SSD Caching has become the "Hot" Storage topic of the PC industry. In the near future, motherboards based on the Intel SandyBridge (Z68) will bring SSD Caching to the desktop PC. SSD Caching boots system performance by using high-speed solid state disks to offset slower, but high-capacity hard disk drives. Once limited to enterprise server applications, SSD Caching is now within the reach of PC users. The mainstream consumer market has embraced SSD's sub $100 models are now commonplace; ideal for caching applications.

Recently, HighPoint Technologies has launched a pair of 6Gb/s PCI-Express 2.0 HBA's that deliver SSD Caching solutions to any PCI-Express Platform, sharing the high-performance benefits of this technology with PC users worldwide. HighPoint SSD Caching HBA's combine any SSD and HDD of any capacity into a single storage drive. SSD Caching Drives can be used to boot the system, host applications or simply serve as libraries for file storage and Home Media Networks. HighPoint SSD Caching HBA's provide two distinct modes of operation: Safe-Mode stores all permanent data safely on the HDD for security, while Capacity Mode uses the space provided by each device to optimize storage and performance.

For the greater part of the last decade, PC device connectivity was limited to the 480 Mbps bandwidth of USB 2.0. The pressing need for more bandwidth to run external hard drives and disk racks was alleviated by eSATA, but eSATA lacked the versatility of USB. After quite some delay, came the next big version of USB, the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed, with its massive 5 Gbps bandwidth, plenty for fast and capacious flash drives, and external storage devices.

There was, however, a potential bottleneck lurking with running SSD-based RAID boxes in USB 3.0, as many SATA 6 Gbps SSDs are getting close to the bandwidth limit of USB 3.0. There has also been the need for an interconnect faster than USB 3.0 for high-bandwidth applications such as lossless ultra high definition video streaming in professional environments, and hence came Thunderbolt, which is a copper-electric variant of a fiber-optic interconnect Intel had been working on, codenamed Light Peak. The successor to Thunderbolt is reportedly already under development at Intel Labs.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of high-performance solid state drives (SSDs), today unveiled the VeloDrive PCI-Express SSD. Designed to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), enterprise clients and system integrators, the VeloDrive optimizes high-performance computing and storage applications, providing unparalleled versatility and simplified integration.

"The VeloDrive is the latest addition to our comprehensive lineup of PCIe SSDs. A truly configurable solution, it helps a range of customers accelerate their application performance," said Daryl Lang, VP of Product Management, OCZ Technology Group. "The ability to run the VeloDrive in multiple modes provides clients with the freedom to use the raid stack of their choice. This maximizes performance and creates faster, more seamless deployments with RAID stacks that may already have been qualified for their unique usage model."

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash, storage and enthusiast computer products, today announces the new high-performance Torqx 2 - a new SSD that delivers the perfect balance of price and performance. The Patriot Torqx 2 series enables users to boost performance of existing desktops and notebooks to achieve maximum performance with SATA II 3.0 Gb/s interfaces.

By combining a cutting-edge newSSD controller with high-performance 3x-nm NAND flash memory, the Patriot Torqx 2 SSDs achieve up to read speeds up to 270MB/s for a noticeable performance boost with daily computing tasks. Write speeds up to 230MB/s ensure the Patriot Torqx 2 series can write virtually as fast as it reads for lightning-fast software installations and large-file creation.

Remember the very first strains of Ibex Peak LGA1156 platform motherboards such as this one? Remember that small memory slot next to the bigger DIMM slots? That was Intel's ambitious "Braidwood" technology, a NAND-flash based hard drive assist feature. Fast NAND flash memory would be installed onto the motherboard in the form of removable modules, and those modules would quicken system booting, and act as a fast cache for the system drive. Alas, Braidwood was axed for reasons unknown till date. Maybe it made Ibex Peak platform a lot faster than it should be, or maybe its design wasn't perfected or flawed. Regardles, it disappeared.

