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SSD market news in
May 2004
storage
history
SSD market
history
SPARC
server history
Fibre-channel
and SAN History - the First Decade 1994 to 2004 |
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above - some ideas don't
change - a contemporary SSD banner ad from 2004 |
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Why Sun should Acquire an
SSD Company ASAP
Editor:- May 28, 2004 -
a new article published today in the SPARC Product Directory is called
- Why Sun will Acquire a Solid State Disk Company ASAP.
Most
analysts agree that Sun is just not as good at designing processor chips (at
today's 30 million transistor level) as semiconductor companies like Intel and
AMD who can recruit the best chip talent, and optimize silicon better than a
fabless designer.
But computer architectures are changing...
Sun may be able to leapfrog its server competition not by cranking up the GHz
on its SPARC CPUs, but by embedding solid state disk support in its Solaris OS.
By the way, that would also make Sun's AMD servers faster than the
Linux competition. ... read the article,
...Sun profile,
SPARC Product Directory
Flash Memory Market Report from Web-Feet Research
Monterey, CA - May 25,
2004 - Web-Feet Research has released the Q2/2004 issue of the
quarterly study that analyses the Flash memory production capacity, the Flash
market demand, and the relation between the demand and production capacity.
In addition, the study examines the installed and future DRAM
production capacity and explores the correlation between the Flash and DRAM
production capacities. The objective of the study is to forecast the way the
Flash industry will respond to a continuously increasing demand for Flash memory
for the coming 12 quarters.
At the end of the forecast period, an
additional 9 new capacity points will be on the market. This will increase the
number of commercially available component capacity points from 22 to 31.
The
consecutive yearly demand bit growth rates for 2004, 2005 and 2006 over 2003 are
forecast to be 209%, 191% and 150% respectively. Throughout the forecast
period, the highest contribution to the production bit growth will be the added
production capacity, followed by the transition to 300mm wafers, the transition
to 90nm manufacturing node and the increase of the multi-bit cell components.
...Web-Feet Research
profile, Flash memory
news, market research
SanDisk Card Combines Flash and WiFi
NEW
YORK, NY - May 24, 2004 - SanDisk Corporation announced today the
availability of the SanDisk 256MB + Wi-Fi SD Combination card, the world's first
card to include both memory and WLAN (802.11b) communications in a single SD
card.
The new card is compatible with handheld devices that
feature an SDIO-enabled slot and use Microsoft Pocket PC 2002, PC 2003 or
Windows Mobile 2003 operating environments. Availability of the SanDisk
Combination SD card, with shipping planned in the next 30 days to worldwide
markets, was announced at the Digital Experience media conference in New York.
"The SD Combination card makes the best use of the handheld's
SDIO slot by combining two important features into a single, small-sized card -
wireless connectivity and storage," said Dave Smurthwaite, product
marketing manager for mobile card solutions at SanDisk. "In addition to the
freedom and flexibility of wireless access, the 256MB of memory conserves
precious internal memory of the handheld device by allowing the user to save
files directly to the card without first saving them to the internal memory of
the device. Without storage on the card, handheld users cannot download large
files to their devices because the available internal memory of the device is
too small. The introduction of this card will meet demand of next generation
wireless applications such as the download of large streaming media files from
public and private networks for personal use."
The low-power
device is designed to minimize battery drain, a key consideration for handheld
computer users. The 256MB+Wi-Fi SD Combination card has a suggested list price
of $129.
...SanDisk profile
BiTMICRO Introduces PMC Flash Disk
Baltimore,
Maryland - May 18, 2004 - BiTMICRO Networks today introduced the E-Disk
PMC solid state storage plug-in module at Military & Aerospace
Electronics East 2004.
The
E-Disk PMC is intended for use as a boot and/or storage device for carrier
boards such as CompactPCI, VME and MultiBus, and almost any other type of SBC
and blade with a PMC slot.
The solid-state storage mezzanine card
delivers cost effective mass storage, eliminates cables and the need to use
SCSI-based storage solutions for applications requiring moderate storage
capacities.
The E-Disk PMC flash-based solid state solution comes with
device driver support for Linux and VxWorks. It does not need hard disk drive
battery back up or UPS for non-volatile data storage.
E-Disk PMC also
comes in rugged industrial temperature, conformally coated and soon to be
available conduction cooled versions. They boast I/O rates of up to 18,000 IOPS,
burst read/write rates of up to 66 MB/sec, sustained random read/write rates of
up to 28 MB/sec, and capacities of up to 10 GB.
...BiTMICRO Networks
profile
BiTMICRO's Solid State Flash Drives are Solaris Ready
Networld +
Interop, LAS VEGAS, Nevada - May 11, 2004 - BiTMICRO Networks announces
the successful acquisition of Solaris Ready certification from Sun
Microsystems on both SPARC and x86 platforms for its 3.5" Fibre
Channel, IDE / ATA and SCSI Wide solid state disks.
This
certification is a major milestone in the company's ongoing commitment to
deliver products that adhere to open standards and interoperate in heterogeneous
environments; serving as complete "drop-in" replacement for hard
drives. BiTMICRO's E Disk SSDs are widely deployed across all major platforms
and operating systems. The E-Disk flash drives are being showcased at Booth 340
of the Networld + Interop Exhibition from May 11 to 13, 2004.
