Intel Solid-State Drive 910 Series Review

Intel has officially entered the Enterprise PCIe SSD market with the release of their 910 Series SSD, available in 400 and 800GB capacities, this half-height PCIe 2.0 8x card boasts over 180,000 4k IOPS and 2GB/sec sequential on reads. Writes are roughly half of that - limited by the 25W PCIe spec power available to the card, but since many server motherboards have no issue providing a bit more power (28W), those numbers can be boosted to ~120,000 4k IOPS and 1.5GB/sec via end-user reconfiguration possible through the Intel management software and the 910 is not all-Intel in its construction. Intel SSD 910 is based on 25nm MLC NAND Flash, which is a triple-layer stack of NAND chips that fits into a single PCI-Express slot and communication between the four controllers is handled by the PCI-to-SAS (Serial Attached SATA) bridge chip hiding underneath a heatsink. It offer sequential performance of 2,000MB/s read and 1,000MB/s write and bnoth the 400GB ($1,929) and 800GB ($3,859) models will be available mid-year.



News Highlights:

• PCIe-based 400GB and 800GB Intel SSD 910 Series provides extreme performance, endurance and reliability for rigorous data center demands.
• Intel SSD 910 Series offers easy-to-install, seamless post-deployment server storage upgrade with no changes to existing server design.
• Intel High Endurance Technology, Intel SSD 910 offers 10 full drive writes a day for 5 years for 30x endurance.

Intel Corporation introduced the Intel Solid-State Drive 910 Series (Intel SSD 910 Series), a super high-performing SSD to address rigorous data center storage demands driven by cloud computing, virtualization and online transactions. The Intel SSD 910 Series delivers accelerated storage performance, endurance and reliability critical to today’s data center performance applications. It includes Intel High Endurance Technology and optimized multi-level cell (MLC) 25-nanometer NAND flash memory, that allows up to 10 full drive writes a day for 5 years, or a 30x endurance improvement over its standard MLC-based flash products, for a cost-effective storage solution. The Intel SSD 910 is PCIe-based and offers an easy-to-install, seamless post-deployment server storage upgrade that requires no changes to existing server design. It can be used in storage tiering and caching of hot files for high-performance processing and access to mission-critical data. One Intel 910 SSD can replace multiple 15K rpm hard disk drives (HDDs) to not only save on space and power consumption, but also improve sequential performance and storage scalability and reduce latencies. It is built using an Intel controller and Intel SSD management firmware. The firmware is optimized for less wear and includes NAND error reduction and system error management.

“The Intel SSD 910 Series is a complete solution that delivers on all fronts: high performance, endurance and reliability, making it ideal for replacing I/O-intensive HDDs,” said Roger Peene, director of data center SSD marketing for the Intel Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. “As a leader in SSD technology, data center IT professionals can have confidence in a tier-one, easy-to-install SSD solution backed by Intel quality, reliability and technical support.” “Supermicro works closely with leading technology companies so we can offer our customers Data Center Optimized (DCO) server solutions with the highest performance and highest efficiency,” said Tau Leng, general manager of High Performance Computing at Super Micro Computer Inc. “With the Intel SSD 910, server systems can achieve higher levels of CPU utilization to take advantage of increased processing power from advanced products like the Intel Xeon Processor E5-2600 Series. This is yet another example of working with Intel to test and qualify products, so we can lower our customers’ total cost of ownership and reduce their time-to-market.” The Intel SSD 910 Series expands Intel’s offerings for data center applications with its first entry in the 900 family of its highest-performing, PCIe-based SSDs. The Intel SSD 900 Family joins Intel’s other high-volume SSD solutions for the data center including the Intel 700 SSD Family of SATA-based SSDs with High Endurance Technology and the Intel SSD 300 Family of SATA SSDs for a broad range of server and storage applications. Performance measures of the Intel SSD 910 Series 800GB drive include 2 gigabytes-per-second (GB/s) sustained sequential reads and 1GB/s sequential writes; up to up to 180,000 4K random read Input-Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and 75,000 4K random write IOPS. It comes in 400GB and 800GB capacities. Samples are now available for data center customers to begin quality and validation cycles. General production availability is scheduled for mid-2012. Pricing for the Intel SSD 910 Series is $1,929 for the 400GB capacity and $3,859 for 800GB. It comes with a 5-year limited warranty.

OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G 480GB SATA 3.0 SSD For MacBook Air Review

Apple's been cramming SSDs into MacBook Air machines for some time now, but Other World Computing believes in pushing the envelope and Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G 480GB SSD offers up to 3x faster performance and 8x more storage capacity for the MacBook Air, and for those who are already running low on local storage, this is a huge boon. Apple’s stock SSDs in current-generation Airs usually stop at around half the maximum speed and OWC gets to the faster speed by using a modern SandForce memory controller, although it doesn’t officially support the TRIM command to optimize the drive, it’s touted as having its own data block management techniques to keep the SSD fast throughout its lifespan. Compatible with current 11.1" and 13.3" MacBook Air models, the Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G 480GB model has a MSRP of $1,149.00 and is available from OWC and all Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G models include 7 percent over provisioning, Toggle Synchronous NAND, and a three-year warranty.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company confirmed at Macworld its OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD is now available in a 480GB model size for the latest Apple MacBook Air 11.1-inch and 13.3-inch models which incorporate 6G (6Gb/s) data rate capabilities. The new Mercury Aura Pro Express 480GB model combines award-winning SandForce technologies and Tier 1/Grade A Toggle Synchronous NAND to deliver data rates up to 3x faster than factory 3G (3Gb/s) options and up to 8x the storage capacity of the factory's base 64GB SSD model. Joining two previously released Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G capacity models-120GB and 240GB-the new 6Gb/s SATA Revision 3.0 480GB model continues OWC's position as the only alternative to factory SSD options for the MacBook Air models. 3G speed Mercury SSDs from OWC are also available in capacities up to 480GB. OWC offers an easy online guide to assist consumers in selecting the correct Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD for any of Apple's MacBook Air models from 2008 to current. The Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G offers the latest MacBook Air owners a cost-effective SSD upgrade path that delivers higher performance, functionality, and reliability over the factory installed SSD. Because the Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD is SATA Revision 3.0 (6Gb/s) compatible, it can take advantage of the MacBook Air's faster processors and built-in 6Gb/s SATA data bus to deliver peak, sustained data rates over 500MB/s, versus the factory installed SSDs, which are limited by SATA Revision 2.0 (3Gb/s) capability.


While ordinary SSDs initially offer fast read/write performance; they experience significant write speed degradation over repeated usage. Independent simulation tests conducted by leading drive performance experts like MacPerformanceGuide confirm OWC Mercury SSD's ultra-efficient Block Management & Wear Leveling technologies are able to eliminate virtually any reduction in data transfer speeds over heavy, long-term usage without dependency on less-than-effective OS TRIM management. "Our initial 120GB and 240GB 6G models were wildly successful as they enabled current model MacBook Air owners to experience the true capabilities of their machine," said Larry O'Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. "However, we continually received requests to duplicate the 480GB capacity offered in our 3G SSD line for the MacBook Air. Our new 6G 480GB model truly enables owners of 6G capable MacBook Air machines to have the best of both worlds: highest capacity and highest performance versus factory options." Compatible with current 11.1-inch and 13.3-inch MacBook Air models, the Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G 480GB model has a MSRP of $1,149.00 and is available from OWC. All Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G models include 7 percent over provisioning, Toggle Synchronous NAND, and a three-year warranty. For more information on the OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD for the MacBook Air line, including reseller inquires, visit: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Aura_Pro_Express