Upcoming Data Storage Device: Solid-state Drive (SSD)
A solid-state drive is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store persistent data. Unlike flash-based memory cards, an SSD emulates a hard disk drive, thus easily replacing it in most applications. There are two kinds of SSDs: flash-memory based ones and SRAM or DRAM based ones (often called RAM-drives). The RAM-drives data persistence can only be guaranteed thanks to a battery, but for a limited time.
It’s called solid-state drive because it uses semiconductor devices, and it doesn’t have any moving parts, unlike hard disk drives which consist of a motor, rotating platters with magnetic surfaces, and mobile read/write heads.
- left: hard disk drive. center & right: solid-state drive from above & under -
Comparison with hard disk drives:
+ Faster start-up (no mechanical delays);
+ Fast random access for reading (no read/write heads to move);
+ Low read/write latency times;
+ No noise (no mechanical movements), except for some high-capacity models which have cooling fans;
+ High mechanical reliability (no moving parts);
+ File fragmentation has almost no impact on performance, since the seek time is almost constant and is not dependent on the physical location of the data;
+ For low capacity SSDs, lower power consumption and heat production;
+ For low capacity SSDs, lower height and size.
- Price (as of mid-2008, around USD 3.50 per GB for flash memory, and around USD 0.40 per GB for mechanical drives);
- Capacity (currently far lower than that of usual hard drives, but predicted to swiftly increase, with experimental SSDs of up to 1 TB);
- High vulnerability to certain effects, such as abrupt power loss, magnetic fields, electric/static charges…..
- Limited write cycles (but the problem is improved all the time. Today’s SSDs can last up to 20 years with average usage). SSDs based on DRAM do not suffer from this problem;
- Slower write speeds (except for SSDs based on DRAM);
- Lower storage density (but is expected to rapidly increase in the near future);
- Higher power consumption (SSDs also take more power per GB).
The advantages of SSDs are interesting for mobile computing and are becoming increasingly popular in markets such as notebook PCs, Ultra-Mobile PCs, and electronics sectors. The capacity currently varies from 12GB to 256 GB. Decreasing prices in raw flash material costs, and in the mean time increasing capacities make SSDs tend to be the next hard disk drive generation.
More information on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive
Matrox M-series graphic cards go 4-up natively
Matrox just announced er, last week, its new M-Series of graphics cards powered by the industry’s first QuadHead GPU. All the PCIe X16 cards offer 512MB of graphics memory and support up to 4x widescreen monitors (DVI or analog) simultaneously as one large desktop or as independent resolutions. The cards……
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Transcend touts fastest SDHC card
Samsung promises 8GB MMCplus card
Branded MMCplus, the cards build on Samsung's existing MMCplus range, which currently runs at up to 1GB. The company said will also ship faster versions under the Mach MMCplus label. The fast cards have a read-speed to 40MBps and a write-speed of 25MBps, Samsung claimed. The cards are based on the MMC System Specification version 4.1, which can support speeds of up to 52MBps, according to the Multimedia Card Association. Samsung said it will offer two Mach cards: a 1GB part and a 2GB part. ®
[source:'The Register']
xD-Picture Card
Card specifications
xD cards are used in Olympus, and Fujifilm digital cameras and Olympus digital voice recorders; Fujifilm also made an MP3 player that used the cards.[1] As of 2006 xD cards are available in these capacities: 16 MB, 32 MB, 64 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1 GB, and 2 GB. An xD card is 20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm and weighs 2.8 grams.
Type M and Type H cards
The original XD cards were available in 16 MB—512 MB capacities. The Type M card, released in February 2005 [2], uses Multi Level Cell (MLC) architecture to achieve a theoretical storage capacity of up to 8 GB. As of August 2006, Type M cards are available in sizes from 256 MB to 2 GB. However, the Type M suffers slower read-write speeds than the original cards. The Type H card, first released in November 2005 [3], offers higher data rates than Type M cards (theoretically as much as 3 times faster).[4] As of 2006, Type H cards are only available in 256MB, 512 MB and 1 GB capacities. Olympus xD cards, include special “picture effects”, although most of these are only available in use with Olympus digital cameras. Due to changes in the cards' storage architecture, newer Type M and H cards may suffer compatibility issues with some older cameras (especially video recording). Compatibility lists are available for Olympus (PDF format) and Fujifilm. The newer cards are also incompatible with some card readers.
[source:'wikipedia']
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MultiMediaCard Association
The MMCA oversees standardization activities for removable storage media, including MMCplus™, MMCmobile™ and MMCmicro™ Cards; SecureMMC; ATA on MMC; Multiple Interface Cards; and MMC I/O.
MMCplus™, MMCmobile™ and MMCmicro™ Cards, built to the latest MMC standards v4.2, offer wider bandwidths and the highest data transfer rates among memory cards available in the market today.
Founded in 1998, the MMCA provides a global forum for memory card and semiconductor component suppliers, software vendors and manufacturers of mobile electronic devices who jointly endorse and promote the worldwide adoption of MultiMediaCards and the MMC standards.
MMCA Principles:
- The organization is dedicated to open industry standards
- These standards are established consensually, with the equal participation of MMCA members
- Product interoperability and compliance are integral to the specifications and standards.
[source:'mmca.org']
MultimediaCard
Typically, an MMC card is used as storage media for a portable device, in a form that can easily be removed for access by a PC. For example, a digital camera would use an MMC card for storing image files. With an MMC reader (typically a small box that connects via USB or some other serial connection, although some can be found integrated into the computer itself), a user could copy the pictures taken with the digital camera off to his or her computer. Modern computers, both laptops and desktops, often have SD slots, which can read MMC cards.
MMC cards are currently available in sizes up to and including 8 GB, and are used in almost every context in which memory cards are used, like cellular phones, digital audio players, digital cameras and PDAs. Since the introduction of Secure Digital card few companies build MMC slots into their devices, but the slightly thinner, pin-compatible MMC cards can be used in almost any device that supports SD cards. An exception is some mobile devices like the Nokia 9300 communicator, where the smaller size of the MMC card is a benefit.
[source:'wikipedia']
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