Good heavens, it's been years since we've seen anything noteworthy leave the labs of Power Quotient International. Thankfully, the outfit will be relevant once more when CES rolls around, as its forthcoming SSD line has quite a few big hitters. First up is the 1.8-inch microSATA SSD S518, which is destined to squeeze into tight spaces in capacities of up to 125GB, while the 32GB ExpressCard SSD S520 finally gives you a reason to utilize that funky slot over there that's gone untouched for months. There will also be a 2.5-inch SATA SSD S525 (available in sizes up to 125GB) and anelusive e-SATA Combo Card S530. As for details on pricing and availability? You'll have to wait till the show gets rolling for that, but the full release is waiting just past the break to tide you over.
PQI Shows Off Their Latest SSD Products at the 2009 CES

Taipei, Taiwan ~ 2008.12.31 ~ Visitors attending the 2009 CES at Las Vegas during Jan. 8 ~ 11, 2009 can locate Power Quotient International Co., Ltd. (PQI) at the Venetian Tower 233, 234. At the exhibit, PQI will have on display their full range of Solid State Drive (SSD), USB Flash Drive (UFD), Memory Module and Flash Memory Card. Four new SSD products makes their debut ~ 1.8" microSATA SSD S518, Express Card SSD S520, 2.5" SATAⅡ SSD S525 and e-SATA Combo Card S530. Of which, the 32GB Express Card SSD S520 utilizes PCI/E slot and PQI's patented Intelligent Stick Interface. Users have the option of using it as a USB flash drive or to extend its PC / laptop storage capacity through PCI/E slot. The 64GB e-SATA Combo Card S530 has an e-SATA connection interface and it reaches a maximum read speed of 90MB/Sec.

Both PQI's 1.8" microSATA SSD S518 and 2.5" SATA SSD S525 are available with a maximum capacity of 128GB. The 1.8" microSATA SSD S518 can be installed into PCs or laptops and the 2.5" SATA SSD S525 comes with two interfaces for storage expansion.

SSDs are advantaged over traditional hard drives in read/ write speeds, shock proof, low power consumption, lighter body weight and quiet operation. In addition to industrial, embedded, server and medical industries, PC applications are beginning to see the implementation of SSDs in high end performance systems. Having more than 10 years of experience in solid state storage technology, PQI's SSD and DOM products are ahead of the pack providing customers with a diverse and complete solution!

Other innovative PQI products at CES including a series of waterproof USB flash drives and Intelligent Drive i828, winner of Product Design Award ~ 2009 German iF Award. The Intelligent Drive i828 utilizes a clip-on design that allows for users to make use of existing i828(s) to increase their storage capacity, indefinitely.

For more PQI news or the latest PQI product information, please visit PQI at www.pqigroup.com.

Solid state hard drives are the next big thing when it comes to hard drive technology. Without moving parts these drives are the perfect candidates for installation into laptops, as well as being used for portable storage. There is also the benefit in increased battery life since there are no parts to power up and move. While 32 gigabytes does not seem like much space in this world of one terabyte and larger drives, the Cavalry Pelican should offer up plenty of space for the business user that is storing documents and Power Point presentations. So what exactly is an SSD (Solid State Drive)? It is a flash memory based hard drive that can be made up using one of two designs. MLC, or multi level cell, or SLC, single level cell. The difference is that the MLC contains two bits per memory cell versus a single bit in the SLC design. Since flash memory wears out over time, the life cycle of the cells is dependent on the drive controller to evenly distribute the write cycles to the individual cells. The MLC design is the less expensive design and should last from 1000 to 10,000 write cycles, where the SLC design using only one bit per cell may be as high as 100,000 cycles. The MLC design has made the transition to consumer level products happen quicker because of the lower cost of entry and large capacities. Making drives such as this one available at a price point that is more attractive and in the less than $100 range.

