The new SDXC specification for faster, higher-capacity flash cards emerged in January, and Toshiba now promises the cards themselves will begin arriving about a year afterward.
Toshiba plans to sell its first SDXC cards in the spring of 2010, with a starting capacity of 64GB.
(Credit: Toshiba)Toshiba said Monday it expects to be the first to bring SDXC cards to market, with testing samples of a 64GB version shipping in November and the real thing shipping in the spring of 2010. Those dates will be key moments in what doubtless will be a gradual transition away from the prevailing SDHC standard.
SDXC backers promise higher capacities and data transfer speeds for SDXC, which is important for devices such as video cameras that can produce lots of data at a sustained rate. But initially, a new generation of Toshiba's SDHC line will match the SDXC's maximum 60MBps data-reading speed, and maximum 35MBps data-writing speed, the company announced, using a new high-speed interface called UHS104.
The fast new SDHC cards, though, will only be available in 16GB and 32GB models. SDHC tops out at 32GB, but the SDXC specification extends to 2TB. In addition, through use of Microsoft's exFAT files system on SDXC cards, individual files can exceed 4GB, which is important for longer videos.
Capacity is undeniably important when it comes to carrying your video camera around for extended periods of time. But do you really need all that transfer speed? Leaving aside the confusing muddle of minimum vs. maximum transfer speeds and certification, even high-definition video only pushes the envelope so hard.
For example, Canon's high-end 5D Mark II SLR, which can record 1080p video at 30 frames per second, requires only a relatively modest 8MBps write speed for its CompactFlash card; high-end CompactFlash today can handle 45MBps.
Of course, there's also the matter of transferring photos and videos to computers, a tedious task at best that benefits from maximum speed. But that's often constrained, though, by the card reader and its interface to the computer.
No doubt those pipes will widen as time marches on, with SDXC and higher-speed SDHC helping to nudge things along on one end and higher-speed interfaces such as USB 3.0 and Firewire S1600 and S3200 on the other end. The SDXC specification calls for 104MBps speeds in 2009 and eventual speeds of 300MBps.
One interesting issue is whether SDXC will displace CompactFlash in high-end SLRs. SDHC is used in lower-end SLRs now, displacing CompactFlash, and is making its way into higher-end models including Nikon's D300s and Canon's 1D Mark III alongside CompactFlash.
SD and its successors have relegated rivals such as xD card from FujiFilm and Olympus and Memory Stick from Sony to product niches, new MacBook Pro laptops from Apple have built-in SD card slots, and Canon USA technical adviser Chuck Westfall had encouraging words for SDXC.
So SD has plenty of momentum, and the SDXC generation certainly has the potential to continue to outpace CompactFlash in price while also becoming competitive in capacity and data transfer speeds.
The diminutive size of SD compared to CompactFlash is an asset when trying to squeeze a slot into a computer or camera. But some serious and professional photographers have griped that the small cards are hard to handle and easy to lose.
Cleversafe, a start-up with a new way to protect data by dispersing it across many storage devices, is making the move from prototype to product.
The company's basic idea is to break up data into little bits that are stored on multiple devices, overlapping the bits so it doesn't matter if some devices fail. The approach, which is embodied in open-source software anyone can try, can be used to spread data across multiple storage devices in a rack or multiple data centers across the globe.
And now potential customers can start pricing out equipment to see if it's worth buying, doing on their own, or skipping over. A typical configuration of equipment that includes 24 terabytes of raw storage capacity will cost $127,000 when it goes on sale on March 31.
And that's before Cleversafe heads to the cloud. Later this year, the company hopes to have partnerships with service providers who can offer customers the technology as a dedicated offering, said Chief Executive Chris Gladwin. And in 2009, service providers might well link up their storage pools in "peering" relationships, he added.
The information dispersal technique could be a major new force to be reckoned with in the data-storage business, said Illuminata analyst John Webster. He called it "the most disruptive technology since the emergence of RAID," or redundant array of inexpensive disks, which can save data on multiple disks to guard against failure.
However, Webster added, EMC and other storage heavyweights are working on the technology, too. And of course, open-source software famously lowers barrier to entry.
Gladwin believes there are advantages to buying technology from Cleversafe, though. For one thing, it handles the engineering work, including a customized version of Linux. It also provides support and uses proprietary software to manage its storage note pools.
How much do you get for your $127,000?
The amount of usable capacity you get from that eight-slice setup depends on how redundantly you store the data across the collection of slices.
In one common configuration Cleversafe often describes, 24 terabytes of raw capacity becomes 15 terabytes of usable capacity. In other words, if you need a certain amount of capacity, multiply that by 1.6 to find out how much raw capacity to buy.
The $127,000 price includes all three components Cleversafe sells: eight $11,300 CS Slicestors with 3TB of capacity used to save the data; two $12,300 CS Accessers used to encode the data, disperse it across slices, and retrieve the data; and two CS Managers to monitor the other components' performance.
I'm going to Latin America for the month of March, and I don't know what to do with my photos. Does anyone out there have any advice they'd like to share?
For the gearheads out there, here are my constraints.
First of all, I'm trying to travel reasonably light--I'll only be backpacking a little, but I will be schlepping luggage a lot, and I don't want to lug a laptop. Second, I probably won't have to go more than two or three days without a wall socket for charging.
Wolverine Data's $370 ESP 5000 has a 120GB drive and can show raw image files.
(Credit: Wolverine Data)I'm guessing I'll need about 100GB of capacity. I'll be shooting raw images with an SLR (single-lens reflex), and there should be some mighty scenic spots. On two weeks in Ireland last year, I shot about 30GB of files, winnowing lightly as I went. So here are my options as I see it.
