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(parallel) SCSI SSD market - by Zsolt Kerekes,
editor - July 2012 |
SCSI hard disks were
the mass storage of choice for workstations and servers from around 1988
until 2002 - at which latter point
SATA drives began to
offer equivalent HDD performance at lower cost.
As a result - nearly
every SSD manufacturer which was around in that period offered SCSI SSDs in
their product lines. But there weren't so many SSD oems in those days as there
are today- only about 20 SSD companies at the end of 2002.
By the time
SSD awareness started to hit the wider computer market (in 2005)
SCSI was already on its
way out - therefore most of the new companies entering the market since that
time - and particularly since the 1st phase of the
SSD market bubble -
saw no good reason to offer SCSI compatible products - focussing initially
instead on the high volume markets for
PATA SSDs and
SATA SSDs for the
notebook PC
markets.
There are still companies which support the SCSI SSD
market - and this is useful for customers who are trying to extend the life
of old servers - or avoid redesigning legacy embedded products in the
industrial, medical and military markets.
But unlike other segments of
the SSD marke the number of companies in the SCSI SSD market is declining.
One
reason that the market still exists at all - is simply that if you have a
legacy designed computer product with a parallel SCSI interface - then keeping
that model or product line going (without expensive redesign costs) may mean
you have no other choice in the matter than to look at using SSDs - instead
of HDDs - because hard disk makers lose interest in markets when the comparative
market volume drops - whereas this is still an upside volume opportunity for
many SSD makers.
In the table on the right - I've included companies
which have - in recent years offered parallel SCSI SSDs. Some of these product
lines may no longer be available. But I hope you find it a useful starting
point. |
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SCSI SSD notes from
SSD market
history
In
1990 -
NEC marketed a 5.25"
SCSI SSD using internal battery backed
RAM. I benchmarked it for
possible Oracle speedup - on a
SPARCengine 1.
In 1993 -
Solid Data Systems was
founded. The company patented technology for Direct AddressingTM - which
maximized SSD performance by translating SCSI addresses directly into DRAM
eliminating intermediate delays.
In
1996 - ATTO
Technology maketed the
SiliconDisk
II. It was a 5.25" form factor SCSI-3 interface RAM SSD with 64MB
to 1.6GB capacity. Throughput was 80MB/s, and performance was 22,000 IOPS.
In June
2001 -
Adtron shipped the
world's highest capacity 3.5" SCSI flash SSD. The S35PC had 14GB capacity
and cost $42,000.
In October
2004 -
BiTMICRO Networks
shipped the world's first Ultra320 SCSI flash solid state disk.
The 3.5"
E-Disk Ultra320 SCSI was OS independent, had 42 µsec access time and a
maximum IOPS
of 12,500. Sustained R/W rate was 68MB/sec (max) and burst R/W rate was
320MB/sec (max). It could handle operating shock of up to 1500 Gs and extreme
temperatures from -40 to +85°C.
See also:- the
top 100 SSD
articles (updated monthly) which lists and includes abstracts for many
articles about the reliability of SSDs and of subsystems and components within
SSDs too. |
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New SSD enhanced hardware and software fabrics will have the same effect
on how you come to view a single server - as RAID did on the limitations of a
single hard drive.the
Top SSD Companies - 2014 Q3 |
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| new directory of old style
(parallel) SCSI SSDs |
Editor:- July 10, 2010 - StorageSearch.com today
published a new directory of
(parallel) SCSI SSDs.
(Scroll down to see a list.)
SCSI SSDs aren't exactly a new topic in
the
history of
the SSD market. I benchmarked a SCSI SSD 20 years ago for use with an
embedded SPARC server. And there was a time when 95% of SSD manufacturers
made SCSI SSDs. Today that figure is 8%..
This is a market which has
resisted the upward suction of the
SSD market bubble.
Despite that - I know from many reader inquiries that customers with legacy
servers, and equipment designers with legacy products still search for SCSI
drives - and in many cases SSDs
are replacing HDDs -
simply because the original hard disk manufacturers have end of lifed SCSI
models. But many of the new SCSI SSDs available today aren't simply fossilized
versions of old designs. They include new security, performance and reliability
features.
As an editor - creating a new SCSI SSD list has been low on
my priorities - because I thought the market had nearly gone away - and I
hoped I wouldn't have to do it. I was wrong. More SCSI SSDs are being shipped
today than at any time in the past. It's never going to be a huge market - but
for those of you who have been looking -
here it is. | | |
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