The Cavalry Pelican 2.5 in SATA II/USB 2.0 32GB SSD is available in both a 32GB and 64GB sizes, as well as both the MLC and SLC designs. This drive is the 32GB MLC design that uses a SATA II or USB 2.0 interface. The drive features a seek time of .1ms, 0dbon the noise front and a Mean Time Before Failure of 1,350,000 hours, sequential reads of 80MB/s, sequential writes of 60MB/s and resistant to 20G's worth of vibration. Lets see just how close this drive comes to meeting its specifications.
Closer Look:

The Cavalry Pelican drive comes in a standard retail clamshell. Contents include the Pelican drive and marketing materials. The front view shows the drive, the connectivity options, that the drive can be used in both a Mac and a PC, and carries a one year warranty. Kind of strange when the listed MTBF is closer to 150 years. The rear view gives the specifications in detail.The Pelican drive is a small 2.5 in form factor and can be used in both notebooks and desktops alike. The top view shows the drive with the decal showing the size of the drive prominently (32GB), as well as the model number and the operating systems it can be used with. The back side shows no useful information. The bottom has four mounting holes. The sides contain mounting holes and screws that can be removed to open the drive if you so choose. The end of the drive features the connectivity options. To run this drive as a USB drive all you need to do is connect your USB cable and start transferring data. To use it as a hard drive in a computer, be it laptop or desktop, you will need to connect to the SATA interface and supply power to the drive via the SATA power connection.

RunCore, a producer of Flash-based sorage solutions, recently announced the expansion of the company's consumer-oriented solid state drive products, with the addition of new 1.8-inch low-cost Zif/PATA and 2.5-inch 256GB SATA SSDs. The company also announced that its 1.8-inch Zif/PATA solutions, with capacities ranging from 16GB to 128GB, were immediately available for purchase.

The new Solid State Drives provided by RunCore have been designed as a low-cost storage upgrade alternative to current SSDs on the market. Coming in a small and lightweight 1.8-inch form factor, the company's SSDs are available with capacities of 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. Depending on the amount of storage provided, prices are expected to be of $69.99, $119.99, $199.99 and $389.99, respectively. Performance wise, the new 1.8-inch SSDs can provide read and write speeds of up to 75/40MB/sec, designed to boost the performance of computer systems that have been featured with a 1.8-inch HDD.

In addition to the 1.8-inch low-cost SSDs, RunCore alsoannounced the new 2.5-inch 256GB Pro II Hyper Speed SATA SSDs, provided to support the storage requirements of both notebook and desktop computer users. The new drives can provide an increased storage space, while also delivering a boost in the performance level. The 256GB SATA SSD from RunCore is said to reach read speeds of 230MB/s, while write speeds are expected to go as high as 150MB/s. Unfortunately, the new 2.5-inch, 256GB SATA SSD is expected to become available in February 2009, with an estimated price point of $699.99.

In addition, according to the company, all of its Prosumer SSD products, with the exception of the 2.5-inch SSD, are available with an integrated USB slave port and USB cable, enabling users to easily clone the data on the SSD, using any cloning software.

Despite the grim market outlook of NAND Flash-based storage solutions, memory makers continue develop the technology, and to release better and higher-capacity Solid State Drives. On that note, one of the most recent announcements of this kind comes from Patriot Memory, a global provider of premium quality memory module and flash memory solutions.
The company has recently introduced its new 256GB Warp SSD v3, which has been designed to boast read and write speeds of up to 240MB/s and 160MB/s, respectively. Basically, the just introduced SSDs will come to boost the storage capacity and the performance capability of today's high-performance computer systems.
“Our new 256GB Warp SSD v3 now gives the consumer the fastest data-transfer rates plus all the storage space largeenough to quench their multimedia thirst,” says Flash Product Manager for Patriot Memory, Meng Jay. “It wasn't long ago that SSDs maxed out at 64GB with read speeds of 130MB/s, now with the Warp v3 we literally 'Warp' into capacities that most consumers demand and speeds far faster than current conventional hard drives.”
The 256GB Warp SSD v3 comes to expand the company's lineup of Flash-based storage products, while also providing users with a high-capacity and high-performance storage solution. The drive boasts a 2.5-inch form factor, and is featured with a SATA connectivity interface. It can easily be considered an alternative storage solution for portable or desktop computer systems, providing fast performance, as compared to that of traditional hard drives. Unfortunately, the company hasn't revealed any details regarding pricing for the newly announced SSD.
Until recently, Patriot's new Warp SSDs would have been considered among the highest capacity Flash-based storage solutions on the market. However, due to Toshiba's 512GB announced earlier today, the SSD market has now been taken to the next level in terms of storage. Still, the adoption rate of SSDs is largely influenced by their price tag, which continues to be considerably higher than that of traditional drives.

