| DDRdrive
Launches Low Cost PCIe RAM SSD |
| Editor:-
May 4, 2009 - DDRdrive
emerged from stealth mode and launched the
DDRdrive X1 - a
PCIe compatible
RAM SSD with onboard
flash backup. |
| Load /
restore time is 60S. I/O performance is over 200K IOPS (for 512B blocks). For
4kB blocks IOPS is:- 50k (reads) and 35K (writes). R/W throughput is 215MB/s
and 155MB/s respectively. Capacity is 4GB. OS compatibility:- Microsoft
Windows (various). Price is $1,495. |
... |
 |
| ..................... |
| Using
Microsoft Windows built-in RAID
support, DDRdrive X1's can be spanned (capacity), striped (performance),
mirrored (redundancy), and RAID-5 configured. | |
Editor's
comments:- the DDRdrive X1 looks competitively priced for accelerating
database applications in which the hot files can be squeezed into a capacity
range from about 4GB to 12GB. Above that - you get into the region of entry
level
rackmount SSDs
and high performance PCIe
flash SSD cards
from companies like Fusion-io
and Texas Memory Systems.
There's definitely a gap in the market for this scale of product (low
entry price, low capacity - high IOPS). For the past year or so DDRdrive
shipped an earlier generation of its SSD accelerators exclusively to a large
enterprise for secret internal projects.
...Later:- May 7,
2009 - I can now reveal the "large enterprise" customer was
Intel. |
|
| Viking
Launches SATA Cube SSD |
| Editor:- March 10,
2009 - Viking Modular
Solutions has launched the
SATA Cube
- a miniature flash SSD
which provides upto 256GB capacity in a small 30x32mm footprint. |
Sustained R/W speeds are
110MB/s and 79MB/s respectively. It's available as a BGA device or with a
MicroSATA connector.
"The SATA Cube3 is an ideal solution for OEMs
that require the benefits of non-volatile solid state storage and SATA
performance in an ultra small form factor," said Adrian Proctor, VP of
Marketing for Viking Modular Solutions. |
... |
 |
| Viking says that
designers of card based SSDs on form factors such as AMC, XMC, PMC and PCIe
will find the low volumetric density and high storage capacity of the SATA Cube
a strong candidate for their space constrained application. | |
|
|
|
|
SiliconSystems
Launches Postage Stamp Size USB SSD
Aliso Viejo, Calif -
October 30, 2007 - SiliconSystems, Inc. today announced its new
SiliconDrive USB Blade solid-state storage product.
SiliconDrive
USB Blade is a postage-stamp sized
USB solid-state drive
designed for embedded storage applications where board space, shock, vibration,
temperature and multi-year product lifecycles are mandatory design
considerations. |
 |
| Evaluation
units and host developer tool kits will be available in December in capacities
of 512 megabytes, 1 and 2 gigabytes. ...SiliconSystems
profile |
|
QNAP
Introduces 3.5" USB / eSATA Backup Station
Taipei,
Taiwan - October 16, 2007 - QNAP Systems, Inc. today introduced the
QBack-35S to its external hard drive enclosure QBack series. |
The
titanium black QBack-35S supports a single 3.5" SATA hard drive, up to
1TB storage capacity, and USB
and
eSATA interfaces.
QBack-35S is aimed at users who require fast and secure low cost data
backup. With QBack-35S, users can experience handsfree automatic
synchronization backup, AES 256-bit encryption, and e-mail (Outlook, Outlook
Express, and Windows Mail) backup.
The award-winning backup software
QBack is enclosed - which provides 4 backup modes. In addition to the
auto-sync backup, one touch backup is supported. |
 | |
| Users can
back up data immediately by pressing the one touch button on the device. QBack
also provides instant and schedule backup modes.
...QNAP Systems profile,
Storage Boxes |
|
Samsung
moviMCP will Shrink Mobile Phones
Seoul,
Korea - May 30, 2007 - Samsung today announced that it is sampling a 4
gigabyte multi-chip package for mobile phones that eliminates the need for an
external memory card slot. |
The new
moviMCP stacks flash and
RAM vertically to enable a
small footprint device which satisfies the high-speed data transmission needs
of mobile phones, while fully supporting the communication features within the
handset.
According to
iSuppli, the 3G mobile
phone market - which is the main target for Samsung's new moviMCP - is expected
to reach 392 million units in 2007 and will grow 40% annually till 2010. ...Samsung profile,
storage chips |
 | |
|
AMCC
Shows Serial SCSI RAID Controllers at CeBIT
Hannover, Germany - March 15,
2007 - AMCC is demonstrating its RAID technology this week at
CeBIT.
