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2010 - year 1 of the SSD Market Bubble - article on storagesearch.com
Year of the SSD Bubble? ..
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USB Storage Milestones from Storage History
The USB (for Universal Serial Bus) is a low cost serial bus which, when originally shipped in 1996 (USB 1.0), provided upto 12Mb/S. That's about 100x faster than the RS-232 style serial interfaces used in earlier generations of computers which it replaced.

The USB is now widely used in Macs, PC's and even Linux systems. USB is typically used to connect devices such as printers, scanners, keyboards, digital cameras, MP3 players and external storage devices.

In June 2002, Intel and others started to demonstrate USB 2.0, which increases the speed of the peripheral to PC connection from 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on USB 1.1 to up to 480 Mbps on USB 2.0, or 40 times faster than with the older technology.

USB 3.0 - which at 5Gbps will be 10x faster than USB 2.0 - was originally expected to be available in the summer of 2008. Instead shipments started in December 2009. It will offer throughput similar to eSATA 2.0 - upto approx 300MB/s.

The article - USB 3.0 - A simple idea full of challenges - summarizes the problems facing chip designers hoping to achieve 5Gbps on cheap USB cables.


What if you're stuck with a USB 2 notebook and need fast cheap external storage now?

Some companies, such as Dane-Elec Memory, are marketing USB 3.0 adapters.

Another solution - for those who want to get more performance out of legacy USB 2.0 flash memory sticks is to look at USB SuperCharger Software from EasyCo which can apparently speed up writes by 2x to about 5x.

eSATA is another option - although for most notebooks it too - requires an adapter card.

Finally AoE storage provides a way for consumers to hook up a storage network using their inbuilt ethernet - which may be easier to set up than traditional NAS.
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USB storage news
IDC Tallies SSD Shipments

Editor:- January 20, 2010 - IDC says that SSD shipments in 2009 exceeded 11 million units, an increase of 14% year over year.

Looking forward, IDC says it expects SSD adoption will continue to experience tangible growth in 2010 and beyond, with shipments expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 54% over the 2008-2013 forecast period. Solid State Drives - market research & analysts


ioSafe Launches Disaster Proof Backup SSD

Editor:- January 5, 2010 - ioSafe launched the ioSafe Solo SSD - an ultra rugged USB / eSATA external flash SSD with upto 256GB capacity ($1,250) designed to provide data protection against disasters such as fire, flood, and building collapse.

ioSafe offers a "no questions asked" Data Recovery policy to help customers recover from any data disaster including accidental deletion, virus or physical disaster.

"The new ioSafe Solo SSD is the world's most rugged and versatile desktop external hard drive. It can be used alone or in conjunction with any offsite or online backup strategy to add real time, zero data loss, synchronous disaster protection to any data that sits vulnerable," said ioSafe CEO, Robb Moore.


OCZ will show Symwave based USB 3.0 SSD at CES

Editor:- November 24, 2009 - Symwave today announced that its USB 3.0 controller has been designed into a new flash SSD by OCZ - which will be shown at CES in January 2010.

Editor's comments:- Symwave's controller design includes a fully integrated USB 3.0 to SATA controller device (SoC with software) - making it easier to adapt existing designs for SATA SSDs. It's very fast. In September 2009 - Symwave demonstrated 270MB/s R/W throughput for its new USB 3.0 controller.


Dane-Elec Unveils USB 3 SSDs

Editor:- October 19, 2009 - Dane-Elec Memory announced it will start shipping a range of USB 3 compatible external SSDs with 250MB/s throughput in December.

These new products leverage Intel's flash SSDs. Dane-Elec will also be offering USB 3.0-compatible adapters for desktops with PCIe slots and laptops with PCIXpress slots.


USB 3.0 SSDs Coming Soon

Editor:- October 5, 2009 - Active Media Products today announced imminent shipments of its Aviator 312 line of bus powered fast USB 3.0 external SSDs with R/W speeds upto 240MB/s and 160MB/s respectively.