Two platforms (Ibex Peak and Cougar Point) later, a similar technology is making its way through Intel's pipes, this time it has a proper market name: Intel Smart Response Technology, and comes with another new development, Larsen Creek. Larsen Creek is the codename of Intel's upcoming line of solid state drives. However, it is targeting entry-level, low-capacity markets, and what better way to sell it than club it with Intel's new platform technology, Smart Response. Instead of NAND flash modules (Braidwood), Intel's Smart Response technology uses SATA SSDs to accelerate hard drives. The SSD can be of any size and speed, it's just that Larsen Creek is the most appropriate given that it will come in capacities as low as 20 GB, and be quite inexpensive.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today unveiled a new addition to the highly-awarded Vertex 3 SATA III Series. The Vertex 3 Max IOPS edition drives extend the company's industry-leading Vertex 3 SSD product line to support users that require greater transactional throughput.

"Following the successful launch of our Vertex 3 SATA III 6Gbps solid state drives we are pleased to introduce the new Max IOPS edition," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "Vertex 3 Max IOPS drives increase random write performance, and are the ideal storage solution for applications that require high aggregate workloads and increased IO throughput."

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced the immediate availability of Crucial m4 solid-state drives in capacities ranging from 64GB to 512GB. Designed for both business customers and general consumers, the Crucial m4 SSD product line incorporates Micron's industry-leading 25-nanometer (nm) NAND flash technology in a 2.5" form factor. Like its Crucial RealSSD C300 predecessor, the Crucial m4 also supports the SATA 6Gb/s interface, opening up the data path between the host processor and the SSD, and resulting in improved overall system responsiveness, including faster boot times and application loads.

The new Crucial m4 SSD reaches read speeds of up to 415 MB/second, a 17 percent increase over its predecessor. Likewise, write speeds on the new 512GB capacity have demonstrated increases up to 260MB/s, a 20 percent boost over the fastest C300 drive1. Ideal for client computing, Crucial m4 SSD products provide benefits for notebooks, desktops, workstations, and industrial applications, including low power consumption, lightweight construction, and resistance to shock and vibration.

Netlist, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of high-performance memory subsystems, today announced the expansion of its Embedded Flash product portfolio with two new mSATA module additions to the SSD Flash product line. The mSATA mini SSD module offers storage capacity of up to 32GB with onboard 64MB DRAM cache. The mSATA slim SSD module offers storage capacities up to 128GB with onboard 64MB DRAM cache. Both products' smaller form-factor and SSD support for ultra-dense applications makes the mSATA mini and slim modules ideal for datacenter equipment and embedded systems.

"As datacenter equipment becomes increasingly compact, Netlist is tackling space limitations with an innovative Flash product portfolio," said Steve McClure, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing for Netlist. "With our new mSATA mini and mSATA slim SSDs, Netlist addresses the constrained space requirements by providing 2x to 5x the storage density of legacy form-factor solutions."

Toshiba Corporation, reinforcing its leadership in the development and fabrication of cutting-edge, high density NAND flash memories, today announced that it has fabricated NAND flash memories with 19 nm process technology, the finest level yet achieved. This latest technology advance has already been applied to 2-bit-per-cell 64-gigabit (Gb) chips that are the world's smallest and offer the highest density on a single chip (8 gigabytes (GB)). Toshiba will also add 3-bit-per-cell products fabricated with the 19nm process technology to its product line-up.

Samples of 2-bit-per-cell 64-gigabit will be available from the end of this month with mass production scheduled for the third quarter of the year (July to September 2011). Toshiba leads the industry in fabricating high density, small die size NAND flash memory chips. Application of the 19nm generation process technology will further shrink chip size, allowing Toshiba to assemble sixteen 64Gbit NAND flash memory chips in one package and to deliver 128GB devices for application in smartphones and tablet PCs. The 19nm process products are also equipped with Toggle DDR2.0, which enhances data transfer speed.

