Recently there has been a boom in production of PCI-Express SSD cards. The cards offer fast storage by coupling arrays of SSDs across dedicated storage controllers to achieve high bandwidths. With market-heavyweights such as OCZ in the ring, this little class of storage products is here to stay. Fresh out with its first G-Monster PCI-E SSD that offers godly read/write speeds of 750/700 MB/s, Photofast is looking to push the bandwidth envelope with the G-Monster Promise. This SSD card "promises" bandwidth that scrapes the 1 GB/s mark, a significant milestone for fixed-storage.

The 3+ slot monstrosity packs 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, or even 1 TB of data. It uses MLC NAND-flash chips, along with a storage controller that has 256 MB of dedicated ECC DDR2 memory. The controller uses PCI-Express x8 to connect to its host. The device assures 2.5 million hours of MTBF, and read/write speeds of 1000 MB/s. All of this comes at a price, US $1616 for the 128 GB variant, $2002 for 256 GB, $3015 for 512 GB, and $4534 for 1 TB, in Japan, where it will start selling later this month.

DDRdrive LLC, another fighter in the SSD market arena, on Monday introduced the DDRdrive X1 - a PCI-Express expansion card featuring a complete solid-state storage system designed for IOPS intensive tasks. The DDRdrive X1 is a PCIe Gen 1-based hybrid SSD, that combines 4 GB of DDR memory and 4 GB of NAND flash memory. Both solid-state technologies work in concert to provide the superior characteristics of DRAM (speed, reliability, and longevity) with the NAND part used for backups. In terms of read/write speeds, the DDRdrive X1 is not that spectacular. Limited by the PCIe x1 interface it can "only" do about 215 MB/s in reads and 155 MB/s in writes. But it's the Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS), where X1 really shines. A single drive can hit 300,000+ IOPS Random 512B Reads and 200,000+ IOPS Random 512B Writes. That's a massive bump in operation speed compared to practically all other solid-state drives currently in production. For comparison Fusion IO's enterprise drives are estimated at 200,000 IOPS 512B read, while other consumer SSDs are rated at about 100,000 IOPS 512B read. And those 300,000+ IOPS can be achieved with a maximum power draw of only 9.91 Watts. DDRdrive X1 can also be configured to work in striped (performance) RAID 0, mirrored RAID 1, or RAID 5 regimes.
The DDRdrive X1 is shipping now for $1495 with a 5 year limited warranty. For more information, please be sure to check this page here.

One more flash products maker - Imation - is announcing solid-state drives that will hit retail market in the US. The fresh S-Class and M-Class Imation drives are both available in 32 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB capacities, and 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch form factors. For the budget-minded consumer, the M-Class boasts a 150 MB/s read speed and 90 MB/s write speed, and sports a black oxide finish - starting at $189.99. The S-Class drives bump read and write speeds to 130 MB/s and 120 MB/s respectively, but also come at a higher cost that starts from $659.99. Imation SSD drives should already be available through the company's authorized distributors, wholesalers, resellers and e-tailers in the US.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their Fusion SSD Series. The Fusion SSD line has been specifically designed with cutting-edge technology by adding 64MB of DRAM cache in conjunction with its current equipped NAND technology. The ultimate result is an SSD that allows faster transfer rates between the controller and the host device.

"By the addition of the DRAM cache, the Fusion greatly increases the random and sequential read and write transfer rates," according to Meng J. Choo, Patriot's Flash Product Manager. He goes on to say, "The DRAM acts as a buffer and increases the reliability, and lessens the possibility for 'bottlenecks' within the data transfers."

TakeMS International AG, German manufacturer of flash memory products for your needs, today joins the SSD business by starting to offer 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB solid-state drives in its product portfolio. Using no special model name, the Take MS drives use 2.5-inch enclosures full of MLC NAND flash chips and a SATA 3.0 Gbps interface to achieve transfer rates of up to 150 MB/s. The new drives are already starting to appear in European shops for 94.55, 149.17 and 270.06 Euro for the 32 GB, 64 GB, and the 128 GB models.

