Super Talent delivers SSDs for poor people Solid-state drives have a lot going for them. They're thinner, faster, more efficient and longer lasting than most traditional spinning hard disks — yet high prices keeps most folks steering well clear. US Flash memory maker Super Talent Technology plans to mix things up by releasing a pair of SSDs this week that won't send …
The Tom's Hardware article makes very interesting reading. But even more interesting is the followup article referenced at the bottom of the first page.
Seems that there is good reason to think that the first generation SSDs are pretty poor - and only useful for higher performance, and have in general worse power performance, but that this is a result of the use of the first gen support chips, and not inherent to flash. The OCZ flash drive tested in the followup totally wipes the field, close to the top performance, and vastly better power, beating all the other flash and rotating media drives comprehensively. So it seems reasonable to suspect that the second generation of SSDs will make good on the promise. But no doubt, purchasing any of the first gen SSDs would be an unhappy experience.
I'm worried about the wear-levelling features that I've heard are now embedded at the flash controller level out of your normal reach. Does that mean that traces of data on a region of flash that has been remapped to spread out the write cycles will remain and be somehow available for forensic examination? Or do the controllers zero out flash after it has been copied and remapped?
the flash drives may wear... but I welcome loosing 10%of a drive thats only 20%full over a total catastrophic failure...
and with the number of 2.5" drives that I have had expire on me due to mecanical breakage it is something i cant wait for :)
the past few months I have been using an 8gb class 6 SDHC (much more basic tech) card in my eeeeepc for main storage and havent noticed any issues, and that card had spent a year in a digital camera before that, some time spent in the central american rainforest then bashed about in the atlantic during a yacht race and it is still going strong!!!
I for one wait for our SSD bearing overlords with open arms! :)
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