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more SSDs at Computex
Editor:-
June 7, 2012 - there are a lot of SSD companies and products appearing this week
at Computex 2012 that I
won't be writing about right now.
Don't worry - you can see who they
are and read about them
on
the organizer's web site by clicking on this link.
STEC releases SSD cache software for anyone's SSD
Editor:-
June 6, 2012 - STEC
today
announced
the general availability of the company's
EnhanceIO SSD Cache
Software for Linux and Windows environments with pricing starting from $295
and $495 (per server) for a 1 year subscription.
STEC says its SSD
cache software can used with any vendor's
SAS,
Fibre Channel,
PCIe or
SATA SSD. And a
Linux version of this software, based on Facebook's
Flashcache caching
module, will be made available under a general public license (GPLv2).
"As one of the original architects of Flashcache, I'm extremely
pleased to see this technology being enhanced and supported by STEC in their
EnhanceIO software," said Mohan Srinivasan, software engineer at
Facebook. "Flashcache has proven to be an invaluable tool for accelerating
application performance at Facebook."
Users can choose from a selection of caching schemes and block sizes
to suit their preference and SSD's capabilities. STEC stores the metadata for
the cache in system DRAM rather than in the SSD. The DRAM required for the
cache is 0.1% of the cache size so a terabyte of SSD cache requires about
1GB of DRAM support. Product support tools include a profiler which can collect
user data and suggest the best policy option parameters for the cache setup.
Editor's
comments:- irrespective of the technical strengths and weaknesses (and
pricing model) of this new product compared to other competing
SSD ASAP / caching
offerings - some questions immediately spring to mind.
How
serious is STEC about making this software work as a standalone product? And if
it becomes successful will the company be tempted to bundle it free with its
own SSDs?
BiTMICRO acquires mixed signal IP assets from QualCore
Editor:-
June 5, 2012 - BiTMICRO
today
announced
it has obtained over 600 IP assets from
QualCore whose portfolio includes
analog, digital, and mixed-signal IC design.
Engineers retained from
QualCore's IP and ASIC services team have joined the recently established
BiTMICRO India. The acquisition also brings BiTMICRO closer to its goal of
bringing the entire development cycle in-house, from ASIC design to
characterization testing.
Skyera sets up HQ
Editor:- June 5, 2012 - Skyera (still in
partial stealth mode) today announced
it has moved into its new (81,000 square feet) headquarters in San Jose, CA.
"We are installing world-class manufacturing facilities that
enable us to offer exceptional product quality while maintaining the lowest
possible solid-state storage systems cost in the industry" said the
company's CEO - Rado
Danilak
SanDisk launches long awaited PCIe SSD accelerators
Editor:-
June 5, 2012 - SanDisk
today launched a new family of bootable enterprise
PCIe SSDs with upto
400GB (MLC) capacity ($2,350 MSRP) - the
Lightning
- which leverages SSD IP from 2 previously acquired companies (Pliant for the
controller hardware and FlashSoft
for the auto caching
software).
Upto 5 cards can be installed in a single system.
Editor's
comments:- no useful performance data about the new products was available
on the
Lightning
PCIe SSD home page when I looked - so you'll just have to imagine how fast
an SSD with that
type of name might be.
IOPS needs survey
Editor:- June 4, 2012 - throughout
June - Objective
Analysis and Coughlin Associates
are conducting a survey
of how many IOPS people think they need. ...click here to take part
multi-generational SandForce SSD controllers demonstrated with
19nm flash
Editor:- June 4, 2012 - LSI recently
announced
demonstrations of its SandForce
SF-2000 flash controllers working with Toshiba 19nm and Intel 20nm NAND
flash memory at Computex 2012
taking place this week in Taipei, Taiwan.
"Working with all 6
leading manufacturers of NAND flash technology enables LSI to optimize our flash
processors for ever-shrinking silicon geometries," said Michael Raam,
VP and GM, Flash Components Division, LSI.
Editor's comments:-
over 7 million SandForce controllers had been shipped upto the start of Q2 2012
- and 20% of all the flash capacity in computing today is controlled
by a SandForce controller according to company sources.
IDC says shipments of SSDs
in client and enterprise markets are expected to exceed 100 million units
in 2015.
LSI says that its multi-generation roadmaps are a key reason
that oems (currently 50 companies) like its way of doing things. The 1st
generation SandForce controller supported 4 flash generations from 5Xnm down to
2Xnm and its current generation started at 3Xnm geometries and already supports
3 generations of flash down to 20nm. One of the reasons it can support so many
generations of flash from the same generation controller design is that it uses
firmware as part of the flash management IP.
Biwin enters PCIe SSD market
Editor:- June 4, 2012 -
Biwin is showing
a (slow)
prototype
PCIe SSD at Computex 2012.
The company says this isn't a marketable product but signals its
intention to enter the PCIe
SSD market soon with products which are closer to the 8GB/s potential
thoughput of 3rd generation PCIe servers. | |
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