New Directory - SAS SSDs
Editor:-
January 26, 2009 - StorageSearch.com
today published a new article and directory on the subject of
SAS SSDs.
This
market has been a long time acoming - and for many years there were only 1 or 2
vendors in the market. The new article chronicles the genesis of
SAS SSDs and lists
known vendors - which will head into double digits this year.
RamSan SSD Revenue Grew 20% in 2008
Houston, Texas -
January 20, 2009 - Texas Memory Systems today announced that revenue
from sales of its RamSan line of SSD products grew 20% in 2008.
The
company also recorded record 4th quarter sales.
"We feared the
global financial crisis and increasing competition would have a bigger impact on
our 2008 results," said Woody Hutsell, Executive VP at TMS. "However,
our solid state disks are often used in mission-critical applications and, in
such applications, customers value Texas Memory Systems' engineering experience
and 30-year longevity. Savvy IT managers will always be reluctant to put their
critical data on a first generation product, whether it comes from a Fortune 500
company or a venture-funded startup."
"We are cautiously
optimistic about 2009," continued Mr. Hutsell. "Solid state disks are
an important part of modern telecommunications systems, financial exchanges,
national defense systems and 'green IT'
initiatives which are likely to benefit from new government investment.
Additionally, a solid state disk can cost-effectively extend the life of
existing IT infrastructure allowing cash-strapped IT managers to postpone major
purchases."
...Texas Memory
Systems profile
Editor's comments:- while 20% annual revenue
growth is indeed impressive - it nevertheless represents a slow down for TMS,
which in some earlier years had reported growth rates between 45% and 80%.
One factor may be that in the past year the server acceleration market has
become very competitive. Nearly 30 oems market
rackmount SSDs -
and if you add in the SSD speedsters from the
2.5" and
PCI Express SSD
markets you'll easily tot up more than 40 companies seriously competing in the
space where Texas Memory Systems operates. Given those factors - and the
recession - 20% revenue growth for TMS indicates a strong brand and product
line.
In my article -
Is the SSD Market
Recession-Proof? (published July 2008) - I said "Overall a recession
will be good for vendors of faster server oriented SSDs (both flash and RAM
based) - but a recession will be bad for vendors of notebook SSDs." My
many recent discussions with SSD vendors (and the press release from TMS
today) seem to confirm this.
New Edition - the Top 10 SSD OEMs
Editor:- January 10, 2009 -
StorageSearch.com today published a new edition of - the Top 10 SSD
OEMs.
Based on storage search volume in Q4 2008 - the ranking is
the most reliable indicator and predictor of future success in the fast growing
SSD market. The article includes a market commentary and summary of movements
in the past quarter. The 7th quarterly edition of this article is eagerly
anticipated by users and vendors alike. ...read the article
Santa Announces Green Server SSD Initiative
North Pole -
December 2, 2008 - Texas Memory Systems and Santa today
announced an initiative to replace all monolithic RAID storage at the North Pole
with energy efficient and super fast solid state disks by the end of 2009.
This proactive move is expected to reduce the energy required to
process the "Naughty or Nice" lists by up to 50%. ...read the case
study, ...Texas Memory
Systems profile,
Green Storage -
Trends and Predictions
Editor's comments:- TMS also published
today a case
study with an online retailer
featured in the Oprah Winfrey Show in
November. Anticipating that their web site would get slammed by viewers - the
CTO turned to a VAR who suggested they install a fast
RAM SSD - the
RamSan-400 to quickly
upgrade their server performance.
Solid Access Launches World's Fastest 1U Rackmount SSD
Austin, TX - November 17, 2008 - At
SC08 today Solid Access Technologies announced the immediate
availability of its new generation of DRAM SSD products, the USSD Series 300.
Solid Access says the 4 new models are aimed at organizations
requiring the highest capacity, "no compromises" IOPS and data
bandwidth performance in the smallest possible footprint. Interface options
within the family include 8Gbps
Fibre Channel, 6Gbps
SAS and
320MB/s LVD SCSI
interfaces. R/W latency is under 10 microseconds and the models support upto
100K IOPS on a single port.
- Model 310 is a 256GB, 1U rackmount offering for high IOPS needs
- Model 310T is a 1TB, 4U tower, targeted at high performance databases
- Model 315 is a combined server and 128GB RAM SSD, 1U device, for custom
projects
- Model 320, a 256GB, 2U product which supports upto 6 ports and 4GB/s
sustained aggregated data bandwidth.