Seagate Technology, the world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions, and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Seagate and Samsung will significantly expand and strengthen their strategic relationship by further aligning their respective ownership, investments and key technologies. Major elements of the agreement include:

• Samsung combining its hard disk drive (HDD) operations into Seagate
• Extending and enhancing the existing patent cross-license agreement between the companies
• A NAND flash memory supply agreement under which Samsung will provide Seagate with its market-leading semiconductor products for use in Seagate's enterprise solid state drives (SSDs), solid state hybrid drives and other products
• A disk drive supply agreement under which Seagate will supply disk drives to Samsung for PCs, notebooks and consumer electronics
• Expanded cooperation between the companies to co-develop enterprise storage solutions
• Samsung receiving significant equity ownership in Seagate

Intel Corporation and Micron Technology Inc. today introduced a new, finer 20-nanometer (nm) process technology for manufacturing NAND flash memory. The new 20nm process produces an 8-gigabyte (GB) multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash device, providing a high-capacity, small form factor storage option for saving music, video, books and other data on smartphones, tablets and computing solutions such as solid-state drives (SSDs).

The growth in data storage combined with feature enhancements for tablets and smartphones is creating new demands for NAND flash technology, especially greater capacity in smaller designs. The new 20nm 8GB device measures just 118mm² and enables a 30 to 40 percent reduction in board space (depending on package type) compared to the companies' existing 25nm 8GB NAND device. A reduction in the flash storage layout provides greater system level efficiency as it enables tablet and smartphone manufacturers to use the extra space for end-product improvements such as a bigger battery, larger screen or adding another chip to handle new features.

Sharkoon expands their portfolio of internal removable frames for SATA drives. The two new models of the "Sharkoon SATA QuickPort Intern" series fit in a 5.25 inch PC bay, and offers a respective four or six installation bays for SATA hard drives and SSDs in a 2.5 inch format.

The storage medium can simply be removed and re-attached by use of the screwable mounting frame, the lockable front covers guard against unwanted access. Cooling is provided by the fan on the backside of the case. To connect the hard drive slots with the main board SATA ports each has an appropriate number of SATA cables. Power is supplied via a 4-pin power connector.

Active Media Products, a world leading manufacturer of DOMs and small form factor SSDs, today announced eight new low-profile IDE DOMs for server, industrial and embedded computing applications in capacities from 8GB to 64GB.

AMP's new Type-3 and Type-4 IDE / PATA DOMs are both designed in a low-profile orientation to fit into very tight enclosures. Both types are available in 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. Type-3 models have an industry standard 40-pin female IDE connector, and Type-4 models have an industry standard 44-pin female IDE connector. These two new types give AMP a complete line of IDE DOMs.

Now-shipping to retailers worldwide: HighPoint RocketHybrid HBA's - delivering cost-effective, high-speed hybrid storage for gamers, media professionals and PC-enthusiasts. RocketHybrid HBA's are cutting-edge PCI-Express 2.0, SATA 6Gb's Host Adapters, powered by Marvell's revolutionary HyperDuo technology.

The performance benefits of SSD's over conventional HDD's are enticing to all, but their high cost of entry and low storage capacity keep many potential customers away. Hybrid storage resolves this dilemma - with RocketHybrid HBA's, you can combine inexpensive SATA hard disks with fast SSD's, into a high-performance and high-capacity storage solution. RocketHybrid HBA's remove the dollar-per-gigabyte barriers imposed by today's high-capacity SSD's.

Viking Modular Solutions, a leading global provider and manufacturer of innovative DRAM technology and Solid State Drive solutions, today announced the release of its next generation SATADIMM. Viking Modular's SATADIMM provides the highest-capacity, highest-performance Solid State Drive (SSD) in the smallest form factor on the market today. Leveraging the form factor of DDR3 DIMMs and the non-volatile capabilities of SSDs, SATADIMM enables enterprise servers to take advantage of its innovative small footprint to drive significantly increased performance per server or "per U". Viking Modular will demonstrate the product's unique capabilities at Storage Networking World in Santa Clara, California, April 4-7, 2011, at Booth # 517.