Measuring less than 3" long and only 0.2" thin, the A312 is smaller than a credit card and is designed to fit in a pocket. Capacity options include:- 16GB ($89), 32GB ($119) and 64GB ($209).

Jerry Thomson, VP of sales at Active Media Products commented, "Aviator 312 SSDs are a ground-breaking product with performance that is 8 to 10x faster than today's fastest USB 2.0 flash drives."


Verbatim Acquires Freecom

Editor:- September 3, 2009 - Verbatim's parent company (Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd) has acquired Freecom Technologies.

The Freecom acquisition represents yet another investment made by the MKM/Verbatim group aimed at the growing external hard disk drive market. The asset acquisition of SmartDisk, made in June 2007, has proved successful in establishing MKM/Verbatim in both the portable and desktop external HDD markets on a global basis.

Editor's comments:- Although virtually unknown outside Europe, Freecom was founded 20 years ago in 1989. Its acquisition is sandwiched between FolderShare and FreeDiskSpace.com in our list of 499 gone-away storage companies. Who will be the 500th? It's probably happening as you read this.


WD's 2.5" TB USB HDD

Editor:- July 27, 2009 -Western Digital is shipping a new 3 platter, 2.5" terabyte mobile hard drive.

The WD Scorpio Blue is 12.5 mm high, has a USB interface and costs $249.99


Most Secure USB Memory Stick

Editor:- July 13, 2009 - IronKey today announced the launch of its S200 USB flash drive for government and enterprise customers.

IronKey's CEO David Jevans said: "The IronKey S200 is the first and only USB flash drive to achieve the demanding FIPS 140-2, Level 3 security validation from NIST, giving even more proof that IronKey is the world's most secure flash drive. We are also releasing a suite of new enterprise remote management capabilities, available over the Internet from the IronKey managed service, or from our enterprise server software that companies can install and operate themselves."


Notebook SSD Market - New Overview

Editor:- June 17, 2009 - StorageSearch.com published a new article this week called - Overview of the Notebook SSD Market.

This is a troubled and complex segment of the SSD market - which has earned a justifiably bad reputation. Nevertheless SSD vendors continue to throw products at the notebook market in many shapes and sizes - hoping that something will stick before their cash runs out. ...read the article


PLX Unveils Single Chip PCIe-to-USB 2.0 Host Controller Bridge

Editor:- May 4, 2009 - PLX Technology announced volume production of the OXPCIe200 ($7.65) - a high-performance PCIe-to-USB 2.0 single-chip host controller bridge.

The new device delivers up to 62.5Mb/s data throughput, has a low power requirement of 300mW, and a small footprint (9x9mm) Thin Array Plastic Package. storage chips


RunCore Offers 256GB SSD Upgrade for $890

Editor:- May 1, 2009 - RunCore announced pricing for its new Pro IV 2.5" SSD user installable PC / Mac upgrades which will ship in 2 weeks.

These SSDs clone externally via USB and then run internally via SATA. Street price for the 256GB model is expected to be approx $890.


WD Ships New 2TB Enterprise Hard Drive

Editor:- April 20, 2009 - Western Digital - announced details of a new 2TB 3.5" SATA hard drive - the WD RE4-GP.

Features include time-limited error recovery for use in RAID systems, and lower power consumption than older hard drives. MSRP is $329.

Editor's comments:- this kind of drive is optimized to provide high capacity at low cost, rather than high performance. Typical applications include disk to disk backup and video or other massive content storage.


Aleratec Launches High Volume USB Flash Duplicators

Chatsworth, CA - March 10, 2009 - Aleratec Inc. announces 2 new USB flash duplicators.

Both the 27 way model (ESP $3,799) and 118 way model (ESP $15,749) can copy up to 33MB/s. Aleratec's President and CEO, Perry Solomon says - "The performance of the duplicators is not degraded when simultaneously copying large numbers flash drives, a common shortcoming in most USB flash drive duplicators." ...Aleratec profile, Disk Duplicators


Olixir Announces DataVault Support for FIPS 140-2

Washington, D.C. - March 9, 2009 - Olixir Technologies announced it will add new security features to its family of DataVault hard drives in Q2 2009.