Intel on Thursday, adjusted the prices of its 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch solid-state drives, bringing them closer to the mass market. Top of the line 160 GB Intel branded SSDs are now selling for as low as $630, the 1.8-inch 80 GB X18-M model is now dropping down to $320. The 2.5-inch X25-M 80 GB version is also going down from $390 to $340. Last but not least, the "little" 32 GB X25-E solid-state drive drops from $410 to $390. All prices are in US dollars. Newegg is already selling some of the drives with their new prices.

Japanese company CFD has unveiled a new line of multi-level cell SSDs under the "Interceptor" series. The series consists of four models based on the capacities: 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB. The former two offer read/write speeds of 200/95 MB/s, while the latter two offer 240/150 MB/s: a significant difference in performance. The company also published raw performance figures on the product page, where the drives were tested on reasonably powerful current-generation machines. As for prices, the 32 GB model will be priced at 18,800 JPY (around US $194.5), 64 GB for 28,800 JPY (around $298), 128 GB for 45,800 JPY (around $474), and 256 GB for 79,800 (around $825).

OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled the Z-Drive, a PCI-Express based SSD solution designed to meet the stringent demands of enthusiast computing environments and high-end workstations. First debuted at Cebit 2009 in Germany, the Z-Drive is the latest premium solid state storage solution from OCZ.
"It is our goal to deliver tailored SSD solutions for the complete spectrum of high performance applications," said Eugene Chang, Vice President of Product Management at the OCZ Technology Group. "Designed for ultra high performance consumers, the Z-Drive takes the SATA bottleneck out of the equation by employing the ultra fast PCI-Express architecture with a RAID controller and four Vertex controllers configured in four-way RAID 0 within an all-in-one product, making this solution ideal for applications that put a premium on both storage performance and maximum capacity."

At CeBIT in Hanover, Germany OCZ Technology showcased Z-Drive - a PCI-E x8 storage device on a 245 mm x 124mm x 22 mm board that boasts up to four 256 GB (MLC-equipped) solid-state drives in a RAID 0 setup and delivers some excellent read/write speeds. It seems that the drives are already on the market, and among the first to sell them is the French e-tailer Materiel, which currently offers three versions of the Z-Drive:

• Z-Drive 1 Go PCI-Express 8x - 1 TB version thanks to 4x256 GB MLC SSDs in RAID0, 256 MB on-board data buffer, features up to 500 MB/s read speed and up to 470 MB/s write speed, price tag - 3,399.99 Euro
• Z-Drive 500 Go PCI-Express 8x - 500 GB version (2x256 GB MLC SSDs), offers up to 510 MB/s read speed and up to 480 MB/s write speed (faster than the 1 TB model), price tag - 2,199.99 Euro
• Z-Drive 250 Go PCI-Express 8x - 250 GB version probably from a single MLC SSD that offers up to 450 MB/s read speed and up to 300 MB/s write speed for 1,399.99 Euro

Direct link to the French e-tailer Materiel is here.

Buffalo Japan today upgrades its SHD-NPUM series of SATA solid-state drives to deliver up to 256 GB of usable storage space. Previously available with "only" 128 GB, the 2.5-inch drives offer mini USB port for external usage and also make use of MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash memory chips. The drives will be available in Japan next month for the price equivalent of €630.

Silicon giant Intel is preparing a fresh round of price-cuts, this time with its High-Performance SATA SSDs. The price cuts revolve around the company's X25-M and X18-M series, with cuts ranging between US $50 and $100. The SLC-based X25-E series however, is exempted from price cuts. The 80 GB variants of X25-M and X18-M get $50 off, while the 160 GB ones get $100 off. The new prices will be effective from April 26. It remains to be seen as of how these prices affect those of the SSDs Intel co-braded with companies such as Kingston, A-Data, etc.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled OCZ Vertex EX 2.5" Solid State Drives that is designed to meet the stringent demands of server environments and enterprise applications. These new premium offerings are the pinnacle storage option excelling in performance, reliability, and power consumption that offer professionals and enthusiasts an unparalleled computing experience.

