Do you have a spare $1499?

Samsung has just launched an EVO 850 4 TB drive SSD which has just become the largest consumer grade SSD on the market.

Built with Samsung's renowned V-NAND technology, the 4TB 850 EVO SSD melds the reliability and endurance of the 850 EVO series with high-end performance. Set in a slim and compact 2.5-inch form factor, the Samsung 850 EVO 4TB model sports all the trimmings and optimizations of the 850 EVO line with blistering-fast 540 MB/s read and 520 MB/s write speeds with TurboWrite.

Four terabytes is quite a staggering amount of data, especially for an SSD; for reference the 4TB 850 EVO can hold up to 1,000 two-hour 1080p movies with compression--that's more than two or three movie libraries on a single 2-inch SSD. The colossal SSD also features a 1.5 million hour MTBF rate, and uses the SATA 6Gb/s interface for speedy transfers.

Samsung's 4TB 850 EVO SSD retails for a staggering $1,499 and comes with a five-year limited warranty, with availability across over 50 regions like the United States, Korea, China and Europe. Drop by the product page for more information.

Intel's SSD Drive Pricing bringing them into the mainstream

We have noticed great pricing on Intel's SSD hard drives making them a great alternative over the older spinning plate designs of the past years. Why do you want to jump to this technology? Speed! Once you have jumped to SSD technology you will never go back. I currently boot into my systems in less than 30 seconds and that includes my login. If you don’t need extra storage than you will probably be able to get by with a 250GB drive. This is a great size for office workers that are attached to network servers that are storing all their information up to the server and have no need for great amounts of local storage.

If you need more, than go with either a 500GB or 1TB. They too are very reasonable but are more of a premium than their spinning platter counterparts. Be sure when you are getting a quote for your new workstation that you ask for a comparable price for a SSD upgrade on your new system. Believe me when I say that it will bring a big smile to your face.

Intel SSD 730 Series Drives

Intel offers its new SSD 730 series, which provides a combination of enthusiast-grade speed and data center endurance.

New SSD 730 series testing specs show the following key features:

• Designed for content creators and gamers, the SSDs are rated for 70 GB writes per day, compared to the industry-standard 20 GB.
• Users can get up to 1,000 MB/s sequential read speeds by combining two 730 series drives in RAID 0,2, which is nearly double the sequential read speed compared to just one 730 series drive on its own. That means customers can get two 240-GB SSDs and twice the read speed for about the same price as a single 480-GB drive and half the speed. 

Intel SSD 730 Spec Sheet

Intel Releases SSD Toolbox 3.0 Software

The Intel SSD Toolbox does not support firmware updates on the following Intel SSDs. To update the firmware on these SSDs, use the Intel® SATA Solid-State Drive Firmware Update Tool.The Intel® Solid-State Drive Toolbox (Intel® SSD Toolbox) is drive management software that allows you to:
  * View current drive information for Intel® Solid-State Drives (Intel® SSDs), including:
       - Model number, capacity, and firmware version
       - Drive health
       - Estimated drive life remaining
       - SMART attributes (also available for hard disk drives and non-Intel SSDs)
       - IDENTIFY DEVICE information (also available for hard disk drives and non-Intel SSDs)
  * Optimize the performance of an Intel SSD using Trim functionality
  * Update the firmware on a supported Intel SSD
  * Run quick and full diagnostic scans to test the read and write functionality of an Intel SSD
  * Check and tune your system settings for optimal Intel SSD performance, power efficiency, and endurance
  * View your system information and hardware configuration, such as central processing unit (CPU),
     chipset, controller name, and driver versions
  * Run Secure Erase on a secondary Intel SSD

Before beginning the Intel SSD Toolbox installation, review the Release Notes and follow the instructions in the

Installation Guide. A Frequently Asked Questions document is also available for your reference.

If you need assistance with the installation or experience issues, contact Intel Customer Support.

NOTE:  Installing this version of the Intel SSD Toolbox overwrites any previous version of Intel SSD Toolbox installed in your system.

The Intel SSD Toolbox supports firmware updates on the following Intel SSDs:

Intel® Solid-State Drive Latest Firmware Version
Intel® Solid-State Drive 710 Series	6PB10362
Intel® Solid-State Drive 710 Series	6PB10362
Intel® Solid-State Drive 320 Series	4PC10362
Intel® Solid-State Drive 311 Series	2CV102M5
Intel® Solid-State Drive 310 Series	2CV102M3
Intel® X18-M / X25-M SATA SSDs (34nm)	2CV102M3
Intel® X25-V SATA SSD	2CV102M3

The Intel SSD Toolbox does not support firmware updates on the following Intel SSDs. To update the firmware on these SSDs, use the Intel® SATA Solid-State Drive Firmware Update Tool.

