Flash Hype Leads to
SSD Myopia - Says Solid Data
Editor:- September 29, 2009 - Steve
Topper, CEO of Solid
Data Systems today commented on market perceptions about
RAM SSD versus
flash SSD positioning in a press release about the company's updated range
of FC compatible terabyte class
RAM SSDs.
"There
is a market perception that only NAND flash is solid-state storage and that DRAM
is too expensive and too volatile," said Steve Topper. ""The
market is being told that flash drives are the way to go as they are cheaper and
can best deliver enterprise-class performance and reliability. This simply is
not true. While flash is somewhat less expensive than DRAM, they cannot beat us
on latency and performance, and large numbers of customers have told us that the
endurance of these products simply is not there. In many cases, these drives
wear out after only days of use."
Editor's comments:-
while I wouldn't agree exactly with all the details in these comments. I do
agree with some of it. It's important to realize that the most competitive RAM
SSDs are best regarded as part of a product continuum which starts with flash
and extends up to RAM. If a flash SSD can do the job - it generally will be
chosen because of the lower cost.
But in some applications access-time
replaces random-IOPS as the key determinant of application performance.
Let's say for example that a critical bottleneck in your application
looks like a small table resident on the SAN which involves 5 consecutive R/W
modify cycles to the same block of memory. At the system level - a
RAM SSD can be 10x
to 20x faster than a flash SSD - even if it has the same nominal
random IOPS* and data throughput. It's an undeniable fact that RAM SSDs do a
better job at application speedup for a small group of applications -
regardless of the 9x higher typical cost for the same capacity. That's
why customers still buy them.
* There are rare exceptions.
Violin Memory has
patented a non blocking write in their flash SSD array - which enables a read
operation to immediately follow a write on the same block (without waiting for
the erase write to complete). But I don't know how many consecutive operations
would be speeded up in that architecture - maybe just the next one in the
sequence - but not the whole set.
3D Memory Market Reality Check
Editor:- September 13,
2009 - How is the 3D memory chip market stacking up? - An article in Semiconductor
International reviews the market's progress.
Author Philip
Garrou says - "3D memory surely will happen, just not that quickly"
- and reminds readers that a few years ago
analysts were
predicting it would be an established market by 2010. ...read
the article |
|
| New Article
Looks at Recession in the Memory Market |
Editor:-
February 9, 2009 - Lane Mason, Memory Market Analyst at Denali -
has published a new article - "Memory Market's Recession - Actions and
Realities."
This give a good explanation of why the woes in
the memory market are so bad. ...read
the article, storage
analysts
Qimonda Goes Bust
Munich,
Germany - January 23, 2009 - Qimonda AG has petitioned for the
opening of insolvency proceedings due to illiquidity.
To comply
with German law the company has announced the appointment of insolvency
administrators.
...Qimonda profile
Editor's
comments:- Qimonda's revenue in 2008 was 1/2 the level it had been 2 years
earlier, and the outcome (in today's press release) was predicted in an
article I wrote in 2006 - the
names change but the problems remain the same.
Objective Analysis
has published an article about the lead up to Qimonda's insolvency and
explores the possible
fallout
for Qimonda's stakeholders.
Dataram Re-enters the SSD Accelerator Market
Editor:-
October 8, 2008 -
Dataram has
acquired an SSD company.
For full analysis see the
RAM SSD page.
WEDC Expands DDR SDRAM Product Line
Phoenix, Arizona - August 5,
2008 - White Electronic Designs Corp expanded its family of DDR2
SDRAM-based multi-chip packages with the launch of an 8Gb device.
The
SDRAM is organized as 128M x 72, packaged in a 16 x 22mm, 352mm2, 208 PBGA. This
package provides high-density memory for extended-environment embedded
computing, such as that used in aircraft, communications and missiles. Benefits
include higher board density and routing advantages, with 56% more space savings
and a 50% reduction in I/O count over a comparable FPBGA approach. ,,,White Electronic Designs
profile | |
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| Are MLC SSDs Safe
in Enterprise Apps? |
This is a follow up
article to the popular
SSD Myths and
Legends which, a year earlier demolished the myth that flash memory
wear-out (a comfort blanket beloved by many
RAM SSD makers)
precluded the use of flash in heavy duty datacenters.
This new
article looks at the risks posed by MLC Nand Flash SSDs which have recently
hatched from their breeeding ground as chip modules in cellphones and morphed
into
hard disk form
factors. |
 |
It starts down a familiar
lane but an unexpected technology twist (which arrived in my email while
writing this article) takes you to a startling new world of possibilities.
...read the
article | | |
| . |
 |
Can You
Trust Your Flash SSD's Specs & Benchmarks? |
No - sadly you
can't! There are many intrinsic technical reasons why you
can't believe most published benchmarks for flash SSDs
(whether done by magazines or vendors) and why even the
tests you carefully do yourself don't give reliable
results which correlate with how the SSD will perform in
real-life applications.
We warned you of it this
problem here on StorageSearch.com last year - and now other
publications and vendors are starting to take it seriously
too. ...read
the article | |
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3rd
Party RAM, Your Rights on Server Warranties - article by Keystone Memory
Users
know that
memory and
hard disk drives aren't
made by most of the companies from whom they buy their servers, notebooks and
desktops. But they are often intimidated from competitively buying 3rd party
upgrades by sales tactics aimed at locking them in to a single source. Such
tactics often hint that maintenance contracts and warranties will be void or
negatively impacted by the presence of 3rd party upgrade products. That kind of
anti competitive pressure is illegal in many countries. This article provides an
overview of the legal protection that users may have under a US law called
Magnuson and Moss. ...read
the article, ...Keystone
Memory profile, US
Storage VARs | |
| . |
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
last year, 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 |
| . |
 |
Sanitization
Methods for Cleaning Up Hard Disk Drives - article by Intelligent Computer
Solutions
Removing the data on old unwanted disk drives has
become a concern for all users.
This article reviews the various
methods available to sanitize hard disks along with the advantages and
disadvantages in each case....read the article,
...Intelligent Computer
Solutions profile,
disk sanitizers | | | |
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