SATA Solid state discs from Sandisk

[samsc]

solid state disks with sata interfaces- from sandisk

http://www.sandisk.com/OEM/ProductCatalog(1274)-SanDisk_SSD_Solid_State_Drives.aspx

http://www.sandisk.com/OEM/ProductCatalog(1321)-SanDisk_SSD_SATA_5000_25.aspx

random read translates into better user experience- this is the exact problem in catalyst.
http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/File/pdf/oem/SanDisk_SSD_Performance_Faster_Random_Read_Speed_T ranslates_into.pdf


How the HDD Causes an IO Bottleneck
The negative impact of the HDD’s mechanical parts is most acute when many
small files require random read access, as can be seen in Figure 1. Transfer
time is calculated as follows:
Transfer time = interface transfer + media transfer + mechanical delay
For a single random read request for a small file such as a DLL, HDD
mechanical delay accounts for some 95% of the entire transfer rate. The
media transfer (4%) and interface transfer (1%) account for the remainder.
In contrast, the SSD has no mechanical delay.


This is why the RAM disks work so well- no mechanical delay.
The mechanical delay is greater the slower the drive speed- hence the reason why 7200RPM SATA discs are the poorest performing disc in catalyst

Havent heard from anyone who has tested these yet.

[samsc]

dont know pricing or availability.

[jasonrudolph]

dont know pricing or availability.

There are some 2.5" disks available out there, but these are normally insanely expensive.

[samsc]

There are some 2.5" disks available out there, but these are normally insanely expensive.

from a san disk press release i believe these do not fall into the insanely expensive category- these guys are trying to move into laptops...


The solid-state flash memory drive will be compatible with most mainstream notebook designs, according to the company, and comes just months after SanDisk announced a similar <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2079535,00.asp>1.8-inch SSD for ultra-portable notebooks. That drive—also a 32-gigabyte version—was $600 more than a comparable 32-gigabyte disk drive would cost.

The new 2.5-inch SSD is now available, however, for $350 (for large volume buyers) as a drop-in replacement for hard disk drives, SanDisk said.

[samsc]

says here manfacturers price around 350$
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/13/sandisk-intros-2-5-inch-32gb-ssd-hard-drive/

[samsc]

transcend ssd for laptops:
509$ for 32GB
http://www.transcendusa.com/Products/ModDetail.asp?ModNo=162

64GB
http://www.engadget.com/tag/64gb
http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=150240

pqi disc - no pricing
http://www.pqi.com.tw/product2.asp?oid=141&cate1=158&PROID=263

lexar 16GB SSD for laptop 299$
http://store.lexar.com/?productid=EX16GB-431

samsung
http://www.samsung.com/eu/Products/Semiconductor/products/ssd.asp

[samsc]

There are some 2.5" disks available out there, but these are normally insanely expensive.

found the insanely expensive ones


But the price for a RamSan system with 64GB of flash is $72,000 retail.



http://www.techworld.com/storage/features/index.cfm?featureid=3231

[samsc]

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory

16GB around 1500$ --- ( applestore price is 4400$ )

[jasonrudolph]

found the insanely expensive ones



http://www.techworld.com/storage/features/index.cfm?featureid=3231

Yeah, those are the ones I was thinking of. Good to see the sandisk ones are coming down in price. I could see doing maybe a couple of these in Esata enclosures, so all you need to do is drop a controller card into a rental machine.
I think it would be curious to see what one of these in a fw800 enclosure would do performance wise. I'm sure it wouldnt do as good as an SATA connection, but it would be interesting to see nontheless.

[samsc]

Yeah, those are the ones I was thinking of. Good to see the sandisk ones are coming down in price. I could see doing maybe a couple of these in Esata enclosures, so all you need to do is drop a controller card into a rental machine.

600$ list is a bit better than 72000$...

you could just put them into a mac pro. you need a cable to go from the internal connectors to the drive - such things did not seem to be difficult to get last time i checked.

they claim the access time is 0.11ms.
nothing is ever certain. i havent read any real world reports yet.

[jasonrudolph]

While I know you could just install internally in the mac, for those of us who have to work with rental servers more often than not, if thes drives could work well in an external enclosure, it could be really useful.

[samsc]

While I know you could just install internally in the mac, for those of us who have to work with rental servers more often than not, if thes drives could work well in an external enclosure, it could be really useful.

yes.

it might work in an external firewire case- which would be cool. i havent checked recently whether any of the firewire cases have sata inside. they mostly used to have IDE.

[jasonrudolph]

Other world computing has some 2.5 and 3.5 enclosures, what is nice is that they also include eSATA connections on them, so if you did have a controller card in th emac, you could use them via SATA, but if not, then via firewire or USB.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/external/elite-al-pro-quad

[emilianomorgia]

What about this thing ?

http://www.synchrotech.com/products/card-rw_31_firewire_800_1394b_compactflash_cffire800.ht ml