...BiTMICRO Networks
profile
Editor's comments:- the
SPARC Product Directory has
reported signs that the Sun SPARC market is growing again, although it has been
lagging the recovery in the rest of the server market by 6 to 9 months.
See
also:- 3.5" SSDs
EZQuest Launches World's Smallest USB Flash Drive
YORBA LINDA, CA - May 10, 2004 - EZQuest
now offers the world's smallest USB flash drive for Macs and PCs.
The
EZ-Disk USB 2.0 drive is the length and thickness of two quarters. It measures
1.88-inches by .75-inch by .13-inch, and weighs just four grams. Designed for
people who want a fast way to copy, transport and transfer small files, it is
very easy to use. You plug it in, an icon pops up on your computer screen, and
you drag-and-drop the files you need at speeds up to 950KB/sec. Then, you slip
EZ-Disk into your pocket or wallet.
The drive is completely bus-powered, is backward compatible with USB 1.1, and is
compatible with both Macs and PCs. It comes in three models/capacities: 128MB,
256MB and 512MB.
"This rugged little drive is ideal for people on
the go," said Ebrahim Zmehrir, EZQuest president. "When you want to
take a few files with you, you just plug EZ-Disk in and get them. It's faster
than burning a CD, it's inexpensive and it fits just about anywhere. I carry
mine on my keychain."
EZ-Disk flash drives are compatible with
Mac OS 9.0 and Mac OS 10.1 or later, and Win 98SE, Win 2000, Win ME and Win XP.
(A driver is needed only for Win 98SE and is included.) EZ-Disk flash drives are
available now and MSRPs are: $49 for 128MB; $79 for 256MB capacity; and $149 for
512MB capacity.
...EZQuest profile
Advanced Media Unveils RIDATA-Brand Flash Cards
Diamond Bar, CA - May 10, 2004 -
Advanced Media, Inc. unveiled its line of RIDATA flash memory products
at the recent Retail Vision Spring 2004 show.
The line includes
CompactFlash, SmartMedia, MultiMedia, and SecureDigital, memory cards as well as
a flash memory card adapter, a USB card reader, and a thumb-size USB EZ drive.
RIDATA CompactFlash cards are available in 32MB, 64MB, and the Pro series
52X speed are available in 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB and 4GB capacities.
These cards are designed for D-SLR, digital still cameras, MP3 players, notebook
computers, and other handheld applications. They comply with all CompactFlash
specifications and are compatible with PC card ATA standards.
Advanced Media's SmartMedia cards come in 32MB, 64MB, 128MB
capacities. They work in various devices including digital still cameras and MP3
players. These NAND-type flash memory cards comply with all SmartMedia standards
as specified by the SSFDC forum.
RIDATA SecureDigital memory cards feature 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB
and 1GB capacities with 45X high performance. They comply with all SecureDigital
memory card specifications and include cryptographic security to protect
copyrighted data and a user-selectable write-protect switch on the card casing.
RIDATA MultiMedia cards offer 64MB, 128MB, 256MB 512MB and 1GB
capacities. They are an ideal storage medium for portable battery-powered
devices, especially supporting all leading brands of mobile phones. They meet
all MultiMedia card specifications and require no special power to maintain
stored data.
...Advanced
Media profile
Eurex US Derivatives a Solid State Disk Case Study - from DSI
Editor:- May 7, 2004 - A new
case study published today on STORAGEsearch written by Dynamic
Solutions International shows how Deutsche Börse Systems
turned to DSI for assistance when they opened Eurex US, a major
derivatives market based in Chicago.
Deutsche Börse Systems
operates 11 exchanges worldwide, including the Eurex trading systems at DBS
headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany which processes millions of transactions each
day for thousands of customers. To keep the important transaction volume high
and the customers happy, Deutsche Börse Systems partnered with DSI which
integrated Solid State Disk systems into their SAN and WAN systems. ...read the article (pdf),
...DSI profile
Solid State Disks Market Forecast Article Updated
Editor:- May
5, 2004 - I've updated the article - Solid State Disks - a $10 Billion
Market in 2007?
This is the article on STORAGEsearch I get
most questions about. I've added a column to describe how I think the
transition phase to a disruptive market in Solid State Disks will occur. There
are other possibilities - but the route I've suggested is the most likely. I've
also dealt with some of the user objections in the early phase of this market,
and shown why these are marketing problems, and not related to technology. ...read the article,
SSD market research
World's Fastest Storage is IBM TotalStorage Proven
HOUSTON, TEXAS -
May 4, 2004 -
Texas Memory Systems, Inc. announced that the RamSan-320 solid state
disk has been designated IBM TotalStorage Proven, making it the fastest
storage available for IBM users and the only solid state disk that has
received this designation.
IBM and Texas Memory Systems performed
comprehensive testing in a mixed SAN environment to ensure that the RamSan-320
met stringent testing requirements for system compatibility, interoperability,
functionality, fault tolerance, and high availability.
"Texas
Memory Systems is committed to increasing performance and integrating into mixed
server and storage environments," said Woody Hutsell, Executive Vice
President at Texas Memory Systems. "The RamSan is already Sun Solaris and
Windows certified and we are pleased to add the IBM TotalStorage Proven emblem
to this list"
The test environment for TotalStorage Proven consisted of a
RamSan-320, IBM FAStT600 and IBM ESS, all connected in a SAN configuration to
servers running mixed operating systems: Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Linux, and
an IBM pSeries 610 server running AIX 5.2.
...Texas Memory
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