AS Benchmarks for RealSSD C300

We received a couple requests to show the AS benchmark results for the new drive. So we asked Todd to provide a couple screen shots of the results–and here they are.

Of course, our immediate goal is to get these in the hands of independent reviewers. You should see third-party tests coming out in the next month or so as we ramp to production and get drives sent out. Stay tuned–we’ll call out results both here and through our @RealSSD Twitter feed.

AS SSD Benchmark: 3G Empty

AS SSD Benchmark: 6G Empty

You asked for it: RealSSD C300 random IOPs

A lot of people are excited about the C300 demos we posted last week, and a number of you asked to see the random read/write IOPs numbers for the new drives. So I’ve asked one of our Apps guys, Todd, to shoot a video of the C300 running through the Iometer test. These are 4K transfers on 100% random read/write tests  with a queue depth of 32.

We’re using the same Intel Core2Duo system, equipped with our 256GB RealSSD C300 drive and a 6 Gb/s SATA host bus adapter. We also test it at SATA 3 Gb/s to show how it will perform in those systems. I think you’re going to like the results.

RealSSD C300 goes head-to-head with a hard drive in everyday tasks

By now you’ve seen our SSD vs SSD benchmarks, but to show you how that speed translates to the real world, we pitted our 256GB C300 SSD against a standard issue 7200rpm HDD in identical systems. We then tackled a handful of everyday tasks—boot up, file copy, and opening large files in Adobe® Photoshop®.

System Details
MoBo: Intel® X48 chipset based
Processor: Intel Core2Duo E8500
Memory: Micron® 2GB DDR3 1066 (PC3-8500)
OS: Windows® 7 Pro 64-b

Benchmarking the World’s Fastest Client SSD

Our new RealSSD C300 outperforms every client SSD currently available on the market. To prove it, we ran a few standard benchmarking tools (PCMark Vantage’s disk suite and the classic disk benchmark ATTO) on identical systems. The only difference: a 256GB Micron RealSSD C300 in one system and the leading competitor’s 160GB SSD in the other.

System Details
MoBo: Intel® X48 chipset based
Processor: Intel Core2Duo E8500
Memory: Micron® 2GB DDR3 1066 (PC3-8500)
Drive Interface: SATA 6Gb/s (via Marvel HBA)

Announcing the new RealSSD C300

To explain why today’s announcement of Micron’s new RealSSD C300 is a game-changer for speed and storage in notebook and desktop PCs, I asked our SSD expert, Dean Klein, to share some of the thinking that went into the product and what you’ll experience the first time you boot up a computer with a RealSSD C300 inside.

Is NAND Ready For Enterprise Applications?

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about NAND in enterprise applications. Can NAND hit enterprise requirements? Will sub-40nm NAND ever serve this market? Is it really a compelling choice? Put simply: yes. Here are a few reasons why:

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Micron’s New NAND: Great Space, Less Filling

No doubt about it—our appetite for mobile digital downloads continues to thrive. We’re downloading video, music, games and photos at a record pace. In fact, Nielsen says that online music stores saw more than 1 billion downloads last year. I’m a contributor to these downloads too–as I sit here and write this post, I’m jamming out to my iPod listening to the ever-so inspiring Mick Jagger. But I digress.

The point is, we need the storage capacity in our mobile devices to hold the huge amounts of data we consume. So what’s Micron doing to feed that capacity appetite? Today we announced new 16Gb and 32Gb NAND products built using our ground-breaking 34nm NAND process technology. These new NAND chips not only make it possible to store more on your smartphones, cell phones and MP3 players but also enable bigger and better memory cards, like Lexar’s new 16GB microSDHC card. Built with our super tiny 16Gb die, Lexar’s 16GB microSDHC card, can store up to 48,000 2-megapixel JPEG photos, 4,000 songs, or 80 hours of standard-def video—allowing you to super size your portable device’s capacity and enjoy more of the stuff you love.

And for the photography buffs out there, Micron’s new 32Gb NAND chip has made it possible for Lexar to create a new 32GB Lexar Platinum II SDHC memory card. That’s enough capacity for 12 hours of HD video or over 20,000 5-megapixel images! And since we’ve added a high-speed NAND interface to all of our new high-capacity NAND products, these new cards are seriously fast; speed-rated at 60x. This gives our photo enthusiasts the ability to take full advantage of their camera’s burst-mode setting to capture many images in rapid fire succession.

