articles about SSDs and they
still don't understand what to do.
I can tell you now - that any
prescriptive guide which says - this is exactly what you need to do to buy the
best notebook or server or military SSD is doomed to failure at the start -
because users don't know they are asking the wrong questions - or have an
incomplete understanding of the data and value preferences which they have
already unconsciously applied to filtering and asking the wrong questions.
The
only solution to the SSD problem is better education.
But where is
this education going to come from? And who can you trust?
Our news
pages have shown that even experienced CTOs inside storage companies haven't
always understood the subtle problems instrinsic in
selecting SSD
partners. And I have talked to many marketers in SSD companies - who operate
within a narrow range - and would certainly give you the wrong advice if you
asked them a question outside their day to day competency.
At the other
end of the spectrum I have been privileged to share dialog with a handful of
people who really understand the technology inside the chips, who know how it
will interact with computer architecture and who are guiding their companies on
a course which will lead them to the solid state promised land.
SSD
talent is rare. And you can't be sure if the claims that people make about
their own SSD understanding - stand up to any scrutiny.
That kind of
judgement creates a problem for me too.
For example - in the past
several years I've been contacted by a bunch of companies in the
data recovery market
who asked about advertising their services for
SSD data recovery.
But when I probed some of these companies with awkward questions - it was clear
that their knowledge was only superficial - and they didn't have good answers
for the tough questions I asked.
Anyone can create a web page claiming
they can solve your problems - from recovering data from a dead SSD, or
making flash live 100x
longer in a new controller scheme - to curing cancer.
Thousands of companies will rush into the
SSD training market - but maybe less than 1% of them today - and less than 10%
in 2012 - will
actually have worthwhile long term expeience in the subject they're talking
about.
No list of quick links is going to solve this problem.
It's
just the start of another journey.
Read lots of
SSD articles
- then ask lots of awkward questions. And good luck.
.
.
"I found a great
website that introduces and speaks about SSD in depth. It is called
StorageSearch and it is what I consider the best treasure trove on the web right
now for SSD information. Go check it out."
First the RAM SSDs
pretended to emulate hard drives.
Then the flash SSDs replaced the RAM
SSDs.
Then some flash SSDs started to replace big memory.
Now
flash can replace much of DRAM big or small.
New memory technologies
are sampling.
What we've got now is a new SSD melting pot in which
all performance related storage is made from memories and the dividing line
between storage and memory is also more fluid than before.
"SSD 101 is a series
of 13 educational articles describing solid state drives from the basic NAND
cell and architecture to controller architecture and functions."
In the old days of the SSD
world - the traditional sales process went something like this.
SSD
vendor explains to customer...
This is what an SSD is. This is how we
do it. And these are the models we sell.
In the modern era of SSDs -
the customer has received their education about what an SSD is - and what it can
do - from many sources.
So when they talk to a vendor - the customer
says.
Don't tell me about SSDs. Tell me instead how you fit into my
idea of SSDs I'm looking for - and why I should buy from you - instead of all
these others.
If a user has been
deploying SSDs in their datacenter for 5 to 10 years already - then they will
have a different set of ideas about product feature preferences and vendor
profile preferences to another user who is looking at SSDs for the first time -
or who has less experience and less confidence about SSDs.
Can you tell me the best
way to SSD Street? - I'm like the Old Woman of the SSD Village who
talks to everyone that passes through. No wonder I have a unique perspective.
It would be strange if I didn't.