 |
|
QLogic (Nasdaq:QLGC) is a global leader and technology
innovator in high performance networking, including adapters, switches and
ASICs. Leading OEMs and channel partners worldwide rely on QLogic products for
their data, storage and server networking solutions. QLogic is a NASDAQ Global
Select company and is included in the S&P 500. For more information, visit
www.qlogic.com.
See also:-
QLogic
- editor mentions on STORAGEsearch.com
- editor's comments:- January 2012- QLogic designs and makes
adapters, chips and boxes for connecting, routing or
switching
fibre-channel,
iSCSI and used to be a
leader in the niche
InfiniBand market.
But QLogic recently announced it had agreed to sell its IB business and assets
to Intel.
You
would have thought that acompany this closely involved with high speed storage
fabric which gets close to the apps server would have got its act together with
an SSD product line several years ago.
They were certainly aware of
SSDs - but probably considered it to be a low volume market.
Texas Memory Systems
told me they had stopped using QLogic ASICs in TMS's FC adapters several years
ago - because the latency was too slow for the
fastest SSDs.
In
2009 I published an article explaining why all
RAID controller
companies had to get into the SSD business - because the only reason for their
original existance (making hard disk arrays appear fast and reliable) was
disappearing. Since then - many old timer RAID companies have gotten into the
SSD market either with PCIe
SSD or auto tiering /
SSD ASAP products.
I guess the pressure on the interface chip
business must be a lot easier - because QLogic only has one real competitor -
and they have been swapping little bits of market share since the 1990s.
Like
all enterprise storage companies QLogic will have to find a place in the SSD
market because that's going to be the only game in town. The company is a
member of the SSD Form Factor
Working Group which is working to standardize PCIe SSDs.
In
January 2012 - Intel
announced
an agreement to acquire the
InfiniBand related
product lines, IP and business assets of
QLogic.
|
|
| |
| don't all PCIe SSDs
look pretty much the same? |
When you look at the
photos and headline specs for high speed PCIe SSDs - it's easy to come away with
the impression that they all look the same and have about the same performance.
After
all - how different can they be?
But don't let the experience of the
2.5" SSD market -
in which clusters of consumer SSD vendors use the
same or similar
controllers and hover
close together inpopular
(consumer) performance rankings - give you the wrong idea about
PCIe SSDs.
In
this market the performance limits and capabilities of the SSD aren't set by an
old hard disk interface
and package limitations.
In the PCIe market the products you get are
limited only by the imagination of the designers - tempered by the guesses of
marketers who are trying to predict the optimum (most salable) features for an
ideal SSD. |
|
| | |
| .. |
| How big was the
thinking in this SSD's design? |
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.
The novel and the short story both have their
place in literature and the pages look exactly the same. But you know from
experience which works best in different situations and why.
When
it comes to SSDs - Big versus Small SSD architecture - is something which was
in the designer's mind. Even if they didn't think about it that way at the time.
|
 |
For designers, integrators,
end users and investors alike - understanding what follows from these simple
choices predicts a lot of important consequences. ...read the article | | | |
| .. |
|
|
| |
|
|
| .. |
|
|
| .. |
| Surviving SSD
sudden power loss |
Why should you care
what happens in an SSD when the power goes down?
This important design
feature - which barely rates a mention in most SSD datasheets and press releases
- has a strong impact on
SSD data integrity
and operational
reliability.
This article will help you understand why some
SSDs which (work perfectly well in one type of application) might fail in
others... even when the changes in the operational environment appear to be
negligible. |
|
| | |
| . |
|
| |