Solid Access says it guarantees equivalent or better application I/O
acceleration as well as the lowest price of any comparable SSD, and has launched
a "test before you buy" program.
"Five years ago when
we introduced the first open architecture, ultra-fast DRAM SSD, our goal was to
offer the best performance, most flexible interfacing, highest density and best
price of any offering in the segment" said Tomas Havrda, Solid Access
Managing Director. "The new USSD 300 Series is the capstone to our efforts
in a year in which we have enjoyed 500% growth. The
recent 28 unit
USSD sale to Samsung Securities is further proof that customers of all sizes are
taking notice." ...Solid Access
Technologies profile
Editor's comments:- for several years
there has been a gap in the market for a really high performance 1U
rackmount SSD. My
gut feeling is it could become a very popular form factor in Google style
(democratic) server architectures - which contain large numbers of identical
servers..
As the cost of
RAM SSDs easily makes
them the most expensive box per rackmount unit in the datacenter - the
availability of 1U models reduces the incremental deployment costs for customers
who are continuously upgrading their systems. It also lowers the cost of holding
immediately deployable spares.
Dataram Re-enters the SSD Accelerator Market
Redding, CA
- October 8, 2008 - it was announced today that Dataram Corp has
acquired the strategic assets of Cenatek, Inc.
"I am very pleased that we have successfully completed this
transaction," said Jason Caulkins, CEO of Cenatek. "Dataram is
providing significant resources to build upon the Cenatek product line, roadmap
and IP portfolio."
"This acquisition signifies the beginning of a series of focused
efforts to move Dataram into new, growing markets that align well with Dataram's
existing products and customer base," said John Freeman, President and CEO
of Dataram. "We are moving very quickly to license, acquire and develop
these new products, including software, into our customer-focused product
lineup."
Caulkins has joined Dataram to lead the company's return to solid
state storage, an area they pioneered
32 years ago.
"I am looking forward to contributing to the continued growth and success
of Dataram," Caulkins added. "I would also like to thank Cenatek's
investors and employees for their hard work and commitment to success."
...Dataram profile,
...Cenatek profile,
RAM based SSDs
Editor's
comments:- this is a very significant milestone for the
SSD market because it shows
the strategic value that memory makers place on SSDs.
In the past
companies like Intel have
resold 3rd party SSD cards, STEC
divested itself of its vanilla memory business and
Samsung would like to
own and control MLC patents now in the hands of
SanDisk.
Look
at it from the viewpoint of a memory maker.
Future server systems
will have orders of magnitude more memory in the attached SSDs than installed
as main RAM memory. Who
owns the brand of the SSD boxes will mean a dramatic difference to attainable
revenue. Being locked out of the SSD box - will mean that a memory maker can
only access smaller markets - or supply other SSD oems at commodity proces.
I expect to report many more such
acquisitions during
the next few years.
...Later:- when discussing this story my
wife said this is an example of a marketing
concept called "forward
integration."
New Article - FC SAN SSDs
Editor:- September 13, 2008 -
Storagesearch.com today published a new article and directory on the
subject of - "Fibre-Channel SSDs."
"I've tracked
the SAN storage market
since the first commercially launched products in
1994" said editor
Zsolt Kerekes. "As the number of market-active
SSD oems listed on
Storagesearch approaches 90
companies I thought I should make it easier for readers to disentagle the info
related to this important market segment - which was getting lost in tables
deep in our SSD
Buyers Guide. The new SAN SSD page lists all current vendors and also
explains how this market fits into a historic context." ...read the article
Are RAM SSDs Threatened by Enterprise flash SSDs?
Editor:- August 26,
2008 - in a new update to the discussion article - RAM SSDs versus Flash SSDs -
which is Best? - Jim Handy, founder of Objective Analysis
shares his thoughts about this subject.
Comparing the application
roles for the 2 main SSD technologies in a way that elegantly avoids heaps of
IOPS data Jim Handy says - "If a flash SSD can be likened to using
dynamite, then a DRAM SSD can be compared to a nuclear bomb." ...read the article |
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Founded in 1973,
DSI is the premier
supplier of solid state disk solutions
to the financial services
industry. | |
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Squeak!
- the Fastest Solid State Disks
Speed isn't everything, and
it comes at a price. |
But if you do
need the speediest SSD
then wading through the web sites of over 90 current
SSD oems to find a suitable
candidate slows you down.
And the SSD search problem will get even
worse. |
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I predict
there will be over 100 SSD oems in 2008.
I've done the research for
you to save you time. And this page is updated daily from
storage news and direct
inputs from oems. ...read
the article, | |
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