• Option 1 is a portable hard drive with a flash card reader and display.
I've been trying Wolverine Data's ESP 5000, a 40GB model with a screen. I like its ability to review raw images as well as JPEGs, and its battery power seems sufficient for my needs. And I like these for giving impromptu slideshows.
But I found the user interface clunky, and its raw image quality isn't always enough to check focus quality, even with the latest firmware. A 100GB model costs $370.
Anybody have any experience with the Epson P-5000 or similar products? They're even more expensive--an 80GB version costs nearly $700!
One advantage of these devices is that I could also use them to play video and music files and collect photos from others' digital cameras while I'm traveling.
• Option 2 is a hard drive without the fancy display. Wolverine's 120GB FlashPac costs $140. I'd have to rely on the camera for weeding out the dud shots, which probably is OK, but this is definitely the minimum-thrill approach.
And how reliable are hard drives anyway? My photos are precious, but I can say right now I'm not going to carry a second drive for backup.
• Option 3 is a bunch of CompactFlash cards. I have 16GB so far, but getting up to 100GB would cost something like $400 more even if I didn't pay for premium brands like SanDisk or Lexar. Watching the ever-dropping prices on flash memory cards would be depressing, though.
Flash cards have a lot to recommend them, though: are pretty durable, reliable, lightweight, and don't require batteries.
• Option 4 is whatever options readers are about to tell me about. I welcome your thoughts in the TalkBack section below or by e-mail to stephen.shankland@cnet.com.
Seagate's FreeAgent line offers eSATA connections.
(Credit: CNET Networks)If your power strips are as overloaded as mine with cords and bulky transformers, you'll be glad to hear that eSATA--a standard that gives external hard drives the data transfer speeds of internal drives--is untethering itself from its power cord.
eSATA is an external version of the Serial ATA technology used to hook up internal PCs, but today external eSATA drives need their own power supply. But on Monday, the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) announced it's working on a version that will let external drives draw power over the cable that connects the drive to a computer.
The standard, called Power Over eSATA, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2008, and the first devices supporting the standard could arrive as soon as this year, too, the consortium said. The technology should be able to deliver enough power to run a single 2.5-inch drive, said Knut Grimsrud, the SATA-IO president and an Intel fellow, and likely will become a regular part of eSATA products.
"I would expect the powered eSATA (to) quickly become commonplace for applications where eSATA is used," Grimsrud said of the new technology.
The power link could help eSATA catch up to the two most common connection technologies, USB and IEEE 1394 "Firewire," which can power external hard drives. But the groups behind those standards aren't standing still--and of course those connections can link to many other devices besides hard drives.
Specifically, Intel and others are working on a new fiber-optic "SuperSpeed" version of USB that should make its transfer speed to at least 4.8Gb per second, 10 times faster than today's 480 megabits per second. And the 1394 Trade Association is preparing a 3.2Gb/sec specification that should be ratified by February. That should quadruple the current top-end 800Mb/sec IEEE 1394 speed.
Another weakness of eSATA today is hot-plug support, the ability to plug a drive into a running computer. "Some operating systems and/or device drivers might not yet have enabled full support for the hot-plug features that the SATA technology provides," Grimsrud said, and some legacy hardware configurations or product deficiencies can make it difficult.
The Power Over eSATA technology will use the same connectors as current eSATA, but will require new cables to carry the power, Grimsrud said. The current eSATA has data-transfer connections only on one side of the plug, so the Power Over eSATA technology likely will add the power connections on the reverse side, he said.
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In the old days, you'd buy a RAID adapter card to let your computer attach to multiple hard drives that provided data capacity and protection. Nowadays, with flash memory, the storage fits right on the card.
Addonics' RAID adapter fits four Compact Flash cards.
(Credit: Addonics)Addonics Technologies announced a $50 PCI card Tuesday that's got four CompactFlash card slots. The cards can be configured as four individual drives, a single large volume, or set up with RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks) 0, 1 or 10 to stripe data across multiple cards or mirror data from one onto another.
Note that there's no support for RAID 5 and that cards can't be hot-swapped, so no adding capacity nondisruptively by plugging in newer, bigger flash cards, according to President Bill Kwong.
The company is considering a similar card with smaller SD cards, but doing so would require more electronics because Secure Digital, unlike CompactFlash, doesn't include built-in support to behave like a hard drive with an IDE interface.
The adapter here is the cheap part. If you want a solid amount of flash storage, the costs quickly go up. For example, an 8GB Lexar 300x UDMA card costs about $170. Multiply by four and you're looking at $680 for 32GB raw capacity, and less if you configure the RAID to protect your data.
Compare that with a 500GB Maxtor hard drive that costs less than $100, and you might turn a little pale. But bear in mind that flash cards can offer some faster performance, are silent, and are less power-hungry and bulky than hard drives.
"We have tested a Transcend 250X industrial CompactFlash card and were getting close to 40 MB/sec sustained data transfer. When we striped two of these (in a RAID configuration), we achieved read/write speed close to 80 MB/sec," Kwong said.
Perhaps the more relevant comparison is with solid-state disks, which pack flash memory in a device that looks and behaves like a regular hard drive with spinning platters. So far, these are also expensive when priced per gigabyte, but Kwong believes the PCI card approach could be more economical.
"I think all the solid-state disk suppliers price their product higher to make more profit," he said. "Our approach is to combine low-capacity, mature CompactFlash media to achieve large capacity. You can be the judge as to which approach will have a better price performance advantage in the next few years."
Addonics is aiming for some niche markets, including kiosks, arcade games, low-power PCs and shock-resistant computing equipment, Kwong said.
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