Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/03/wd_consumer_ssd/
WD shipping consumer SSDs
Looking for silicon edge
Posted in Hardware, 3rd March 2010 13:02 GMT
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Western Digital has started shipping consumer-focused solid-state drives (SSDs).
The SiliconEdge Blue [1] family is a range of 2.5-inch form factor SSDs storing up to 256GB of data, and having a 3Gbit/s SATA interface. The read speed is up to 250MB/sec and the write speed up to 170MB/sec. WD says the products have "maximum tolerance for drops, shock and vibration along with silent and low-power operation."
The operational lifespan is said to be unlimited for reads and 42.1GB/day for writes with the 256GB version, 21GB/day for the 128GB model, and 10.5GB/day for the 64GB product.
These are multi-level cell (MLC) SSDs - we don't know the number of bits yet, but it's probably either two or three - with wear-levelling algorithms, error correction control, and support for TRIM and Native Command Queuing (NCQ).
WD says they're designed for use both by OEMs, who may use them for "write-intensive, 24/7 ... applications", and consumers, such as technology enthusiasts, gamers and road warriors, looking more for read-intensive application use.
It seems clear that these new SSDs are developments of WD's existing SiliconDrive III [2] product range which are sold into the communications, industrial, embedded computing, data centre, aerospace, military and OEM medical markets. Here we have a definite range expansion into the consumer market.
The obvious competing products seem to be the Intel X25-M SSDs, as well as products from Seagate, Micron, OCZ, Vertex, and others. Intel's X25-M is a similar 2.5-inch, 3Gbit/s SATA, MLC product (2 bits per cell) with either 80 or 160GB capacities. It is built on a 34nm process that is transitioning to a 25nm one, meaning Intel could increase capacity inside the same form factor. Apparently Intel also has 3-bit MLC technology using the 34nm process, so it has a couple of options [3] for increasing X25-M capacity if it wishes.
Seagate's enterprise-oriented Pulsar SSDs [4] are 2.5-inch form factor, 3Gbit/s SATA products built with single level cell (SLC) technology and available at 50, 100 and 200GB capacity points. They come with a 5-year warranty and can be assumed to be faster than the MLC SiliconEdge Blue products.
Micron's RealSSD C300 [5] has a faster 6Gbit/s interface and blistering speed; reads being up to 355MB/sec and writes as fast as 215MB/sec. The net of this is that Intel's X25-M will be the main competition, together with OCZ and other suppliers' consumer products.
WD's SiliconEdge Blue SSDs have manufacturer's suggested retail pricing (MSRP) of $279 for a 64GB model, $529 for a 128GB version and $999 for the 256GB product. All three models have a 3-year limited warranty. ®