For the first time AMCC will showcase its new PCI
Express to SAS
RAID controller working
with SAS expanders and Seagate
Technology's Cheetah 15K.5 drives.
|
| AMCC will also
announce and demonstrate substantial enhancements to the 3ware Sidecar, a
desktop RAID storage expansion solution formerly available only for Apple's
Power Mac G5 and Mac Pro systems. The upgraded 9650SE-based 3ware Sidecar
extends support to PC workstations with Windows and Linux operation systems.
Battery backup support has also been added for additional data protection.
|
 | |
The new
24-port 3ware 9650SE-24M8 will also be showcased in a system that uses two of
these controllers connected to 48 high capacity
SATA drives.
"We are pleased to use the largest technology event in Europe as
the venue to announce new RAID products and to demonstrate how AMCC continues to
drive storage technology with innovations that deliver the performance, value
and density that customers demand," said Scott Cleland, director of
marketing for AMCC Storage.. "By announcing new products for Windows, Linux
and Mac platforms, and demonstrating AMCC products working in a
SAS environment, we
are expanding the reach of our technology into new and exciting storage
environments."
...AMCC profile,
Storage Events |
|
YES Box
Aims at Home Media Server Market
Editor:- November 20,
2006 - Thecus Technology today launched a dual SATA disk bay consumer
NAS called the YES Box. |
Aimed at the
home media server market it is preloaded with
Mediabolic's Media
Server software - which has been proven on over 1 million units.
This
software makes music, photo, and video files available over a network for
streamed playback on connected entertainment products. |
 | |
| The software
aggregates personal media so that it was can be accessed by a variety of
players, such as network TVs, IP set-top boxes, and digital media adapters.
Connection is via 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports and 3 USB 2.0 ports. ...Thecus profile |
|
SimpleTech
Ships 3.5" Fibre Channel SSD
SANTA
ANA, Calif. - October 17, 2006 - SimpleTech, Inc. today announced the
availability of its Zeus Solid State Drive with Fibre Channel Interface.
|
Now shipping,
it offers sustained throughput in excess of 70MB/s in 3.5" form factor,
with 400MB/s duplex burst read and write speed, all of which is done with an
extremely low 5W power draw.
In a recent contract award, the U.S.
Army committed to outfit Apache attack helicopters with new sensor electronics
from Lockheed Martin. These high performance systems are designed to accommodate
SimpleTech's 80GB Fibre Channel SSDs to provide mass storage for recording
real-time sensor data. SimpleTech's new SSD is available with a full range of
data sanitization options.
|
 | |
| According to
Alan Niebel of
Web-Feet Research,
the industrial flash
market is projected to grow from $550 million in 2006 to $4.3 billion by 2010.
This strong growth reflects the speed with which customers and OEMs are
embracing NAND flash-based solid
state drives as the preferred medium for high performance and
high reliability
storage.
...SimpleTech profile |
|
SAMSUNG
Introduces New Nonvolatile Memory - PRAM
Seoul
, Korea - September 11, 2006 - Samsung Electronics announced that it
has completed the first working prototype of what is expected to be the main
memory device to replace high density NOR flash within the next decade – a
Phase-change Random Access Memory. |
The company
unveiled the 512M-Megabit PRAM device in Seoul today. More scalable than
any other memory architecture being researched, PRAM features the fast
processing speed of RAM for
its operating functions combined with the non-volatile features of
flash memory for storage,
giving it the nickname "Perfect RAM."
PRAM can rewrite data without having to first erase data previously
accumulated, so it is effectively 30 x faster than conventional flash
memory. Incredibly durable, PRAM is also expected to have at least 10 x the life
span of flash memory.
|
 | |
| PRAM will be a
highly competitive choice over NOR flash, available beginning sometime in 2008.
Samsung designed the cell size of its PRAM to be only half the size of NOR
flash. Moreover, it requires 20% fewer process steps to produce than those used
in the manufacturing of NOR flash memory. ...Samsung profile,
Storage Glossary,
article:-
Charting the Rise of the Solid State Disk Market |
|
SanDisk
Opens Up New Market for Flash Video
Berlin
- September. 2, 2006 - SanDisk Corp today introduced the V-Mate Video
Memory Card Recorder at the IFA Show. |
| The V-Mate
is a video memory card recorder, allowing users to record video from video
inputs such as over-the-air television as well as cable, satellite,
DVD players and VCRs
onto their flash memory
cards.
|
 | |
Consumers can
then take their memory card from the V-Mate and insert it into their mobile
phone, video music player or notebook computer to play back their videos on the
go.
The SanDisk V-Mate lets users record up to 3.5 hours of high
quality video per gigabyte, using industry-standard video formats. The V-Mate,
expected to be available in October 2006, will sell for $129.99 MSRP. ...SanDisk profile,
Storage Events |
|
STMicroelectronics
Has Secure Fast Flash for Automotive Market
Geneva -
August 30,2006 - STMicroelectronics today announced a new and enhanced
version of its 32-Mbit Flash memory chip that is intended specifically for the
automotive market. |
The new
device uses a state-of-the-art architecture to reduce access times to as low as
45nsec over the full automotive temperature range (-40 degrees C to +125 degrees
C for the packaged device, -40 degrees C to +150 degrees C in bare die form).
