OCZ Technology Introduces Synapse Cache Series SSDs for High-Performance Caching

[btarunr]

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today launched its Synapse Cache Series 2.5" SSDs. The new Synapse SSDs are optimized for caching applications and leverages Dataplex cache software to dynamically manage the Synapse SSD in conjunction with standard hard disk drives (HDDs), to provide users with SSD-level performance across the entire capacity of the HDD.

"The industry has shown that it craves the performance advantages that SSDs provide, however, many users still value the high capacities associated with HDDs," said Tobias Brinkmann, Director of Product Management, OCZ Technology Group. "We see the Synapse Cache SSDs integrated with Dataplex software as a big win for a large number of customers who value SSD performance but still require HDD capacity. We are proud to be the first to offer this no-compromise approach to enabling high-performance and high-capacity storage for virtually any PC platform."



This comprehensive caching solution prioritizes the most frequently/recently used "hot" data on the Synapse Cache SSD, while "cold," less frequently used data is stored on the larger capacity HDD. The OCZ Synapse series features the latest and most advanced hardware and software technology to deliver superior storage performance without sacrificing HDD capacity.



OCZ Synapse Cache SSDs are available now in 2.5" SATA III 64GB and 128GB configurations throughout the company's global channel.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[claylomax]

Welcome back Btarunr! I like my news in the morning something I missed yesterday

 

[Mussels]

i was going to get a 120GB vertex III, but this is really interesting...

 

[Mussels]

i really need to know how this works with the caching, do you pair it to a drive? can you specify locations to be cached/ignored?

 

[n-ster]

I think this will do well paired with good custom HDD defrags...

I wonder if this is basically a Vertex III with the Synapse Cache "upgrade"?

 

[Steevo]

You could get the same basic effect with something like a 8GB SSD card, then let Windows use it for caching and prefetch, booting.........Obviously this should be faster than that as I assume they are going to use a controller chip to list most often used data to keep on the memory chips.

The only downside I see is if the dataset is changing frequently the memory modules will wear faster than a SSD, where a SSD just has to read from a different area instead of recaching new data.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

I am interested, but I hate when they don't give a release date, or pricing, it's like why bother. . ..

 

[Mussels]

You could get the same basic effect with something like a 8GB SSD card, then let Windows use it for caching and prefetch, booting.........Obviously this should be faster than that as I assume they are going to use a controller chip to list most often used data to keep on the memory chips.

The only downside I see is if the dataset is changing frequently the memory modules will wear faster than a SSD, where a SSD just has to read from a different area instead of recaching new data.

with a 128GB cache, it wouldnt have to delete the old data very often. it'd just stick the new stuff in an unused area of the drive.

 

[Breit]

i just don't get how this will work. it seems that this is only a software-solution which could use any ssd and do its 'magic'. so why is ocz releasing a new ssd-series? they already have more than enough series which only differ in small details?!

an interesting concept would be a caching-ssd wich works completely in hardware where you connect your hdd to a dedicated sata port on the caching-ssd and this caching-ssd reports to the os/pc as if it were the connected hdd itself, completely hiding the caching-stuff from the user/os. no stupid software wich can fail by itself.

 

[deleted]

It looks like this Dataplex software isn't being sold to individuals, but instead being licensed to manufacturers. Rather than pay the licensing fee for every SSD they make, OCZ is probably making this new SKU to give this feature only to those who are interested in it. Of course, this also has the consequence of denying the feature to past customers, but that forces them to buy this if they really want it, so I suppose it all benefits OCZ in the end.

There could also be some sort of firmware optimization with this, but that seems unlikely as Sandforce provides their own firmware, and it doesn't sound like Indilinx's new Everest controller will be out any time soon.

Edit: I just did a little bit of research and found that these drives have 50% overprovisioning for wear leveling. I honestly don't see how this would increase the lifespan, though. More OP means less cache space and more data being pushed out and being deleted and later rewritten. I'm sure the people over at OCZ know more about these things than I do, though, so I'll defer to their judgement.

 

[Mussels]

i just don't get how this will work. it seems that this is only a software-solution which could use any ssd and do its 'magic'. so why is ocz releasing a new ssd-series? they already have more than enough series which only differ in small details?!

an interesting concept would be a caching-ssd wich works completely in hardware where you connect your hdd to a dedicated sata port on the caching-ssd and this caching-ssd reports to the os/pc as if it were the connected hdd itself, completely hiding the caching-stuff from the user/os. no stupid software wich can fail by itself.