Intel® Solid-State Drive	Latest Firmware Version
Intel® Solid-State Drive 510 Series	PPG2 or PPG4  (120GB SSD) PWG2 or PWG4 (250GB SSD)
Intel® X18-M/X25-M SATA SSDs (50nm)	045C8820
Intel® X25-E SATA SSD (50nm)	045C8850

Intel SSD 320: Taking Reliability To The Next Level

Interesting post about Intel’s SSD technology…

Intel SSD 320 drives include redundant flash memory. Should any of the drive's blocks go bad, they can be remapped to the surplus storage transparently. The new SSDs also include an array of capacitors able to keep the controller running during a power loss. Cached information is quickly written to non-volatile flash to maintain data integrity.

We all know SSDs are fast. They're so fast, in fact, that many enterprises dependent on high-performance storage have replaced cabinets full of mechanical disks with just a handful of solid-state drives to achieve similar I/O throughput. But, in a business environment, uptime is often even more important than speed.

Intel already has a fantastic reputation for delivering reliable SSDs. Its drives are increasingly being used in mission critical environments specifically because they're proving to be so dependable. Real-world data from the company's reseller partners help quantify those claims—Intel's second-generation mainstream X25-M came back .59% of the time, while competing SSDs demonstrated a greater than two percent return rate.

And now that we're looking at the third-gen SSD 320, Intel's reliability story gets an even more substantial emphasis. To begin, SSD 320 drives include redundant flash memory. Should any of the drive's blocks go bad, they can be remapped to the surplus storage transparently. The new SSDs also include an array of capacitors able to keep the controller running during a power loss. Cached information is quickly written to non-volatile flash to maintain data integrity.

Those improvements add up a product in which customers should put even more faith. In fact, Intel recently fortified its warranty coverage on the SSD 320, extending it from three years to five.

Intel 320 Series SSD with 25 nm NAND Flash Slated for 28 March

Intel's 320 series solid-state drives (SSDs) are on track for a March 28 launch. The silicon giant is on a bit of a spree with its SSD product launches over the past few weeks. Intel 320 series, also referred to as "Postville Refresh", succeeds the company's X25-V and X25-M series, consisting of SATA 3 Gb/s SSDs in the 2.5-inch form-factor. The drives achieve sequential read speeds of 250 MB/s, and write speeds of 170 MB/s; Up to 39,500 IOPS random 4 KB reads, and up to 23,000 IOPS random 4 KB writes.

Click to read more ...

Intel Announces Next in Solid-State Drive Line Up: Intel SSD 510 Series

I am a little late getting this on my blog but here is a press release from Intel From2 weeks ago announcing their new SSD 510 Series drives

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Samsung’s 9 Series Notebook Looks Really Interesting

PRESS RELEASE: Yes, I’m locked into the Microsoft World of PC’s so when I look at hardware I naturally am not looking into the Apple world of hardware for my mobile and desktop computing needs. Samsung has announced its Series 9 notebooks at this January’s CES show and I must say it looks really nice. It is very thin with artistic curves. This 13.3 inch notebook weighs in at just 2.89 pounds and is only .64 inches thick. It claims a 6.5 hour battery life with 4GB RAM, a 128GB SSD and a 1.5 watt subwoofer.It is also supporting USB 3.0 and has built-in WiMax 4G.

The 13.3-inch 9 Series offers mobile professionals and power users a sophisticated laptop equally suited for work and entertainment. Thanks to a stunning design, Samsung’s hallmark SuperBright Plus display and Intel performance processing power, the notebook ushers in a new era in mobile computing.

Key Specs:
• CPU: Second Generation Intel® CoreTM i5 Processor 2537M (1.40 GHz, 3MB; turbo up to 2.3 GHz)
• Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 bit) / Windows® 7 Professional (64 bit)
• Memory: 4GB DDR3
• Storage (max): 128GB Solid State Drive (SSD)
• Screen: 13.3-inch HD LED-backlit SuperBright Plus display (400 nit)
• Resolution: 1366x768
• Graphics: Intel HD GT2 Integrated Graphics
• Speakers: 3 watt (1.5W x 2) stereo speakers and 1.5 watt sub-woofer
• Battery: Lithium Polymer; up to 6.5 hours
• Wireless: 802.11b/g/n; WiMaxi
• Weight: 2.89 lbs.

