Samsung is touting the reliability of solid-state drives, while citing an explosive market for the devices in server computers.
SSDs are based on flash memory chip technology and have no moving parts. Hard-disk drives (HDDs), in contrast, use read-write heads that hover over spinning platters to access and record data. With no moving parts, SSDs avoid both the risk of mechanical failure and the mechanical delays of HDDs. Therefore, SSDs are generally faster and more reliable. The catch is the cost: SSDs are currently much more expensive than HDDs.
Samsung 1.8-inch SSD
(Credit: Samsung)There are also concerns about wear. That is, flash has the potential to wear out after tens (or hundreds) of thousands of write cycles.
This characterization, however, is too simplistic, according to Michael Yang, flash marketing manager at Samsung. A flash device that is rated at 100,000 write cycles, for example, can write 100,000 times "to every single (memory) cell within the device," Yang said. In other words, the device doesn't write to the same cell over and over again but spreads out the writes over many different cells. This is achieved through "wear leveling," which is carried out by the SSD's controller, he said.
This would make it virtually impossible to wear out a flash chip. Yang said a pattern could be perpetually repeated in which a 64GB SSD is completely filled with data, erased, filled again, then erased again every hour of every day for years, and the user still wouldn't reach the theoretical write limit. He added that if a failure ever does occur, it will not occur in the flash chip itself but in the controller.
On another topic, Yang cited explosive demand in the enterprise server market that caught his company by surprise. "At first it just sounded like an interesting idea," he said. But then demand took off. As Yang explained, companies like Citibank and American Express peg server performance on IOPS or input/output operations per second. "HDDs do 120 to 150 IOPS. SSDs 10,000 to 30,000 IOPS." Because of this overwhelming speed advantage many large corporate customers are opting for SSDs, despite the significant price premium SSDs command compared with HDDs.
Regarding cost, Yang expects to see a 35 percent to 45 percent year-to-year drop in SSD prices. This will be a welcome relief since 64GB SSDs currently can add as much as $900 to the price of a notebook PC.
In the third quarter, Samsung is slated to bring out a 128GB SSD based on MLC (multi-level cell) technology--which uses multiple levels per cell to allow more bits to be stored. But the company sees even larger-capacity SSDs, ranging all the way up to 250GB, possibly before the end of the year.
The company is also working with notebook PC makers to design ultrathin notebooks with SSDs that can fit into potentially even thinner designs than the 0.76-inch thick MacBook Air, which uses SSD.
(Credit:
Meritline)
So you pulled that cramped old 40GB hard drive out of your notebook and replaced it with 160GB of storage goodness. Ever wonder what you should do with the leftover drive? Simple: stick it in an enclosure and use it as a portable USB hard drive.
You supply the drive; Meritline.com has an enclosure for just $10.99 shipped (after entering coupon code HW1971413OFF, which expires 1/25). It's compatible with all 2.5-inch IDE and SATA drives, and it includes both IDE and SATA external interfaces (cables, too). You also get a carrying case and a little screwdriver for opening and closing the enclosure. The drive itself gets powered by the interface, so there's no need for an AC adapter.
For 11 bucks you can get yourself a terrific little portable hard drive for transferring files, on-the-fly backups, and so on. Sweet.
Some smaller flash memory formats fit more conveniently into small gadgets, but allies behind the comparatively bulky CompactFlash standard are working to keep their technology desirable. This time, they're trying to follow the same Serial ATA interface route that hard drives took in recent years.
The CompactFlash Association, an industry consortium that oversees the standard, said last week it's formed a working group to revamp the memory card format with the Serial ATA interface, replacing today's older parallel ATA standard. The move will mean faster transfer speeds and larger capacities. Today's top-end CompactFlash products top out at 32GB capacity and 40 megabytes per second transfer speeds.