^those exist, and they tend to annoy people by caching the wrong things. software is the only way to control it how the end user wants.

 

[Jegergrim]

With the rate SSD prices are dropping, wont this become irrelevant mere months after their release, considering 2012 will bring higher capacity SSD's (most likely faster aswell), emphasis on the higher capacity, and the no-need for mechanical HDD's anymore..?

 

[n-ster]

With the rate SSD prices are dropping, wont this become irrelevant mere months after their release, considering 2012 will bring higher capacity SSD's (most likely faster aswell), emphasis on the higher capacity, and the no-need for mechanical HDD's anymore..?

I doubt SSDs will come close to 50$ for a 1.5TB drive... HDDs will take time to become obsolete if it becomes obsolete at all.


I need 3TB of Data space... Even if SSDs of 1TB come down to 300$+, 3B will cost 1000$ vs the 99.99$ it will cost in HDDs. 10x the price

 

[Jegergrim]

Perhaps so, but with the speed jump we noticed from HDD to SSD, and the rate at which we increase SSD speed, considering a new interface is allready being worked on as we soon take use of the full potential of Sata 3, I doubt HDD's will be quite relevant, due to their limited speed (considering things such as files for storage also get bigger, and we live in a hectic world where we demand speed) :/

 

[n-ster]

Sure SSDs will become mainstream, but I believe that HDDs will not get phased out at all. SSDs will probably start to make more of an appearance in laptops and netbooks and such, then become boot drives for Desktops, but it will take some time where HDDs are going to start disappearing

 

[Mussels]

Sure SSDs will become mainstream, but I believe that HDDs will not get phased out at all. SSDs will probably start to make more of an appearance in laptops and netbooks and such, then become boot drives for Desktops, but it will take some time where HDDs are going to start disappearing

5 1/4" floppy?
3.5" floppy?
CD?
DVD?
BD?


over time, all these techs get phased out. hard drives themselves will always exist, but the internals - from magnetic to flash memory, is almost certainly going to happen.
the very day that SSD's becomes as cheap as mechanical drivers per GB to customers, is the day mechanical drives die off.

 

[n-ster]

5 1/4" floppy?
3.5" floppy?
CD?
DVD?
BD?


over time, all these techs get phased out. hard drives themselves will always exist, but the internals - from magnetic to flash memory, is almost certainly going to happen.
the very day that SSD's becomes as cheap as mechanical drivers per GB to customers, is the day mechanical drives die off.

Yes, I am saying that HDDs will take some time to get phased out and start to disappear. As of right now, I see no indication that SSDs can become as cheap as HDDs, and I think that that time is not in the near future yet. Of course, if SSDs are only twice as expensive per GB, it will be a different story. But we are far from that

 

[Breit]

^those exist, and they tend to annoy people by caching the wrong things. software is the only way to control it how the end user wants.

What could be wrong in caching most used LBAs?

btw: i guess 50% overprovisioning is needed to maintain performance because this drive is mainly used as cache and as such it could get a lot of writes (unlike an ssd used as a system drive).

 

[Mussels]

What could be wrong in caching most used LBAs?

because it could cache files that constantly change (and therefore are useless to cache) or it could cache files from another SSD you have.

 

[Steevo]

With how cheap SSDs are for the small capacity users actually need for running programs, how cheap RAM is, and the density going up so quickly on mechanical drives I see no need for this.


I have all my videos, music, photos, games, and backups on a whole other array. I would rather have a cache drive that is made of DRAM chips, but we can already do that with a RAM drive, and its cheap.

 

[fullinfusion]

i was going to get a 120GB vertex III, but this is really interesting...

That makes two of us and stop double posting lol

I looked on there home page but didn't see any pricing.

 

[TheOne]

WiredZone.com has the 64GB (32GB) listed at $187.71, and the 128GB (64GB) as $314.62, both are also marked out of stock.

OCZ Synapse Cache 64GB SYN-25SAT3-64G
OCZ Synapse Cache 128GB SYN-25SAT3-128G

Newegg has also added the Hybrid RevoDrive 100GB SSD + 1TB HDD (5400RPM) for $499.99 + Shipping.

OCZ RevoDrive RVDHY-FH-1T PCI-E 100GB SSD+1TB HDD (5400RPM)

*Update*

ComputerWorld.com released an article today that says the retail price for the 64GB version will be $149 and the retail price for the 128GB version will be $249.

OCZ's Synapse SSD to boost hard drive performance by auto-caching