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See also:-	the Fastest SSDs the SSD Buyers Guide the Top 10 SSD Companies Can you trust your flash SSD's specs? RAM SSDs versus Flash SSDs - which is Best? Z's Laws - Predicting Future Flash SSD Performance An In-depth Look at the RamSan-440 Solid State Disk (pdf)

Editor's comments:- when the RamSan-440 was launched (in July 2008) I spoke to Woody Hutsell at TMS at some length about the new product. The notes below are based on that interview. I joshed that I might be the only editor he spoke to who didn't raise that old question of HDD versus SSD pricing. But I did ask the price. It's $290k for the 0.5TB model.

Delivery? - that's where I got a surprise. I've got used to flash SSD oems preannouncing new products months in advance. Woody said that TMS has already delivered the new models into customer sites. They decided to wait for the public launch till they had sufficient inventory to meet demand.

Who are the customers for the new SSD? - Woody said he expected them to be existing users of RAM SSDs. They already know the cost benefits of SSD server acceleration. Traditionally big RAM SSD users have been in the financial and federal markets - but in recent years that has been expanding into other markets. And Woody reaffirmed something that I've already heard from other RAM SSD oems. The greater awareness of SSDs created by the flash SSD market has increased inquiries for high-end RAM SSDs.

What is the problem the new SSD addresses? - Woody said it was scalability. Terabyte RAM SSDs have been available in the market from several vendors for about 5 years. TMS noticed that a lot of customers just bought the highest capacity model. When TMS looked into what such customers ideally wanted beyond speed and price - scalability was cited as a significant issue. Many of these customers have limited rack space - so the higher density RamSan-440 addresses that. But the unique difference in the new product is the immediate availability on power up - and 6 minutes to full performance. TMS already had experience with flash SSD arrays - with their 2TB RamSan-500 launched about a year ago. That made it easier for them to engineer the new faster backup and boot in the new product launched today.

As we were talking about the SSD market - I asked for Woody's insights and views about the confusing range of products which were now available.

"The SSD market is multi-dimensional" - he said. Although flash SSD arrays may take business away from the low end of the RAM SSD market - when they are deployed that could increase upstream demand for IOPS on storage networks - and increase demand for RAM SSDs.

One worrying factor - he voiced - is that a lot of new vendors are offering what they claim are enterprise SSDs based on less reliable MLC flash. The focus of SSD customer education for many years was simply - what's an SSD? As SSDs get more widely deployed Woody agreed the industry will have to do more to help customers understand the nuances, risks and benefits which come from using different types of SSDs.

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