January 30, 2012

Micron Builds a Ford Taurus: The P400e SSD Hands-On Review

The Micron P400e is a mainstream SSD for enterprise server use

The time has come for an affordable enterprise grade SSD, and Micron has delivered this with the P400e. Although OEM only, this excellent SSD should find its way into end-user hands as server vendors decide to switch their mainstream offerings from spinning hard disk drives to SSD’s.

My Incomplete, Subjective List of Enterprise SSD Companies

Jean-Jacques Maleval posted a “complete list of 85 SSD manufacturers in the world” over at StorageNewsletter, and I was surprised to see so many unfamiliar names in the list. So here’s my own rundown of the enterprise SSD makers to keep an eye on in the coming year!

Micron Bursts Into the PCIe SSD Market

The Micron RealSSD P320h is more than a new form-factor for the company; it also introduces their RAIN technology

PCIe SSDs like Micron’s new P320h offer mindbending performance and enterprise class reliability. Although expensive, these devices are in an entirely different league from any other storage option. Micron promises to bring the PCIe P320h to market at nearly $15 per gigabyte, a substantial discount over other PCIe SSD competitors.

Iomega StorCenter PX Series Preview

The Iomega StorCenter PX4 is both an evolution of the IX4 and the start of a new line

The StorCenter PX line is a major step forward for Iomega. The BYOD option is welcome, as is SSD performance and improved specs. With official Citrix XenServer, Microsoft Windows Server, and VMware ESX support, the PX is finally up to the task of business computing. We look forward to putting these new devices through their paces in the future!

Seagate Versus Western Digital: The Hard Disk Drive Battle Lines Are Drawn

"So it is down to you, and it is down to me."

Both Seagate and Western Digital have much to gain from these transactions. Western Digital becomes a full line giant of the industry, a credible competitor, and a successful supplier to OEMs. Seagate also retains its credibility in the market, but also gains access to Samsung, one of the strongest electronics companies in the world. Time will tell which of these companies got the better deal.

Seagate Going to China?

Note: This didn’t happen. It was merely a rumor. The stock market was alive with rumors that Seagate might be bought by an unnamed Chinese company, as reported in the New York Times, among others. This comes after a week of insider whispers about a possible tieup between Seagate and memory-makers, Micron or SanDisk, itself [...]

Commercial SSDs Are Here?

Anyone paying attention knows I’m not particular sanguine about the near-term prospects for solid-state disks (SSDs) and hybrid hard disk drives (H-HDDs) in the enterprise storage space, but I’m not foolish enough to discount them entirely. With that in mind, it’s worthwhile noting the debut of the first commercially-available retail(ish) SATA SSD from SanDisk. Read [...]