comment below...
Ian Collins wrote:
Richard Elling wrote:
Buried in the announcements last week from Sun is the Sun Flash Module.
http://www.sun.com/storage/flash/module.jsp
I wanted to bring this up on this forum because it represents an
interesting
way to add SSD technology to a system design. The new Sun Blade X6275
has slots for these SSDs and I expect to see future designs follow suit.
Brief specifications:
SO-DIMM form factor (very small)
64 MByte DRAM buffers
24 GBytes available space
Enterprise class
SATA interface
I think this development is significant for several reasons.
1. It represents the beginning of the end for 5.25", 3.5", 2.5", and
1.8"
disk form factors.
2. You can now build an SSD disk array into a wide variety of form
factors
which would be impossible to do with spinning media.
3. The (common) requirement for mirrored boot disks should prove
obsolete.
4. Will be a natural fit for ZFS, particularly for ZFS root systems.
5. Not likely to be hot-pluggable, but do we really care?
Thoughts?
It would be really interesting if there was an accompanying
motherboard (or [23].5'' case) with SATA power and data connectors.
As it stands, there isn't a convenient way for Joe public (ie. me) to
easily evaluate one.
It does represent the next big thin in storage, but it risks
languishing in a corner unless actively promoted in an easy to use
form. Or until a company with more aggressive marketing picks up the
idea and grabs the market.
The SSD is not a Sun design, so you don't have to worry about it
being a "Sun special." Several SSD vendors are already in this space
and the barrier to entry is low. What is new is that a major computer
vendor is adopting it.
A similar device is available from InnoDisk, which uses the standard
SATA/SAS connector, but you can see that it is not as mechanically
simple as an SO-DIMM.
http://www.innodisk.com/production.jsp?flashid=85
The first large market opportunity is high-density servers,
which can replace slow CF or big 2.5" disks very economically.
I think the laptop market is also a potential target, at least for a
higher density (MLC) design.
-- richard
_______________________________________________
zfs-discuss mailing list
zfs-discuss@opensolaris.org
http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
