Q: What makes SanDisk SSD G3 unique?
A: The following are the main characteristics that
enable SanDisk SSD G3 to shine in the crowded SSD market:
- People: Over 20 years of experience in
developing managed NAND products - the best engineers in the
world
- SSD Experience: Over 15 years as leader in
providing SSDs to answer the harsh requirements of the military and
aerospace
- Algorithms & IP: Holder of a wide
assortment of patents and IP, most recently ExtremeFFS; the new
flash management tailored specifically to maximize performance in
Computing applications, enabling as much as 100x improvement in
random write speed
- ABL NAND: Inventor of a new type of MLC NAND
flash called All Bit Line (ABL) that is twice as fast and lower
power than traditional MLC NAND. The G3 uses 43nm ABL MLC NAND
components.
- SanDisk Controller: In-house development of
brand new controller - 9 cores, 64MB of DRAM and a 128 bit bus
to the NAND
Q: What is the ExtremeFFS flash management
system?
A: ExtremeFFS was developed by SanDisk to maximize
random write performance. The algorithm operation is page-based,
which means there is no fixed coupling between physical and logical
location. When a sector of data is written, the SSD puts it where
it is most convenient and efficient. ExtremeFFS incorporates a
fully non-blocking architecture in which all of the NAND channels
can behave independently, with some reading while others are
writing and garbage collecting. Another key element of ExtremeFFS
is usage-based content localization, which allows the advanced
flash management system to "learn" user patterns and over time
localize data to maximize the product's performance and endurance.
The result is an improvement in random write performance - by up to
100 times - as well as in overall endurance.
Q: Can I trust my data to SanDisk G3?
A: SanDisk G3 SSD is significantly more reliable
than a hard disk drive. It is 5 times more rugged, withstanding
shock and vibrations, and its MTTF(1) (mean time to
failure) is 6 times better than HDDs. The G3 SSDs provide a
Longterm Data Endurance (LDE) of 160 terabytes written (TBW) for
the 256GB version, sufficient for over 100 years of typical user
usage.
(1) MTTF - Mean time to failure based on ongoing SanDisk
reliability tests.
Q: What is Longterm Data Endurance (LDE)?
A: LDE is the first industry metric that expresses
how much data can be written to an SSD in its lifespan in a simple,
accurate and relevant number. The LDE specification was developed
by SanDisk and submitted to JEDEC as a benchmark to enable users to
compare the data endurance of SSDs from various manufacturers.
Based on typical end-user activity, LDE provides the total number
of data writes, expressed in terabytes written (TBW), that can be
performed over the SSD lifespan. Data is written using typical PC
transfer size distribution of writes, written at a constant rate
over the life of the SSD and data is retained for at least 1 year
upon LDE exhaustion. A typical client PC user writes 4GB/day, based
on SanDisk internal measurements.
Q: What is virtual Revolutions Per Minute
(vRPM)?
A: vRPM is a new metric introduced by SanDisk to
enable users to compare SSD performance in client PCs with the HDD
and with other SSDs. The beauty of vRPM is its simplicity. SanDisk
chose to use RPM since it is a language that users understand, a
defacto standard in the hard disk drive (HDD) world. However, since
the SSD has no revolving parts, which cause the HDD to incur
latency penalties, SanDisk modified RPM to vRPM. vRPM essentially
answers the question: "How fast would you have to spin a virtual
HDD to achieve the level of performance seen by an SSD in a client
PC?" SanDisk's new vRPM metric results indicate that SSDs are
faster than HDDs when performing random read and write operations.
vRPM = 50 / ((0.5 / 4kB random read IOPS) + 0.5 / 4kB random write
IOPS))
Q: I heard that SSD G3 can extend the life of old
laptops, how is this so?
