DV Nation
has been providing SSD solutions to the public since January 2007.
We have conducted more
SSD benchmarks
than anyone else. The ioDrive from Fusion-io is an order of
magnitude faster than any other SSD. With disk-style SSDs, we
maintain that performance comes from the SSD itself, not the interface
/ connector. Example: The fastest SSD we had tested thus far was
actually and IDE (PATA) model from MTRON where we saw 129MB/S read.
The ioDrive definitely changes this. The current SATA spec maxes
out at about 300MB/s per device. Even if the next generation of
SATA can DOUBLE this figure, the ioDrive TODAY is already ahead!
As a PCI-E X4 device, we have seen it read at 800MB/S on ATTO.
This would take EIGHT regular SSDs PLUS a high-end controller to
achieve. On HD Tach, the read speed is about 500MB/S.
Let's take the more conservative figures to determine the value of
this device. Fusion-IO is actually increasing the price of the
80GB ioDrive to $3000. Compare: To achieve that
performance would require 5X MTRON PRO SSDs which are $669 each AND a
high end RAID controller, i.e. Areca 1231ML which is $799. Total
cost for standard SSDs to achieve 500MB/S bandwidth: $4144. This
represents a $38% savings in cost, not to mention the savings in heat
and power from using only one device.
Fusion-io's
literature and videos claim that ONE ioDrive can replace 1000 hard
drives. Again, let's be conservative and cut that figure by a
factor of 10. We noticed scenario's where the ioDrive was more
than 100 TIMES FASTER than the Raptor hard disk. A 73GB,
10,000RPM Raptor hard disk costs $150. RAIDING 100 of them
together would cost you $15,000. That is raw drive cost.
The infrastructure required to host 100 drives, connect them, cool
them, and replace them as they inevitably fail, certainly adds to this
figure. Also consider that in hard drive installations, only the
outermost tracks are used. This is where hard drives perform the
best, so you are not even getting all the capacity you are paying for.
The ioDrive has consistent performance across the entire capacity.
At the
Flash Memory Summit in August 2008, SSD manufacturers and technologist
got together to discuss the state of the industry and the future of
the industry. New terms such as dollars per IOPS and IOPS per
watt were bandied about. The ioDrive is an example of what these
terms mean. The first one measure how much performance do you
get for the dollars you are putting in. The second one measure
how much performance you are getting for the dollars you are putting
in. Again, refer to how many other drives (either HDD or SSD)
would be required to get the performance of one ioDrive.
Aside from
the performance, the ioDrive maintains the benefits of SSD technology.
It has no moving parts, so it is totally silent. It runs cooler
than a disk spinning at 10K or 15K RPM, and cooler than some other
SSDs we have tested. It is rated to last 50+ years with 1TB of
read / writes performed on a daily basis. One ioDrive could
outlast several standard hard drives.
Downside
SSDs with
typical SATA or IDE interface do not require drivers and are operating
system-agnostic. As a PCI-E device, the ioDrive requires
drivers. Right now drivers are available for certain distros of
Linux, as well as 64-bit Windows operating systems. There is not
currently any compatibility under 32-bit Windows. The OS reports
that it has found new hardware, there is jut not a driver at this
time. Fusion-IO is working on drivers for other OSes such as OSX.
The other disadvantage is that the ioDrive is not yet bootable.
This feature is coming though in the form of a simple firmware update
in Q4 2008.
Next:
Stay tuned for a RAID review!
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