G.Skill International Co. Ltd., a world leader in extreme performance storage and memory products with solid quality, today launches Falcon SATA II 2.5" MLC-based Solid State Drive (SSD) Series based on the latest, cutting edge Indilink controller. With a huge 64 MB dram buffer, the Falcon series represents the best read/write performance stability while avoiding OS stutter. The Falcon series is available in large capacities of 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB: the read/write performance of the 128 GB and 256 GB drives are an industry leading 230/190 MB/Sec, while the 64 GB drives are capable of 230/135 MB/Sec.
G.Skill is a dedicated provider of the best PC enthusiast computer storage and memory solutions, and the Falcon SSD once again reaffirms this, providing both desktop and laptop users the best choice of data storage device, retaining reliable quality and a highly power efficient nature. G.Skill SSDs are designed to yield an impressive 1.5 million hour mean time before failure (MTBF) and include an international 2 year warranty as well as ever ready technical back-up. For more information, please visit this page here.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled their first miniPCI-Express Solid State Drive (SSD) Series, the affordable flash-based storage option to significantly increase the capacity for netbooks. For on the go computing professionals and students looking for an ideal storage upgrade on their ultra-portable platforms, the OCZ miniPCI-E SSD is the cost effective alternative to traditional standard storage drives as a reliable upgrade on mobile systems.

Samsung Electronics on Thursday said it is boosting security on solid-state drives by bundling data encryption software from Wave Systems' Embassy with drives from 64GB to 256GB.

The drives with encryption software will be available from PC makers, Samsung said in a statement. Coinciding with Samsung's announcement, Dell said it would offer the self-encrypting SSDs with its Latitude line of laptops in the upcoming months.

Full-disk encryption is already available for hard drives, but this is the first time it is available for SSDs, Samsung said. The software automatically encrypts information as data is stored on the SSDs. Additionally, the company claims that SSD performance is not affected by encryption because the drive has no moving parts.

Solid State Disks (SSDs) come are coming in all shapes, sizes, and interfaces. I-O Data is preparing a new SSD design that is compatible with the ExpressCard 34 slot that most notebooks feature. The purpose of this design could be portability, or simply expanding the notebook's storage beyond what its hard drive allows. The ExpressCard interface provides fast connectivity between the system and the SSD's own storage controller (up to 2.5 Gbps in PCI-Express mode).

The drive measures 34x74x5 mm, and weighs around 21 g. It comes in two variants, based on the storage they offer: 32 GB and 64 GB. Backed by a one-year warranty, the 32 GB variant is priced in Japan at US $170, and the 64 GB at $243.

Intel has released a new firmware for its high-performance X18-M and X25-M solid-state drives. The new update brings the firmware up to version 1.1 and aims to further improve the performance of the solid-state drives. Last but not least this update fixes the severe performance degradation of these drives after extended periods of use. Download the update and learn more about the update procedure from here.

High-performance storage solutions vendor Fusion-io may have gone way ahead of setting a record, when during the Storage Networking World event, the company demonstrated its 640 GB PCI-Express ioSAN card to support as many as 768 simultaneous DVD-quality video streams. To do so, the engineers set up a storage network consisting of a host workstation for the ioSAN card, 12 disk-less servers with quad-socket, quad-core processors, using an InfiniBand backbone, two 10 gigabit Ethernet switches, and NVIDIA graphics cards to provide the video acceleration. The resulting display consisted of about a dozen 50-inch HD LCD TVs running to form a compound display panel, onto which the 768 video streams were played on.

Joshua Aune, Fusion-io systems architect, says that the ioSAN card could have stored 2,500 DVD-quality movies, and will further be able to support 1,024 video streams, which the company plans to demo in two weeks time at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show, in Las Vegas USA. The ioSAN 320GB PCIe card boasts a 1.5GB/sec. read speed and 1.4GB/sec. write speed with 32k packets or 186,000 IOPS for reads and 167,000 IOPS for writes using 4k packets. The card used in this feat had 640GB of single-layer cell (SLC) NAND flash memory in two 320 GB modules. A video of the feat can be watched here.

It's unusual for Corsair products to be proclaimed before their official press release is posted on the manufacturer's site, but in this case a little "sneak peek" from our colleagues at HotHardware allows us to break the rules. We are talking about Corsair's ulta-fast 256 GB solid-state drive that will be out "sometime in the not too distant future". This new 256 GB model features updated controller from Samsung (Samsung S3C29RBB01-YK40), 64 MB of on-board cache and thus must offer significantly increased performance. The official product name will be Corsair P256. The drive will feature SATA 3.0Gb/s interface, a heavy-duty aluminum enclosure, average read speeds of over 200 MB/s, average write speeds of 169.1 MB/s, 0.1ms random access time, and a 248.2 MB/s burst speed. The Corsair P256 is expected to cost around $749.