This will make them fully-compliant with the requirements outlined in the Federal Information Processing Standards FIPS 140-2.

Incorporating an advanced set of security features including anti-virus, anti-malware and encryption agents, which have already been approved by the DOD DARTT Team, Olixir's external drives will meet all criteria to be connected via USB cables to U.S. Department of Defense networked computers. This comprehensive security capability will be resident on the Mobile DataVault products and run independently of the host computer to proactively protect the drive and the network from malware and virus infections. ...Olixir Technologies profile, Military & Rugged Storage


A-DATA Launches 512GB USB / SATA 2.5" SSD

Editor:- March 3, 2009 - A-DATA launched a 512GB 2.5" flash SSD today at CeBIT.

The dual interface (USB and SATA) compatible SSD has R/W speeds upto 230MB/s and 160MB/s respectively, and is aimed at notebooks.

A-DATA's press release mistakenly claims this is the highest capacity 2.5" SSD.
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New edition - the Top 10 SSD Companies
Editor:- January 12, 2010 - StorageSearch.com recently published the 11th quarterly edition of the top 10 SSD oems - ranked by search volume in the 4th quarter of 2009.

This is always one of the most popular articles on our site. I know that many SSD companies themselves are nervous and eager to see how they've fared in this important list which predicts future winners in the market based on the world's leading SSD focus group.
top 10 SSD oems in 2009 Q3 I've tried to be more direct with my own analytical comments too - even if it means repeating some things I've already said in other places - because I know that most of you don't have the time to read hundreds of SSD articles. ...read the article
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Animal Brands and Metaphors in the Storage Market
Squeak! - Animal Brands and Metaphors in the Storage Market
Animal marketing metaphors are popular in service industries, but you'd be surprised how many companies have used animals in their marketing of data storage products and services.

The storage market was worth over $150 billion in 2005, and as it gets bigger - more companies will turn to animal brands to help differentiate their otherwise bland products and lend them artificial (or deserving) characters and virtues.

The idea behind this type of marketing is to suggest positive connotations so it's unlikely that anyone will choose to associate their products with gremlins. But you may be surprised by the population of the storage ark.

This reference articles lists all known companies who have furry marketing brands, and also includes some which are slimy, scaly and scary too. ...read the article, Mice in storage
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There are 100s of articles about SSDs
here on StorageSearch.com
Here, below, are some recently published examples.
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USB storage oems featured in storage news
Accurite Technologies

Active Media Products

A-DATA

Addonics Technologies

Advanced Media

Afaya

Agere Systems

Alera Technologies

Amacom Technologies

Apacer

Apple

Apvell

Audavi

AXIOMTEK

Barun Electronics

Belkin

CMS Products

Comax Technology

CompuApps

Condre

CyberKey

Dane-Elec Memory

Data Robotics

Dell Computer

EDGE Tech

Enhance Technology

EZQuest

Fantom Drives

FirmTek

Freecom Technologies

Fujifilm

G-Technology

Hagiwara Sys-Com

HP

Imation

Innovative Semiconductors

Intelligent Computer Solutions

Interactive Media

IOCELL

I/OMagic

Iomega

IOPlus

ioSafe

IronKey

KingSpec

JMTek

Kanguru Solutions

LaCie

Lexar Media

Memorex

Memory Experts International

NEC

Norco Technologies

Olixir Technologies

Plasmon

Plextor

PMC-Sierra

PNY Technologies

PQI

Procom Technology

Research Triangle Software

RunCore

Samsung

SanDisk

Seagate

Silicom

Silicon Power

SmartDisk

Sony

SOYO

STEC

STMicroelectronics

Swissbit

Synology

Synopsys

Targa Systems

TDK

Team Group

Thecus

TopRam

Toshiba

Transcend Information

Trekstor USA

Swissbit

TwinMOS Technologies

USB Implementers Forum

US Robotics

Verbatim

Walton Chaintech

Western Digital

Wintec

XtremeMac
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