IDF 2008: Intel unveils its SSDs   Posted on 20/08/2008 at 18:32 by Damien

	It’s probably the most important product announcement of this IDF: Intel’s SSDs. The company is taking advantage of flash memory production capacities to enter a market that is currently exploding. Several products were announced based on NAND ONFI 1.0 chips and an SATA 2.6 3 Gb/s interface. The first versions, called the X25-E Extreme, involve the performance line that is based on SLC version flash chips with 10 channels in parallel. This enables sequential speeds of 250 MB/s in reading and 170 MB/s in writing with an access time of 75 µs. This product line is also optimized for a server type use and capable of very high performances when there is a high level of iops. The X25-E will be available in 32 GB versions before the end of the year and a 64 GB version in early 2009. The second line, the X25-M and X18-M, differ in their format (2.5" or 1.8"), will be based on MLC chips and have lower performances in writing. Thus, while reading speed will remain at 250 MB/s, it drops to 70 MB/s in writing. Otherwise, access time slightly increases to 85 µs although this adds very little. They will be available in 80 GB versions starting in September and in 160 GB in early 2009. As for the reliability of these SSDs, Intel speaks of the different technology put into place in order to improve reliability and longevity and announces an MTBF of 2 million hours for the X25-E and 1.2 million for the X25-M and X18-M. No figures were given in terms of the number of writing cycles.

Product review: WD VelociRaptor   Posted on 07/08/2008 at 17:01 by Marc

	With the VelociRaptor, Western is offering its 4th generation of 10.000 rpm SATA drives. How does it fare compared to its predecessors as well as the current stars, the 640 GB Samsung and Western? > Product review: The Western Digital VelociRaptor

250 MB/s SSD for Micron   Posted on 05/08/2008 at 11:27 by Marc

	Micron has just announced it new RealSSD line. The P200s destined for businesses are in SATA 3 Gbits /s and 2.5" format. In 16 to 128 GB versions, they are equipped with SLC chips used in parallel and which enable attaining highs of 250 MB/s in both reading and writing! These are quite simply the highest speeds ever announced for an SSD in this format and moreover it’s close to the interface’s actual speed! Otherwise, the C200s are destined for the general public and use less expensive MLC chips that have speeds of 250 MB/s in reading and 100 MB/s in writing. Still in SATA 3 Gbits, the P200s come in 2.5" (up to 256 GB) and 1.8" (32 to 128 GB) versions. THe S200 and P200s are in their sample stages while mass production and availability is planned for the last quarter. With these new RealSSDs, Micron takes a leap forward because its previous models had speeds of 65 MB/s in reading and 35 MB/s in writing. Now we will just have to wait and see what the price of Flash memory will be at the end of the year and what the actual performances of these RealSSDs are!

Hitach attains 610 Gbit/inch²   Posted on 01/08/2008 at 18:42 by Nicolas - source: Hitachi

	Hitachi took advantage of the Magnetic Recording Conference which was taking place from July 29-31 in Singapore to show the technical feasibility of platters with a density of 610 Gbit/inch² (or 76.25 GB/inch²) for PMR (Perpendicular Magnetic Recording) hard drives. This is thanks to a spacing of only 65nm between media tracks and between recording heads. Moreover, a new technique for processing the signal was introduced which enables doing away with (instead of adding as can sometimes be the case) Reed-Solomon error correction code which has been used up until now. The result is a gain in space occupied by the code that increases the available density to 635 Gbit/inch². Clearly this allows multiplying the capacity of the current generation of 2.5 hard drives; however, unfortunately Hitachi does not tell us the exact date of availability. On the other hand, they do remind us of their showing the feasibility of 230 Gbit/inch² in Aprill 2005 and that of 345 Gbit/inch² in September 2006 which represents an annual progression of roughly 40%. Now we will just have to see when the limits of PMR which functions with 1000 Gbit/inch² will be attained...

Western Digital in good shape and is investing   Posted on 28/07/2008 at 16:35 by Nicolas - source: Seeking Alpha

	Not just happy with being the leader in terms of performances on the SATA hard drive market, Western Digital recently announced having acquired a development team from ST which is specialized in hard drive controllers as well as a series of patent and design tools. This should give the manufacturer added control in the conception and development of this type of component. It could also translate into the faster arrival of its products on the market and more efficiency in production. One item of interest is that this acquisition was made public in a conference call with investors which took place to announce financial results for fiscal year 2008 that ended June 27th. The least we can say is that with revenue of $8.1 billion or a 48% increase over one year and profits at $867 million versus a previous $564, Western Digital is doing quite well. Thus, the company has significant means which it is investing to prepare for the future. This is most likely not totally unrelated to the massive arrival of relatively inexpensive SSDs expected to occur at the start of the next decade.