Future Seagate SSDs Will Use ''Memory Modem''
Cheaper SSDs may be headed our way thanks to a deal between Seagate and DensBits.
Seagate said on Monday that it has teamed up with DensBits Technologies to develop low-cost, high-performance SSDs for the consumer and enterprise markets. Seagate also said it made an undisclosed equity investment in DensBits.
Under the new agreement, DensBits’ Memory Modem controller technology will be integrated with Seagate’s various storage technologies to power a wide range of consumer and enterprise applications including 3 bits/cell (TLC) 1X-nm Flash-based consumer-grade SSDs, and 2 bits/cell (MLC) 1X-nm Flash-based enterprise-grade SSDs.
Based in Israel, DensBits' Memory Modem technology enables reliable data transfers to cheaper NAND flash storage chips. Features include error-correction and data management at the controller layer for smooth and quick data transfers. The error-correction aspect includes Error Correction Code (ECC) that's also used in various DRAM modules and microprocessors.
"This is yet another testament to our technology leadership, and we strongly believe that the coupling between DensBits’ unique Memory Modemcontroller technology and Seagate’s exceptional storage capabilities across the board could truly disrupt the industry," said Ilan Hen, DensBits’ Chairman and CEO.
Although the prices of SSDs are dropping rapidly, the average price per gigabyte is still considerably higher than platter-based HDDs. Seagate's move to use the Memory Modem controller with cheaper NAND flash storage chips should help make SSDs look more appealing to the general consumer, and push competitors into doing the same. This will be important as SSDs become standard key components in mobile devices like tablets and Ultrabooks.
"For the last 30 years, Seagate has delivered technology and product innovation to become the global leader in storage solutions, from high-end enterprise drives to solid-state hybrid drives," added Rocky Pimentel, Seagate chief sales and marketing officer. "Seagate is excited to be working with the talented DensBits team and believes we have a significant opportunity with our new strategic relationship to extend our leadership into the SSD market."
The deal also shows that Seagate, like its competitors, is ramping up its investment in SSD technology. This company's latest investment follows the purchase of Samsung's hard drive business last year which cost the company a hefty $1.4 billion USD.
Memory "Modem"?
Since when does modulating analog audio waves apply to storage?
Kind of sad it took them this long to get their feet wet...
Memory "Modem"?
Since when does modulating analog audio waves apply to storage?
Will sell like Hotcakes. Syrup extra.
/sarcasm
http://www.densbits.com/Data/Upl/UFCK/DensBitsTechnologyOverview.pdf
Memory Modem is a really strange name, it doesn't exactly make me think "cutting-edge", but it seems like their claimed results are quite good. Enabling TLC cells will reduce cost quite a bit by itself.
i dont like seagate drives, after after having 4 fail and being on my 5th and 6th replacement drives, i have only 1 thing to say, their warranties kick ass, at least the one im on. as for the drives, a secondary backup is a must.
as for the drives... i dont need them to be more than 100mb read and write, so long as io operations are still high and the seek time is insanely low, 1ms or less, i would buy them. i have a use for a low speed storage if the seek time is fast.
with that kind of reliability track record i would would never buy a seagate drive .. western digital is my all time favorite next to hitachi .. had both drives well over 3 years and neither of them have had any issues just saying .. samsung was one of the best drives you could get..
I just got rid of two Seagate 120GB Barracudas that were 8 years old and still good per every diag I could run on them.
Have two 5 year old 500GB Seagates in my home machine with no issues at all.
I don't think Seagate is as bad as everyone makes them out to be, there are still worse.
Good enough for netbooks, their cpu can only handle so much anyway!
Earth to fatality1515 - The US gives 3.09 billion $ "Voucher". Israel must spend this money to purchase from US factories. Do you really think that its all about some lobby? that kind of anti semi mixed with ignorance.
I got a better idea - lets talk about the addiction to fossil fuel and the Arab lobby, shall we?
Memory "Modem"?
Since when does modulating analog audio waves apply to storage?
I thought the exact same thing, but people call many communications interfaces "modems", even if they do not deal with analog on one end. Most do not know it is short for modulator-demodulator.
That aside, the tech does look good.
1) http://www.dsca.osd.mil/home/foreign_military_sales.htm for further info on the support.
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_States_military_relations
And if you want to get into politics in Tom's, you need to study history before you comment - the Palestinians are actually a mixture of Jordanians and Egyptians, and they fled their homes in 1948 after declaring and losing the war in 1947 with Israel....Open history books for further eye-opening stuff.
So anyway, way to be late to the show...And way to use outdated terminology "modem" memory.....right...
menz if you're going to start labeling people, be prepared to go on the defensive camel, america gives just as much aid to egypt as they do isreal, so before you become all hell bent out of shape admiral general aladeen, they aren't the only ones we give aid to in the middle east, and despite all the palestinian terrorist hijacking and blowing up western planes we haven't cut out the aid to palestinians designated to them thru isreal.
you need to sit down and study history for the last 3 thousand years before you are even qualified to make a rational let alone informed decision on isreal, the last 100 years alone is enough to make you go nuts.
that whole region as been at in constant state of war with it's neighbors for over 3,000 years, and from what i see they are fighting over a desolate wasteland not even worth living in, and here they are killing each other over it for over 3,000 years. i do not wonder at why they have never evolved beyond the iron age on their own.
as far as i have seen isreal has more than earned that money as the test ground for all new american military weapons each and every year since 1947. the paltry 3 billion per year to test out how viable and functional our war machines and tactics has actually saved us trillions, and believe it or not, the isrealis have even improved our designs and are actually pretty decent innovators. they help intel develop their processors, and to see other computer tech innovations come out of isreal makes it even better.
even the british have to concede it was worth losing america over to gain electricity, lights, telephones, radio, television and computers.
fatality1515 i hear you in not wanting to be involved with this never ending mess in the middle east. i'm all for letting them wipe each other out the slow, painful, psychotic way, or all the rest of us just getting sick and tired of their bickering and turning the entire region into glass and uninhabitable for the next 10,000 or so years.
or is it better to try and bring peace, understanding, tolerance, and forgiveness and share what we have found and learned with them?
yes arms dealers from america, europe, russia, china and persia get in the way but a wise man once said
Thomas Jefferson
I will stay away from Seagate...