SSD - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• STEC readies longer-lasting MLC SSDs

  Flash storage vendor STEC will be able to offer a five-year warranty on the next generation of its Zeus SSDs (solid-state disks) regardless of the technology they use.

• Experts see wide use of flash-hard disk hybrids by 2016

  A quarter of new laptops and half of new desktop PCs will adopt an emerging data storage method by 2016, pairing flash memory with traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) for better overall performance, according to two storage experts.

• New flash specification doubles SSD data transfer speed

  A flash memory working group announced a new interface specification on Tuesday that could speed up data transfers from flash storage products such as solid-state drives inside computers and consumer electronics.

• New Seagate solid state drives mean business

  Seagate has unveiled new models of its Pulsar line of solid state drives (SSD) -- delivering performance, endurance, and reliability that business can trust. The new drives bring the benefits of SSD to organizations with demanding data storage needs.

• SSD drives difficult to wipe securely, researchers find

  Current methods for securely wiping data from magnetic hard disks simply aren't reliable enough to use on solid state drives (SSDs), a detailed study by engineers at the University of California has found.

• Intel mini-SATA SSD

  While I've reviewed many solid-state drives (SSD) in the past, I've never reviewed a mini-SATA (mSATA) SSD. So when Intel sent me one of their first such drives, the Intel Solid-State 310 (which shipped last month), I hoped it would perform like the big boys.

• Seagate: Solid-state disks are doomed (at least for now)

  Hard disk manufacturer Seagate has published an extraordinary report all but proving that solid-state disk (SSD) technology will remain niche for the next decade or two, at least.

• Hard drive withstands drops, submersion, shot gun blasts

  ioSafe's Rugged Portable hard drive launched at the Consumer Electronics Show this week withstood drops, submersion and even blasts from a 12-guage shot gun.

• New Lexar flash drives pack a lot into a tiny package

  Quick: What stores up to 128GB, supports file encryption, and fits in your pocket? Why, Lexar's newest flash drives. Lexar's Echo MX and the ZX backup drives announced at CES 2011 are designed to automatically back up files when you are on the go, and support 128-bit AES encryption, making them good for netbook and notebook users.

• Flash storage in post-PC devices advances

  Solid-state storage has helped to raise the wave of portable PC alternatives that has hit the market over the past few years, and 2011 is likely to see that technology become more affordable and better performing.

• Solid state drives no better than others, survey says

  Solid state drives (SSD) appear to be as <unreliable as traditional hard disks. In fact, they're marginally less reliable: Taken as an average across models, 2.05 percent of SSDs got returned as non-functioning, compared to 1.94 percent of hard disks.

• Toshiba SSD opens door to MacBook Air alternatives

  The MacBook Air's most slimming component isn't so unique anymore.

• Super-slim SSD promises super speeds

  What's less than half a centimeter thick, has a smaller footprint than a credit card, and stores up to 400GB of data? It's the latest SSD from Foremay. Foremay announced this Tuesday that it will begin shipping its new 1.8-inch SSDs. These new SSDs come in two configurations: The first is a 5mm-thick model; the second is even thinner--it's only 3.3mm thick. The company claims that these are the world's fastest 1.8-inch SSD drives, boasting read/write speeds of up to 280MB per second.

• SSDs may give you more bang for your DRAM

  Device and storage vendors are gradually embracing flash SSDs (solid-state disks) as a complement to spinning disk drives, but one executive at this week's Flash Memory Summit sees great potential in turning flash "upside down," as a lower tier of cache behind DRAM.

• Intel-Hitachi SSDs fall behind schedule

  A partnership between Intel and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has missed the ship date for its first enterprise flash storage products, but that stumble wasn't a harbinger of bad times for the technology, which continues to gain acceptance in data centers, an industry analyst said Monday.