I'm all for it, though my 4GB card works reasonably well for day trips using an 8-megapixel camera. Pros are more demanding. I'm more limited by sluggish transfer speeds than capacity, but today's cameras can't keep up with memory cards' top speeds already, so the responsibility for that fix appears to lie with the camera makers.
The new cards will be compatible with current cameras, and new cameras will be compatible with current CompactFlash cards, the association said.
(Via Aimee Baldridge at PopPhoto.)
Seagate announced on Monday two hard drives that break the 1-terabyte barrier, the Barracuda 7200.11 and Barracuda ES.2, while Iomega announced two external drive models.
Seagate's 1-terabyte, $400 Barracuda 7200.11 drive
(Credit: Seagate)Seagate's ES.2 is geared for high-capacity storage systems and includes technology called Rotational Vibration Feed Forward designed to maintain performance despite the disruptions of other nearby drives. It can use both the Serial Attached SCIS (SAS) and Serial ATA (SATA) interfaces. And its PowerTrim feature reduces power consumption 20 percent overall compared to the company's previous 750GB drives, Seagate said.
The Barracuda 7200.11, like the ES.2, stores data on four platters, but it's geared for desktop computer users.
Both drives are scheduled to ship in the third quarter. Seagate didn't announce a price for the ES.2, but the 7200.11 will cost about $400.
And on Tuesday, Iomega announced its eGo portable hard drive, a $160, 160GB model that connects with USB, and a higher-end $210, 500GB drive that uses the External SATA (eSATA) or USB connections. Both drives are available now.
Unlike slower USB, eSATA connections communicate at the same rate as the SATA connections inside a computer chassis. However, using eSATA typically requires an add-in PCI card today, since eSATA isn't built into most computers. Iomega previously included eSATA cards along with its eSATA drives, but now customers must supply their own.
Back in the old days, there was one size for hard drives, and maybe the device spun a little faster or had a bit more capacity than its competition. But this week, Samsung and Seagate illustrated how variegated the industry has become.
Samsung's 1-terabyte F1 drive
(Credit: Samsung)On Tuesday, Samsung announced three new hard drives: a 1.8-inch, 120GB model, a 3.5-inch 1-terabyte drive and a 2.5-inch, 120GB "hybrid" drive that includes flash memory as well as the traditional spinning platters. And on Monday, Seagate announced a rugged 80GB model that's geared for harsh environments.
Samsung's new F1 Series drive combines three 334MB platters to reach its 1TB capacity. It uses a Serial ATA (SATA) interface with 3Gbps transfer speeds, spins at 7200 revolutions per minute (rpm), includes 32MB of cache and costs about $399. The drives are geared for video recorders, desktop PCs and external storage systems.
Samsung's $299 MH80 hybrid drive
(Credit: Samsung)On the small end of the spectrum is a 120GB, 1.8-inch drive, the N2 Series. It spins at 4200rpm and is geared for portable music players, mobile phones, cameras and lightweight PCs. It costs $249 and has a parallel ATA interface.
In between is the 2.5-inch, $299 MH80 Series hybrid model. It supplements 160GB of regular drive capacity with 256MB of flash memory. The idea is that the flash memory can often serve users' needs, letting the drive save energy by not spinning the drive platters and saving an estimated 25 minutes of battery life on a typical notebook PC. It also means the computer can boot and load applications faster.
Seagate's rugged EE25.2 drive
(Credit: Seagate)Samsung also announced the $70 SH-S203 recordable DVD drive, which can use both DVD+R and DVD-R formats and uses a SATA interface. Also new is a $150 slim SE-T084 DVD driver for portable computers. It uses a USB interface and doesn't need its own AC adapter.
Competitor Seagate released its 2.5-inch, 80GB EE25.2 drive for more demanding environments than the relatively smooth and cool interior of a PC chassis. The drive can handle high and low temperatures, shock and vibration, humidity and high altitude. It's geared for use in automobiles, aircraft, industrial control systems, closed-circuit video systems and rugged PCs, Seagate said.
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