storagesearch.com

SandForce

SandForce is transforming data storage by pioneering the use of commodity flash memory in enterprise and mobile computing applications with its innovative SSD (Solid State Drive) Processors. By delivering unprecedented reliability, performance, and energy efficiency, SSDs based on patent-pending SandForce DuraClass technology unleash the full potential for mass-market adoption of SSDs based on NAND flash memory. Founded in 2006, SandForce is funded by leading venture capital investors and first tier storage companies. For more information, visit SandForce at www.sandforce.com.

see also:- SandForce - editor mentions on StorageSearch.com

• editor's comments:- December 2009 - SandForce has - in less than a year - become one of the best known makers of SSD SoCs - having achieved high rankings in StorageSearch.com's quarterly rankings of the top 10 SSD oems.
  
  By talking openly about its SSD controller technology - SandForce has garnered interest from many stakeholders outside the set of those oems who may want to directly use its chip technology. Although not explicitly stated in this way - the company has cleverly leveraged the concept of "SSDs with SandForce inside". Therefore end-users who want to peek ahead at the SSD performance market roadmap can get a realistic idea of what may be coming - even if they aren't in the market for SandForce based products.
  
  SandForce was the 1st company to offer symmetric R/W IOPS in a 2.5" flash SSD form factor.
  
  SandForce is also an advocate of "skinny" flash SSDs. To see what I mean by this - and how this approach compares to the rest of the market take a look at the article - RAM Cache Ratios in flash SSDs.
  
  SandForce Milestones from recent SSD Market History
  
  In April 2009 - SandForce unveiled its SF-1000 family of SSD Processors - aimed at oems building SATA flash SSDs. Its 2.5" SSD reference design kit is the fastest 2.5" SATA flash SSD on the market - with 250MB/s symmetric R/W throughput and 30,000 R/W IOPS.
  
  I asked SandForce's President & CEO, Alex Naqvi, for more details about the various package of technologies which are bundled in the company's "DuraClass Technology" - which achieves impressively high IOPS without relying on over-provisioning or large external RAM caches. In particular I wondered what part, if any its choice of processor SoC (from Tensilica) had to play.
  
  Alex Naqvi explained - DuraClass performance doesn't come from the choice of processor - but in the way that they have integrated various design techniques with very fast hardware (proprietary chips) which the company has designed to accelerate the core bottleneck functions of a flash SSD controller.
  
  In concert with other techniques, such as the ability to reorder data before it is written to flash (thereby attenuating write endurance by 2 orders of magnitude), RAID like internal protection and very fast garbage collection SandForce's DuraClass Technology results in small form factor enterprise class flash SSDs which have no daily write limits for MLC flash and symmetric R/W IOPS.
  
  In June 2009 - SandForce's VP marketing, Thad Omura published an article in Computer Technology Review - Making MLC Flash Practical for Enterprise SSDs.
  
  In July 2009 - SandForce was ranked #2 in StorageSearch.com's list of the the Top 10 SSD OEMs based on search volume in Q2 2009. This is the 1st time that the top 10 SSD list has included a company whose primary business is designing SSD controllers.
  
  SandForce's search volume was 72% higher than the #3 ranked company in this list indicating high reader interest in what the company has to say about SSDs.
  
  StorageSearch.com attributes this to 2 main factors.
  
  1 - Users are getting much more interested in educating themselves about what happens inside flash SSDs - to understand what factors affect performance and reliability - and in the hope of avoiding choosing the wrong suppliers.
  
  2 - Thousands of designers in hundreds of companies worldwide are now investigating the option of designing their own SSDs as the technological barriers to doing this have crumbled way. (This is confirmed by pageviews for SSD SOCs and reader emails.) It means that if big computer oems are successful in the SSD market many will turn their attention to designing future SSDs in-house rather than buying commercial off the shelf products.
  
  Commenting on the company's high ranking in these pages SandForce's VP of Marketing Thad Omura said - "We are delighted StorageSearch.com is raising the visibility of SandForce's innovative SSD Processors that enable the usage of commodity NAND flash memory in enterprise and mobile computing applications."
  
  In August 2009 - SandForce announced the availability of the SF-1000 family Evaluation 2.5" SSD featuring 34nm flash from Micron.
  
  In September 2009 - SMART Modular Technologies announced it has selected the SandForce SF-1500 SSD processor for use in its next-generation enterprise-class SATA SSDs sampling later this year.
  
  In October 2009 - SandForce was again ranked #2 in StorageSearch.com's list of the the Top 10 SSD OEMs based on search volume in Q3 2009.
  
  SandForce's dual frenemmy nature may be a factor in the high interest levels in this company. Even if you're not planning to use their products - you can't afford to ignore them - because their technology may pop up in another place close to your own interests.
  
  Also in October 2009 - SandForce published a new article - here on StorageSearch.com. It's called - Data Integrity Challenges in flash SSD Design. Written by Kent Smith Senior Director, Product Marketing at SandForce - the article describes what's needed inside the next generation of fast flash SSDs to ensure data integrity and to eliminate the risk of "silent errors."
  
  In November 2009 - SandForce announced that it has closed $21 million in Series C funding.
  
  In December 2009 - A-DATA announced it has joined the growing roster of SSD makers using SSD SoCs from SandForce. Products are now in the final testing stage and will be previewed at CES next month.