| Introducing
the flash SSD market.......... |
by
Zsolt Kerekes,
editor
Flash based SSDs use
non volatile
semiconductor technology to store data, and do not need any batteries to retain
data when they are unpowered.
Because they have no moving parts they
are inherently more
reliable than
hard disks and use less
operating power. Flash SSDs can operate in hostile environments including
industrial, military and even
outer
space applications.
Flash SSDs have been commercially available
for a very
long time.
For example - in 1999 -
BiTMICRO launched an
18GB 3.5"
flash SSD.
In the
early 2000s -
low capacity flash SSDs such as the
DiskOnChip opened new
markets in intelligent phones - and also started to replace
miniature hard drives.
Prior
to 2005 - high capacity flash SSDs were mostly used in
rugged embedded
applications in which their
wide temperature
operating range and greater reliability (compared to hard drives) made
SSDs the only viable choices.
In 2006 - flash SSDs started to appear
in mass market notebooks as direct replacements for HDDs.
In
2007 -
revolutions in flash SSD
controller architecture - enabled some flash SSD makers to reach
IOPS
performance levels previously only achieved by much more expensive
RAM SSDs - while
managing endurance within a tolerable product life.
2010 -
Year of the SSD market
bubble - was the 1st year that the SSD market reached billions of dollars.
(2 to be precise.)
The SSD market is growing fast (high double digits
or low triple digit percentage revenue growth per year) and despite
significant problems which need to be overcome in some areas of the the
notebook and
server markets
- it has the potential to become a $10 billion / year market (a potential which
StorageSearch.com was the 1st market data source to identify in 2003.)
But
SSD revenue won't stop there. The
big picture
shows it eventually exceeding the peak size of the HDD market
by
the end of this decade.
Today in 2011 there are nearly 300
known manufacturers of flash SSDs, and flash
SSD controllers.
Instead
of presenting you with a long alphabetic list of companies (which I used to do
when the market was smaller) you can find flash SSD companies and content on
this site using this
prepopulated
search link - which you can adapt to your own requirements by adding or
deleting terms.
For SSD market size information take a look at the
articles and links in the
SSD market research
directory. | |
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the Problem with
Write IOPS
the "play it again Sam" syndrome |
Editor:- Flash SSD "random
write IOPS" are now similar to "read IOPS" in many of the
fastest SSDs.
So
why are they such a poor predictor of application performance?
And
why are users still buying
RAM SSDs which cost
9x more than SLC? - even when the IOPS specs look similar. |
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This article tells you
why the specs got faster - but the applications didn't. And why competing SSDs
with apparently identical benchmark results can perform completely
differently. ...read
the article | | | |
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| this way to the Petabyte
SSD |
In 2016 there will be
just 3 types of
SSD in the datacenter.
One
of them doesn't exist yet - the bulk storage SSD.
It will replace the
last remaining strongholds of
hard drives in the
datacenter due to its unique combination of characteristics, low running costs
and operational advantages. |
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... |
The new model of the
datacenter - how we get from here to there - and the technical problems which
will need to be solved - are just some of the ideas explored in this
visionary article. | | | |
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| Fast Purge flash SSDs |
| The need for fast and
secure data erase - in which vital parts of a flash SSD or its data are
destroyed in seconds - has always been a requirement in military projects.
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Although many industrial
SSD vendors offer products with extended "rugged" operating
environment capabilities - and even
notebooks SSDs come
with encryption - it's the availability of fast data purge which
differentiates "truly secure" SSDs which can be deployed in
sensitive applications.
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| SSD power down
management |
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. |
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| SSD Pricing -
where does all the money go? |
SSDs are among the most
expensive computer hardware products you will ever buy.
Understanding
the factors which determine SSD costs is often a confusing and irritating
process... |
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...not made any easier when
market prices for identical capacity SSDs can vary more than 100x to 1!
Why is that? ...read
the article | | | | |