Patriot Memory,a global provider of premium quality memory module and flash memory solutions, today announced their 128GB Warp SSD v3, Patriot's newest addition to the Warp Series.

The 128GB Warp SSD v3 provides and quenches your thirst for speed. With blazing transfer speeds up to 240MB/s read and 160 MB/s write this drive is a perfect solution for a wide range of applications that require ruggedness, minimal power consumption, cooler temperature and silent operations. Keeping reliability in mind, the Patriot Warp 128GB SSD v3 drives has 1.5 million hour mean time before failure (MTBF) and built in wear leveling technology. Warp's v3 continues to be in a 2.5" form factor with SATA I/II connections for fast, reliable data transfer rates.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled OCZ Vertex Mac Edition Solid State Drives and mobile memory solutions qualified by OCZ for ultimate compatibility with the latest family of MacBooks. These new premium offerings are designed for Mac enthusiasts demanding the latest technology in storage and memory to increase productivity and performance on their Apple notebooks.

"OCZ is excited to announce two new products that are specifically designed for Mac consumers," commented Ryan Edwards, Director of Product Management at the OCZ Technology Group. "Both the Vertex Series Mac Edition solid state drives and the new Mac Edition SODIMMS are designed to be an easy upgrade for consumers that want to boost the performance of their MacBooks, and have been tested in Apple's Development Center (ADC) to ensure stability and compatibility."

A-Data Memory introduced its first line of solid-state drives (SSDs). The company co-branded the X25-M series SSD originally manufactured by Intel. Information of the partnership between the two companies surfaced in February, early this year. A similar deal was also reportedly struck between Intel and Power Quotient International (PQI).

The A-Data X25-M SSD comes in capacities of 80 GB and 160 GB. Featuring the SATA II interface, the drive supports advanced SATA features such as Native Command Queuing (NCQ) with 32 concurrent operations. The drive uses multi-level cell NAND flash chips built on the 50 nm manufacturing process. The read/write speeds on this drive are commonly known to be 250/70 MBps.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced its patented RAIDDrive, which dramatically increases the performance and slot capacity of PCI Express-based storage solution. The new RAIDDrive is the market's largest and most innovative server-based solid-state storage solution, and an extension of its patented technology from the RAIDSSD product lines.

Pretec, creator of the world's smallest USB drive and pioneer of SSD technology innovation, today introduced fresh line of 32 GB and 64 GB eSATA/USB dual interface solid-state drives compliant with the Power Over eSATA specification. In other words these SSDs do not need external power connector to operate normal and transfer data via either eSATA or USB. Another nifty feature of the new Pretec Cobra pocket SSDs are their super fast read and write speeds of 90 MB/s and 60 MB/s respectively. Considering the size and the mobility of the drives, these speeds are more than you can ever want. Unfortunately, Pretec didn't mention the price and availability date in their announcement.

Western Digital Corp., a world leader in hard drive storage for computing and consumer electronics applications, today announced that it has completed a $65 million cash acquisition of SiliconSystems, Inc., Aliso Viejo, Calif., a leading supplier of solid-state drives for the embedded systems market.

Since its inception in 2002, SiliconSystems has sold millions of SiliconDrive products to meet the high performance, high reliability and multi-year product lifecycle demands of the network-communications, industrial, embedded-computing, medical, military and aerospace markets. These markets accounted for approximately one third of worldwide solid-state drive revenues in 2008. SiliconSystems' product portfolio includes solid-state drives with SATA, EIDE, PC Card, USB and CF interfaces in 2.5-inch, 1.8-inch, CF and other form factors. SiliconSystems has developed extensive intellectual property to address the stringent embedded systems market requirements to ensure data integrity, eliminate unscheduled downtime, protect application data and software and provide for data security and protection through its patented and patent-pending PowerArmor, SiSMART, SolidStor and SiSecure technologies.