SandForce Announces 2nd Gen SSD Processors
SandForce has officially announced the SF-2200 and SF-2100 SSD processors.
Thursday Patriot Memory announced that its new Wildfire line of SSDs will use the SandForce SF-2200 processor to achieve sequential read and write speeds up to 500 MB/s (@ 128K blocks) via a SATA 6 Gb/s interface. However SandForce also released its own announcement that same day, officially launching the SSD processor and its slower 3 Gb/s SATA-based brother, the SF-2100.
"With high profile products now incorporating SSDs as standard storage media and most other system vendors offering them as options, the market for client SSD applications is poised for growth as SSD prices decline,” said Joseph Unsworth, Research Director, NAND Flash & SSD at Gartner. “SSD controllers that can deliver superior performance and reliability without the dependence on DRAM will have a compelling value proposition across a wide range of client applications.”
As previously indicated, the SF-2200 enables sequential read and write speeds up to 500 MB/s. The SF-2100 processor only achieves sequential read and write speeds up to 250 MB/s. However, both processors arrive in a single-chip "DRAM-less" form factor and feature DuraClass Technology (RAISE, DuraWrite), support for advanced 30nm- and 20nm-class NAND flash from all leading flash vendors, advanced ECC engine correcting, power and performance optimization and tuning features, OPAL security with 256-bit AES encryption and automatic, line-rate double encryption with a drive-level password.
In addition to the SandForce and Patriot Memory announcements, OCZ Technology revealed that its new Vertex 3 SSD will use the new SandForce SF-2200 processor, but will "raise the bar" by achieving 550 MB/s read and 500 MB/s write transfer rates and up to 60,000 IOPS (4k random write) via a SATA 6 Gb/s interface. The SSD will arrive in 120 GB and 240 GB capacities, and feature both TRIM support and a 3-year warranty. To see our hands-on impressions of the drive, check out Andrew's review right here.
In related news, OCZ also announced on Thursday the Vertex 3 Pro SSD which will rely on the SandForce SF-2500 processor. This version will be geared to business consumers seeking enterprise-grade MLC (Multi-Level Cell) SSD storage for their server farms and IT infrastructures. This Pro edition will arrive in three flavors: 100 GB, 200 GB, and 400 GB models.
The Vertex 3 and Vertex 3 Pro will ship after next week's International CeBIT tradeshow in Hanover, Germany. Patriot's Wildfire line of SSDs are expected to arrive sometime in Q2 2011.
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lashabane If SSD adoption grows as much as predicted, maybe we'll see an appropriate reduction in price. I certainly hope so.Reply -
ares1214 If these SSD are priced according to speed, the slower 2100 version could hit $1/GB, perhaps a little less!Reply -
bison88 milkteaNow we need a secure data wipe on these SSD processors.Reply
Yeah I have to agree. It wasn't until about a year ago that I started taking advantage of secure wiping and encryption technology. Figure if I'm planning to run a network someday I should adopt similar procedures. More people should be concerned right now. There are some serious flaws with current SSD technology for home and even business use. This is all apart of its progress though but I couldn't imagine jumping on the ship just yet. The negatives still greatly outweigh the benefits IMO. They need to take a step back with speed which is already INCREDIBLY higher than any hard drive out there, and focus on areas that need serious improvement. -
pocketdrummer bison88Yeah I have to agree. It wasn't until about a year ago that I started taking advantage of secure wiping and encryption technology. Figure if I'm planning to run a network someday I should adopt similar procedures. More people should be concerned right now. There are some serious flaws with current SSD technology for home and even business use. This is all apart of its progress though but I couldn't imagine jumping on the ship just yet. The negatives still greatly outweigh the benefits IMO. They need to take a step back with speed which is already INCREDIBLY higher than any hard drive out there, and focus on areas that need serious improvement.Reply
Indeed... like the price, storage capacity, and lifespan. If these don't improve, most people won't have any reason to use an SSD drive. I consider myself quite the power user, but the money spent on these could easily be used on components that really matter in heavy computing... like next gen games and Folding@Home.
That's not to say that there isn't any benefit to using these drives, it's just that the price doesn't justify the additional worry of storage and MTBF. -
ProDigit10 hey guys (editor), I'm running this webpage from a reasonable cheap laptop (with a reasonable cheap screen), and I can not distinguish hyperlinks from normal text, as they appear to be very dark blue (unless I go very close to my screen).Reply
I wondered if you want hyperlinks on the page, if you guys could make it a tad more clear by making them a bit lighter. I'm not saying light blue, but we all know how TN LCD's don't really give us more than 256.000 colors, and with image and screen optimization, hyperlinks are fairly indistinguishable from regular text. -
AMD_pitbull I really would love to get the performance these things have to offer, but, they really need to get a drop before I'll truly consider it. 2 500gb's in Raid-0 do enough to justify keeping that setup for a while. Oh well, though, right boys? Since these guys don't care about dropping the prices to something more of us would be willing to spend, guess guys like Intel, AMD, Asus, etc will get our cash. Meh :) lolReply