A: As IT budgets are being cut during this
economic downturn, SanDisk is offering a way to postpone notebook
replacement and the associated costs. In addition to the SATA
versions, the SSD G3 will be available with a 2.5" PATA
configuration to easily replace hard disks in 2006/7 laptops. The
SSD G3 will dramatically improve the performance of these laptops,
so much so that if you take a 2-3 year old computer that would
normally be ready for retirement, and replace the tired HDD with an
SSD you end up with a system that in many respects is faster than a
new notebook.
Q: Which markets are appropriate for
SSDs?
A: The markets first to adopt SSDs are those who
can most enjoy the benefits of SSDs over HDDs. The solid state
advantage of ruggedness, reliability, performance and power
consumption is most evidenced in mobile computing applications.
- The business laptop market in particular, is a prime target for
SSD adoption. The SSD price point has come down so that the
advantage to this market outweighs the cost premium over the HDD
for a growing number of business users. The case is even stronger
for SSDs in corporations, when the TCO (total cost of ownership) is
taken into account, clearly justifying the investment.
- The newly emerged Netbook market, also known as the low cost PC
market, has a great fit for adopting SSD modules already today.
This market is enjoying the benefits of flash already now since the
cost of SSDs for this market is below the floor price of hard disk
drives.
Q: As the demand for higher capacities keeps growing and
the $/GB of the HDD remains better, how do you expect SSD to
succeed?
A: The issue is not the cost per GB, but the cost
per device. How much is a particular user willing to pay for a
storage device to get a particular job done? We have learned from
corporate CIOs that they are willing to pay a 10-20% premium for a
laptop with an SSD. Not all users are storage hungry. Corporate
users such as road warriors, for instance need capacity in the
range of 64GB to 128GB to get their work done, and then are much
more concerned with productivity and user experience. Flash
addresses these concerns directly by offering durability, high
performance and power efficiency. As the cost reduction trend of
SSDs continues, SSDs will continue to be available at higher
capacities to a growing population. The question is no longer if
SSDs will be adopted in Computing applications, but how quickly
such adoption will take place in the various sub-segments.
Q: SSDs today are being offered with MLC NAND vs. SLC
(binary) NAND flash. Doesn't this compromise SSD endurance and
performance?
A: Although SLC (binary) flash has advantages in
the area of endurance and performance, SanDisk has proven
technology to provide more than sufficient endurance for typical
computing usage scenarios, and performance significantly faster
then hard disk drives. It is important to note that not all MLC
flash is equal. SanDisk filed the first MLC patent in 1992 and has
already released 6 generations of MLC in partnership with Toshiba.
In the past SanDisk has driven new product categories to
proliferate faster with MLC flash providing overall system cost
reduction. SanDisk is strongly positioned to do the same with SSDs
for the Computing market.
Q: Why would anyone spend more money on a laptop with a
solid state drive than one with a hard disk drive?
A: The benefits of flash - durability, high
performance, and power efficiency - are worth their cost to mobile
PC users who put a price tag on productivity, data accessibility
and their personal user experience. They can't afford to lose their
data or compromise their productivity when their hard drive
crashes. Their laptop's speed is critical to them. Their time is
literally worth money. As the price of flash continues to decline,
its benefits will attract a wider audience of users.
Q: When do you expect the mainstream consumer market to
endorse SSDs and how big will this market be?
A: Analysts predict that by 2013 the cost of a
unit of storage will be attractive enough to interest the mass
market and will be adopted instead of HDDs in 20% to 30% of client
computers. By then we believe that market education of flash
benefits will have penetrated from the early adopters to the
mainstream.
Q: Will SSDs completely replace hard disks the way flash
products replaced 35mm film and floppy disks? Or will SSDs and HDDs
live side-by-side?
A: Today, we see SSDs living side by side with
hard drives. Hard drives are not going to disappear anytime soon,
though SSD technology has the potential to encroach on certain
traditional hard drive territories at a growing rate. This is
particularly true in the Computing market where flash benefits over
hard disk drives are particularly relevant.