These units were supposed to be available in February 2011 but I think that since they are based on the Intel’s Sandy Bridge CPU the recall of the supporting chipset by Intel may have caused a set back on the delivery schedule. We are starting to see some movement on deliveries from other manufacturers with their Sandy Bridge products so hopefully this notebook will be showing up shortly. Starting at around $1,599 you may want to put in your order soon!

PR:Intel’s 34nm NAND flash memory now featured in its Solid State Drives

High-performance storage for notebook and desktop PCs – now on 34nm NAND flash memory featuring the Intel® Solid State Drive (Intel® SSD) Toolbox

Intel® Solid State Drives (Intel® SSDs) represent a revolutionary breakthrough that delivers a giant leap in storage performance. Intel Solid State Drives are designed to satisfy the most demanding gamers, media creators, and technology enthusiasts. These new drives bring a high level of performance and reliability to notebook and desktop PC storage, at a fraction of the cost of the previous generation of Intel® SSD products.

Wait less. Do more

Why wait for a traditional hard disk drive to spin up? Unlike traditional hard disk drives, Intel SSDs have no moving parts, resulting in a quiet, cool, highly rugged storage solution that also offers faster system responsiveness. And for laptop PCs, the lower power needs of Intel SSDs translate to longer battery life and lighter notebooks. Higher performance with more durability means you can be truly mobile with confidence.

Better by design

Drawing from decades of memory engineering experience, and now on new, industry-leading compute-quality 34nm NAND flash memory manufacturing processes, Intel® Mainstream SATA Solid-State Drives are designed to deliver outstanding performance, featuring the latest-generation native SATA interface with an advanced architecture employing 10 parallel NAND flash channels equipped with multi-level cell NAND flash memory. With powerful Native Command Queuing to enable up to 32 concurrent operations, Intel Mainstream SATA SSDs deliver higher input/output per second and throughput performance than other SSDs on the market today – and drastically outperform traditional hard disk drives. These drives also feature low write amplification and a unique wear-leveling design for higher reliability, meaning Intel drives not only perform better – they last longer.

Featuring the Intel® SSD Toolbox with Intel SSD Optimizer

The Intel® SSD Toolbox with Intel® SSD Optimizer provides a set of applications to easily manage the health and optimize the performance of your Intel SSD. The Intel SSD Toolbox includes a powerful set of management, information, and diagnostic tools, and is designed to work best with 34nm Intel SSDs. The Intel SSD Optimizer utilizes the new ATA Data Set Management Command (Trim Attribute) to help maintain your SSDs performance at "fresh-out-of-the-box" levels, and is specifically designed to run with Microsoft Windows* 7. The Intel SSD Optimizer also works with Microsoft Windows Vista* and XP* operating systems as well.

Two options. No worries

Intel Mainstream SATA Solid-State Drives are available in either 2.5in (Intel® X25-M Mainstream SATA Solid-State Drive) or 1.8in (Intel® X18-M Mainstream SATA Solid-State Drive) standard hard drive form factors. And all Intel Mainstream SSDs are tested and validated on the latest Intel-based mobile and desktop platforms for your peace of mind.

Are Solid State Drives Better Than Spinning Platter Based Drives?

This is a subject that we have been musing over quite a bit lately when talking to our clients and one that you will of course have to answer for yourself based on hopefully the information that I am about to give you. The two primary things that you need to consider are how much storage do you need and how much do you want to pay to decrease data access times.

Click to read more ...

Intel Says It Has a Fix for Faulty NAND Flash Firmware

We’ll see… It will be good if this comes out this quickly and works. 

Intel Says It Has a Fix for Faulty NAND Flash Firmware

Intel confirms data corruption bug in new SSDs, halts shipments | Storage - InfoWorld

Since I reported the price drop on these drive a week or two ago I only thought it would be appropriate to add this little bump in the road for Intel’s new consumer-class X25-M and X18-M SSDs (solid state-disk drives). Seems that if you initiate a  Bios password  on the drive you will lose your access to anything on the drive. Intel will be coming with a firmware upgrade to this issue shortly and you will be able to fix this problem. So far that is the only glitch in an otherwise great product. Shipments of these drives have been stopped until the fix is in and been applied to all channel held devices.

Intel confirms data corruption bug in new SSDs, halts shipments | Storage - InfoWorld