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the SSD Heresies

Why can't SSD's true believers agree on a single vision for the future of solid state storage?

by Zsolt Kerekes, editor - June 8, 2010

One of the things which demonstrates the extraordinary range of diversity in thinking about the SSD market is the different answers you get to these 2 simple questions.

what's the best way to design a flash SSD?

where's the best place to put it?

Nowhere else in computer architecture will you get so many industry experts disagreeing on such fundamental questions.

Try this thought experiment for yourself replacing the concept of "flash SSD" with "microprocessor". As in ...why can't we all agree about the future of microprocessors?

For products like servers, notebooks and cell phones there's fairly uniform agreement about how to design a microprocessor that's appropriate to the performance and power/cost budget levels of these recognized standard products - and whole families of micros which have been optimized for specific categories of applications - so the designer of a dishwasher for example doesn't have to waste time researching trends in 256 core 64 bit CPUs.

Those of us old enough to witness the excitement and confusion of the early microprocessor market remember a similar state of confusion.

Mainframe companies thought that micros might have an arm's length role in peripherals like VDUs. Minicomputer companies initially thought micros were irrelevant because they didn't have operating systems and compilers. First the hungry micro companies ate the minis - then they ate the mainframes too. In other product areas too - I remember having debates about whether it was excessive to design products which had 2, 3 or more processors. It was easier to get the job done with more - so that's what we did. And having crossed that line - and proven it was a good idea later products used a lot more processors.

Will it go the same way with SSDs?

They're already eating the server microprocessor market due to SSD-CPU equivalence - as I predicted in 2003.

Will SSDs eat the VTL and tape library too? Yes (but not soon) - it's a hungry market but getting accustomed to a rich and diverse diet takes time.

The norms for what makes a good storage design in user environments are changing faster now than at any time in history.

And in the past 3 years in the SSD industry we've seen a lot of learning going on by designers of SSD controller chips - as successive products have demonstrated good features (which make products work better for users), bad features (which made the products look good in benchmarks but didn't work so well in applications and missing features (important functions which are required for a hassle-free user life-cycle - which never got into the original design).

That complex picture of shifting sands of assumptions in the SSD market is the reason that StorageSearch.com has thousands of pages of content devoted to the subject of SSDs. (It's still not enough - I know.) And it's why thousands of bloggers are writing on this subject. Just when it seems for a brief moment that there's agreement about a topic - such as what's a good notebook or server SSD? - Then a new technology generation - or article comes along raising a new important issues - and it's back to having no safe answers any more.

Debate is good - and where we end up with SSDs is going to look a lot different to where we are today. The SSD analysts agree on some things - but disagree on others. Each SSD manufacturer would like to think that their own way is best.

I have my own views about the future of the SSD market and what it's going to look like. And they may be different to yours. But maybe we can all agree and get accustomed to the idea that what we are seeing now in SSD design and usage is still a long way from where we will end up.

Tactically the SSD product decisions you make today may be different to what you would do in 3, 6 or 12 months from now.

Surviving the present to get to the future and retaining flexibility by avoiding routes which limit your future options seems like a good way to go. Translating that into customer strategies - may mean don't worry if your notebook SSD choices and suppliers are completely different to the SSDs you use in your servers. And the tick lists will be different too. Server SSD choices? Just fix the problem you have today - because your server assets may look completely different tomorrow.

Remember how email and the web transformed the server assets for most companies in the early 1990s? That's the kind of seismic change SSDs will have too. So having a 5 year SSD server plan may not be a realistic idea.

click here to see our directory of SSD market analysts

Thanks for reading the latest SSD squeaks from the mouse site. I hope you find the articles and ideas you see here helpful in stimulating your own thoughts - and helping you avoid obvious pitfalls. If you like what you see - why not tell your friends and colleagues to take a look too.

Here are some useful SSD overview directories

the SSD news page - 160 oems profiled + news

SSDs - the big picture - for non-techies

the SSD Buyers Guide - #1 most popular article

the Fastest SSDs - key specs all form factors

the Top 10 SSD OEMs - future market winners?

the New Business Case for SSD ASAPs - auto-tiering SSD accelerators will be needed in pure SSD storage environments too!

differing views about the SSD market - image for this article

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examples of differing views about important topics within the SSD industry.

How much RAM cache should a flash SSD have? - arguments range from none (skinny), some (regular) to a lot (fat).

Legacy vs New Dynasty - the new way of looking at Enterprise SSDs - even when the interface, memory technology and form factor are the same - this article explains the thinking which leads to dramatically different thinking in the product design from competitors with these differing outlooks.

flash SSD capacity - the iceberg syndrome - how does the amount of flash inside a flash SSD compare to the capacity shown on the invoice? - There are huge variations in different designs as vendors leverage capacity to tweak key performance and reliability parameters.

Does size really does matter in SSD design? - By that I mean how big was the mental map? - not how many inches wide is the SSD.

Should enterprise SSDs use MLC flash? - There was a time when the idea of using flash in enterprise SSDs was ridiculous - because of endurance considerations. Only RAM SSDs were good enough. Then flash architecture got quicker - which made it tempting. Now SLC is considered safe. Some vendors say MLC is suitable for enterprise apps too. (Depends what you mean by "enterprise app" - and in some cases could be true. And other types of flash are creeping in too. Is it really safe? What can go wrong? And if flash SSDs are so good - why do some people still buy the more expensive RAM SSDs?

What's the best architecture for a rackmount SSD? - some products use proprietary architectures while others bundle together arrays of industry standard 2.5" SSDs or PCIe SSDs. Which approach gives the best reliability? or performance? or cost? or lowest risk?

What's the best way for users to accelerate their enterprise server apps? - is it automatic tuning (in the box - ASAPs) or traditional human tuning? And how can a user tell in advance which is best for their own situation and budget?

What are the main application slots which suit SSDs? Can one type of SSD be good for more than 1 type of function? Are the SSD types we're seeing now all that there will ever be in the market? Or will there be entirely new types of SSD still to come? If so - when?

Do SSDs replace hard disks - or do SSDs replace servers? - can they replace tape backup? - or do they create possibilities for entirely new solutions? Are hybrids a good or bad idea? Or are some good - and others bad?

Are SSDs really more reliable than HDDs? - If so - how come so many SSD products have had performance and operational problems?

what happens in an SSD when the power goes down? - Why does the design of the power down management system makes such a big difference to operational reliability and flexibility of deployment?

Are SSDs really cheaper to own - or more expensive than hard drives? What is it you're paying for? Do you really need the features you're being offered?

Which SSD interface is going to win the war for SSDs in the datacenter? - SAS or PCIe? Or both? Or neither...

Is it safer for cautious enterprise users to wait for big safe companies to buy up successful SSD companies (or license their technology) or is the risk of missing out on the SSD market bubble more serious than the risk of choosing the wrong SSD supplier?

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