Available in both 25mm and 18.75mm (VLP) heights in the industry standard 240-PIN DDR3 form factor, Viking Modular's SATADIMM has the same Bill of Materials (BOM) as a 2.5 inch SSD but with 75% less footprint, greatly enhancing the quantity of SSDs that can be supported within a 1U server. Utilizing the enterprise-class SATADIMM, 1U servers can produce 1.4M Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and up to 3x the capacity and overall performance levels compared to current industry standard servers deployed with traditional SSDs.

G.Skill International Co. Ltd., manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid-state storage with solid quality, today announces its new Phoenix EVO SSD, utilizing the performance leading controller SandForce SF-1222 and high quality 2xnm NAND flash chips. The Phoenix EVO drive contains 115GB with rated speed of read/write 280/270 MB/sec, and will be available via G.Skill authorized distribution partners in early April.
Keeping pace with the flash manufacturers' transition from 3xnm to 2xnm, G.Skill has utilized 2xnm flash chips for its award winning SSD, Phoenix family. To ensure the best performance and reliability during the transition, G.Skill has teamed up closely with SandForce and has run G.Skill Phoenix EVO through a wide range of rigorous tests with the latest firmware. All Phoenix EVO drives only use strictly selected original flash chips from key suppliers to guarantee the top reliability and stability.

Enermax released 3.5-inch compatible variants of its Jazzmate series portable HDD/SSD enclosures. The first Jazzmate enclosures only supported drives in the 2.5-inch form-factor. Measuring 200 (D) x 123 (W) x 38 (H) mm, these enclosures have a double-sided mesh design to help ventilate the drives, a completely tool-free design, matte black color, and acrylic stands. The 3.5-inch Jazzmate is available in two variants: a USB 2.0 variant, and a USB 2.0 plus eSATA 3 Gb/s variant, priced at €24.90 and €29.90, respectively.

Mach Xtreme Technology Inc., a worldwide leader in top performance, high reliability and user friendly designed PC components, today unveiled the 1.8"micro-SATA MX-MDS Series SSD. Based on the best-in-class SandForce SF1222 controller, the 1.8" MX-MDS Series delivers an enhanced mobile computing experience with much faster application loading, ultra-fast data access, shorter boot-ups, and longer battery life of all laptops with micro-SATA interface.

This series maintains the highest level of read and write performance though the life of the SSD. Highly intelligent block management and wear leveling optimizes longevity of MX-MDS series drives. The MDS series supports DuraClass, DuraWrite and unique RAISE technologies. DuraClass technology provides best-in-class endurance, performance, and low power. DuraWrite technology extends the endurance of MLC memory providing at least 5 year lifecycles with 3-5K cycle MLC flash. RAISE provides the protection and reliability of RAID on a single drive without the significant write overhead.

Kingston Technology released an important firmware update for SSDNow V100 series solid-state drives. The update fixes an issue where the SSD becomes unresponsive during power on self-test (POST) or during booting. The issue also causes the SSD to render the machine unresponsive for a few minutes randomly. Kingston strongly recommends you to apply this update, even if you haven't come across this issue. Affected models include 64 GB SV100S2/64GZ, SV100S2D/64GZ, and SV100S2N/64GZ; 128 GB SV100S2/128GZ, SV100S2D/128GZ, and SV100S2N/128GZ; and 256 GB SV100S2/256GZ, SV100S2N/256GZ, and SV100S2N/256GZ. Details on the update can be found here.

Lenovo announced today the ThinkStation E30 workstation and ThinkCentre M81 desktop - two new solutions that bring users speedy performance with 2nd generation Intel Core processors, rapid boot up/shut down and extra productivity features. Designed for creative, engineering and financial professionals who rely on specialized software applications to power their work, users get workstation-class performance and reliability starting at an affordable $599. Meanwhile, the ThinkCentre M81 desktop equips large businesses with the advanced computing features employees need to be most productive.

