I am so relieved finally to be able to talk about my experience using USB 3.0 on a Mac. It's a wonderful, seamless experience that is so well-integrated you might not notice it except for the performance. At over 200 MB/s, though, it blows FireWire out of the water and is even faster than nearly any device you're likely to throw at it. CalDigit USB 3.0 PCI Express Card … [Read more...] about USB 3.0 For Mac Is Here!
PCI Express
The Four Horsemen of Storage System Performance: I/O As a Chain of Bottlenecks
Why do some data storage solutions perform better than others? What tradeoffs are made for economy and how do they affect the system as a whole? These questions can be puzzling, but there are core truths that are difficult to avoid. Mechanical disk drives can only move a certain amount of data. RAM caching can improve performance, but only until it runs out. I/O channels can be … [Read more...] about The Four Horsemen of Storage System Performance: I/O As a Chain of Bottlenecks
Apple’s Unconventional New MacBook Air SSD
Apple updated the ultra-slim don't-call-it-a-netbook MacBook Air this week. Along with a wimpy out-of-date CPU, the new Air features all-SSD storage of an entirely new and apparently proprietary type. Let's take a look and see what we can see. Just The Facts You might want to read my piece about Unconventional SSDs: PCI Express Mini Card (Mini PCI-E) or the updated … [Read more...] about Apple’s Unconventional New MacBook Air SSD
Unconventional SSDs: PCI Express Mini Card (Mini PCI-E)
With Apple almost certain to introduce a new MacBook Air, questions have turned to the specifics of the hardware to be used. A leaked pre-production photo features an odd memory configuration (not to mention four batteries), a device I immediately recognized as an SSD-on-a-stick. With this high-profile introduction of a new SSD stick form, I thought it was time to cover these … [Read more...] about Unconventional SSDs: PCI Express Mini Card (Mini PCI-E)
ExpressCard: A Sure Thing That Failed
PCMCIA and CardBus slots were universal and popular a decade ago, but the advent of PCI Express meant reengineering the old standby. The result was ExpressCard, a never-popular compromise that mixes PCI Express and USB into a confusing and little-used mashup. With few modern laptops including an ExpressCard slot and fewer users, a fair question to ask is "where did it all go … [Read more...] about ExpressCard: A Sure Thing That Failed