The M58BW32F features a wide 32-bit data bus and operates on a nominal
3.3V memory core supply. |
 | |
| For
security, each die
embeds a unique device ID to allow the use of cryptographic algorithms to
protect against illegal software modifications. Pricing for the M58BW32F is
$5.50 per device.
...STMicroelectronics
profile, Flash Storage |
|
LaCie
Launches 6 New Products
January 4, 2006 -
LaCie today launched 6 new storage products which will be shown for
the first time next week at Macworld Expo. |
Among the
products, the 4 shown on the right are from top to bottom:-
- Little Big Disk is a 320GB portable storage device with
throughput of up to 80MB/s. It includes both FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0
interfaces and costs $799. Little Big Disk also comes in a LaCie signature
design by Neil Poulton, creator of the original d2 Hard Drive Series.
- LaCie Rugged - designed to protect data against everyday
bumps, bruises and hard knocks of the real world. LaCie Rugged's unique aluminum
shell and rubber bumper protects it from table-height drops. 120GB model costs
$359.
- LaCie Two Big is a 115MB/s performance
SATA II RAID
solution with two hot-swappable drives which costs $949 for 1T.
- LaCie Slim DVD±RW Drive is a fully portable FireWire
bus-powered DVD burner with powerful Toast 7 Titanium CD/DVD burning software
which costs LaCie Slim DVD±RW Design by FA Porsche $219.
|
 |
| ...LaCie profile,
Macworld,
Firewire Storage,
DVD drives,
Storage News
in Pictures | |
|
Swissbit
Launches DDR2R
Editor:-
December 15, 2005 - Swissbit today announced immediate availability of
its DDR2R memory modules.
This is aimed at users who
like to have different colored components inside their systems. |
| Instead of
the usual green PCB they now come in bright red. So I added the extra "R"
suffix because I think that DDR2R (DDR2 "Red") is easier to read than
with the prefix - RDDR2 ("Red" DDR2). |
 | |
That brings
to mind prequels and sequels, and if we're not careful we're going to end up
getting confused with that charming little robot in
Star Wars.
The
new color applies to all Swissbit's DDR2 modules with capacities ranging from
256MB to 2GB and speeds ranging from 400MHz to 667MHz. Actually I'm red/green
color blind - so I just have to take it on trust that I used the right picture.
...Swissbit profile,
Storage News
in Pictures |
|
QNAP
Launches Desktop NAS for SMBs
Taipei,
Taiwan - November 29, 2005 - QNAP Systems, Inc. has launched the
TS-401T - a 4 disk, hot swappable, desktop NAS aimed at SMBs. |
Most small
businesses may not have their own MIS professionals. QNAP's TS-401T can be
configured in 5 minutes with 7 simple installation steps.
Disk
configurations include:- RAID 0, 1, 5 & JBOD. The TS-401T includes built in
software for remote replication and optional anti-virus protection.
It also includes USB ports for directly attached data backup. ...QNAP Systems profile,
NAS |
 | |
|
Accordance
Delivers RAID Protection Under $400
DES MOINES,
Iowa - November 16, 2005 - Accordance Systems today announced that small
and medium size businesses can now afford the same class of data protection as
large enterprises. |
Connected to
either local PCs or a small central server, the ARAID IDE and
SATA controllers RAID
1 capability has now been expanded to protect registry files, open data base
files and application files.
Accordance Systems' ARAID is the first
low cost RAID system of
its class (under $400) disk mirroring all computer files for disaster
recovery and data
backup.
|
 | |
"Even
if you are a computer newbie, you can easily install the 'no software needed'
ARAID on any Windows, Mac,
Linux or
UNIX computer" said
Steve Johnson, President of Accordance Systems.
The Accordance ARAID
controller supports
dual hard drives and
mirrors data onto both drives. As data gets written to one disk it is
automatically copied to the second disk. If one disk fails, the data is
protected on the other disk. To replace a failed hard drive, the user simply
pulls out the removable
ARAID hard drive tray, pulls out the bad disk and replaces it with a new one.
The ARAID automatically copies the data from the remaining good drive onto the
newly inserted hard disk.
The ARAID is commonly used for backup by using 3 hard drives –
one that stays in the ARAID controller, and 2 that are rotated in and out. The
removed hard disk is taken off-site to provide reliable and secure storage of
valuable data against disaster scenarios. Disk-based backups using the ARAID are
less expensive, less labor intensive and more reliable than
tape based backups.
...Accordance
profile |