"Workstation users need the kind of performance that lets them do more each minute. The ThinkStation E30 workstation builds on our strong workstation platform, combining new rapid processing for data-crunching with more vivid and intense graphics capabilities," said Tao Gu, executive director and general manager, Workstation Business Unit, Lenovo. "We created the ThinkStation E30 workstation to offer extremely powerful processing on a software-certified solution at desktop prices."

Intel Corporation announced today its highly anticipated third-generation solid-state drive (SSD) the Intel Solid-State Drive 320 Series (Intel SSD 320 Series). Based on its industry-leading 25-nanometer (nm) NAND flash memory, the Intel SSD 320 replaces and builds on its high-performing Intel X25-M SATA SSD. Delivering more performance and uniquely architected reliability features, the new Intel SSD 320 offers new higher capacity models, while taking advantage of cost benefits from its 25nm process with an up to 30 percent price reduction over its current generation.

"Intel designed new quality and reliability features into our SSDs to take advantage of the latest 25nm silicon, so we could deliver cost advantages to our customers," said Pete Hazen, director of marketing for the Intel Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Solutions Group. "Intel's third generation of SSDs adds enhanced data security features, power-loss management and innovative data redundancy features to once again advance SSD technology. Whether it's a consumer or corporate IT looking to upgrade from a hard disk drive, or an enterprise seeking to deploy SSDs in their data centers, the new Intel SSD 320 Series will continue to build on our reputation of high quality and dependability over the life of the SSD."

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced that it has shipped its one millionth solid state drive.

"Solid state drives continue to represent a game-changing technology for both consumers and enterprise clients, and we are proud to achieve this milestone," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ. "But most of all, I wanted to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our loyal customers and partners, without whom this success would not be possible."

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced a new mSATA interface SSD that conforms to new JEDEC MO-300V standard.

SSDs are fast, reliable, non-volatile storage devices used in a variety of portable devices. The recent proliferation of netbook and tablet designs has created the need for a standard to enable easy and efficient integration possibilities. The mSATA JEDEC standard MO-300B is one such standard. It is a SATAII interface SSD using a mini PCIe formfactor.

Intel's 320 series solid-state drives (SSDs) are on track for a March 28 launch. The silicon giant is on a bit of a spree with its SSD product launches over the past few weeks. Intel 320 series, also referred to as "Postville Refresh", succeeds the company's X25-V and X25-M series, consisting of SATA 3 Gb/s SSDs in the 2.5-inch form-factor. The drives achieve sequential read speeds of 250 MB/s, and write speeds of 170 MB/s; Up to 39,500 IOPS random 4 KB reads, and up to 23,000 IOPS random 4 KB writes.

The only major change here is the multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash chips used inside, which are built on Intel's new 25 nm manufacturing process. Other new features include 128-bit AES data encryption, enhanced power-loss management, and up to 1.2 million hours MTBF. 320 series is available in 40 GB (US $109), 80 GB ($189), 120 GB ($239), 160 GB ($329), 300 GB ($569), and 600 GB ($1,119). With the 320 Series, Intel intends to target the business/office and mainstream markets, propagating SSDs to key high-volume segments.

The Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) Working Group, the organization dedicated to simplifying integration of NAND Flash memory into consumer electronic devices, computing platforms, and industrial systems, today published the new ONFI 3.0 standard. By using the non-volatile DDR2 (NV-DDR2) interface, the newly ratified standard reaches speeds of up to 400 megabytes (MB)/sec, doubling the current NAND interface transfer rates.

The ONFI 3.0 standard details the interface and infrastructure that ONFI's more than 100 members can employ to develop products that deliver the industry's fastest NAND interface. Improvements in ONFI 3.0's NAND interface speeds will also enable future NAND controllers to achieve similar performance with half the number of channels, providing both a cost and space savings, which are key requirements for solid-state drive (SSD) design. The ONFI 3.0 incorporates a sophisticated die selection feature that reduces the number of chip enable (CE) pins, which in turn lowers the number of controller pins making PCB routing more efficient. Reducing the number of CE pins is especially important for SSDs, providing a significant cost reduction and allowing the extra pins to be assigned to other applications within the system.