So whether it’s photos, video, music, or games you’re after, Micron’s new NAND products give your portable devices the additional capacity they need to store all your favorites—so you can watch and rock out to more media than ever before, all from the palm of your hand.

Standards, Questions, and the Big Dialogue: Talking is Good for the Whole Industry

I’m headed to Chicago today to attend the Storage Networking Industry Association’s Technical Symposium. Now, I know what you’re thinking “Gee, Chicago in May sounds lovely, count me in!” but really; as much as I like Chicago, I’m also really looking forward to this conference (and I don’t just say that because my SNIA colleagues might be reading this post).

First up–who the heck is SNIA?  Usual blogger shortcut here–a quote from their website:

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Overprovisioning: Give a little, get a lot.

Suppose I told you that the local car dealership was selling a car that offered double the gas mileage of standard models (or double the top speed for you daredevils).  You’d probably say something like “Sure, but what is it going to cost me?”  Suppose I told you that the models were identical, but the performance version had just one less seat.  In order to double the gas mileage or top speed, all you had to do was give up a single seat.  Would you buy it?

If you used you car as a vanpool, and if you were loaded to the gills already, probably not.  But what if I also told you that this rule applied to their larger vehicles too—you could get a massive 18-passenger maxi-van with double the typical gas mileage if you  were willing to order one with 13 seats instead.  Suppose I also told you that this trick worked on every car they made.

What about now?  Would you do it? For those of you that think I’ve lost it there is a computer analogy coming (you knew there would be, right?). Suppose I told you that you could  as much as double the performance of your solid state drive (SSD) if you gave up 25% of the capacity.  Would you do it?  Suppose I also told you that the drive will last longer as a bonus.  How about now?

You can do all this. How? Overprovisioning.

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History of Digital Storage. Part 7: NAND in SSDs

The Marriage of NAND Flash and SSDs

• A History of Digital Storage
  1. Tape Drives
  2. Magnetic Drum Memory
  3. The Birth of the Hard Drive
  4. The 5.25-inch Hard Drive
  5. Limitations of the HDD
  6. The RAM SSD & NAND
  7. NAND in SSDs

NAND technology paved the way for a new breed of SSD that is able to emulate HDDs in most enterprise or consumer applications. These SSDs are far less expensive than DRAM-based SSDs and still offer several advantages over HDDs—particularly in terms of performance and reliability.

Because NAND-based SSDs are a solid state technology, they have no moving parts and offer much better performance than HDDs. When a command is issued to an HDD, the drive must seek with its actuator, spin its platter, and then transfer the data back to the host. But SSDs have no moving parts (requiring only the time it takes to process the command), and they have random access times as quick as 20µs [52].

HDD External Storage I/O Timing

The improved performance of new SSDs equates to 10,000 IOPS compared to less than 450 IOPS for the fastest HDDs [53]. When used in enterprise applications like Internet banking, SSDs might significantly boost information access.

With no moving parts to wear out or break, an SSD will

SSD External Storage I/O Timing

outlast almost any HDD, which typically has only a three- to five-year life expectancy if it is not bumped, banged, or dropped. By comparison, a modern SSD might last twice that long and do so without the sensitivities to mechanical shock and while consuming only a fraction of the power.

RAIDs, Connections, and the Next Step for SSDs

SSDs can go anywhere an HDD can, so for enterprise and consumer applications alike, SSDs are replacing HDDs—a trend that is sure to continue for the next decade or more. But using an SSD as a drop-in replacement for an HDD is not necessarily using SSDs to their fullest potential. RAID controllers, HDD interfaces, and storage subsystems have been optimized for the characteristics of rotating magnetic media and may be a bottleneck for solid state storage.

Due to the flexibility of NAND solid state storage, SSDs will once again change the picture of storage in computers. NAND-based storage will become more integrated into the computer and will enable new generations of applications. Productivity gains will be measurable and the power savings, dramatic.

Conclusion

Digital storage has come a long way since 1956, with the most recent innovation being SSDs. And now that SSDs are gaining new ground with the advancements made possible by NAND Flash technology, they represent the next evolutionary step for storage applications.

Notes:

[52] Wong, page 15.
[53] Justin Sykes, “SSDs to Boost Data Center Performance,” Micron Technology, Inc. Boise, Idaho, (July 30, 2008): page 3.