Western Digital has long been a performance leader in the hard drive world. That made it especially odd when the company debuted its first terabyte in the "GreenPower" Caviar GP. Despite what enthusiasts might have hoped, GreenPower didn't mean "Hulk smash." Instead, it referred to the drive's eco-friendly motor, whose slower spindle speed dramatically reduced power consumption. WD had driven to the terabyte party not in a performance-oriented sports car, but behind the wheel of a tree-hugging econobox.

To be fair, the Caviar GP's performance was surprisingly good for a drive whose platters spun at close to 5,400RPM. In some tests, it was even faster than terabyte drives spinning at a full 7,200RPM. The GP also lived up to its energy-efficient billing, sucking half the power of some of its terabyte rivals, all while barely making a whisper.

Since its release, a reshuffling of Western Digital's hard drive branding scheme has transformed the Caviar GP into the Caviar Green. Now it's time for the drive itself to change. The original Caviar GP reached the terabyte mark with four 250GB platters, but the latest model we'll be looking at today has been upgraded to 333GB platters, of which it needs only three.The higher areal density of the Caviar Green's new platters promise improved performance, and since the drive is spinning only three of them, power consumption should drop as well. On all fronts, then, this latest Caviar Green looks better than the original. Let's see if it is.The idea behind the Caviar Green is a simple one. For some applications, be they home theater PCs, secondary desktop storage, or a home file server stuffed into a closet, you don't need the fastest hard drive on the block—just one that's fast enough. Those markets are likely to prefer drives with lower noise levels and power consumption, which the Caviar Green is more than eager to provide, ideally while maintaining an acceptable level of performance.

It might be counter-intuitive for an enthusiast to give up any performance, but the trade-off makes sense here. At least in consumer markets, most folks buy hard drives looking to expand storage capacity for their multimedia libraries. You don't need a fast hard drive to store or smoothly stream even the highest definition video content, and your multi-gig MP3 collection certainly doesn't need to be on a 10K-RPM VelociRaptor.

When it first launched the GreenPower Caviar, WD refused to disclose the drive's actual spindle speed, saying only that it was somewhere between 5,400 and 7,200RPM. The company later admitted that the drive ran at closer to the former than the latter, but we haven't been able to coax out an exact spindle speed.Numerous sites have speculated that the Caviar Green essentially runs at 5,400RPM, and now even Western Digital has changed its tune. Sort of. The drive's latest spec sheet lists the Green's rotational speed as "IntelliPower," which WD defines as "A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance." So much for clarification.

Western Digital obviously doesn't want customers making assumptions about the Caviar Green's performance based on rotational speed alone, but the decision to obfuscate it behind blatant marketingspeak is entirely unnecessary and evasive. After all, the market isn't short on examples of drives with slower spindle speeds outperforming faster ones. One need look no further than our most recent mobile storage round-up to see Western Digital's own 5,400-RPM Scorpio Blue beating Seagate's 7,200-RPM Momentus in some tests. Consumers deserve a little more credit.
Enough with the soapbox, though. We have a drive to test. The latest addition to the Caviar Green lineup can be identified by its WD10EADS model number. You'll want to write that down, because the old drive's model number is WD10EACS. The drives themselves are quite similar, with the biggest difference coming on the platter front. Western Digital has replaced the original's quartet of 250GB platters with a trio of platters that weigh in at 333GB each. This 33% increase in areal density enables the Green to offer a terabyte with fewer platters, allowing the motor to spin less weight, which further reduces the drive's already low power consumption. The higher areal density of these new platters should also improve the Green's sustained transfer rates by spinning more bits past the drive head in a given span of time.

With the launch of ThinkServers, Lenovo has expanded its popular Think range of enterprise computing solutions in India. Lenovo’s ThinkServer range comprises of ThinkServer TS100 Rack, ThinkServer TD100 Tower, ThinkServer TD100x Tower, ThinkServer RD120 Rack and Thinkserver RS110 Rack.

The ThinkServer TS100 Tower and RS110 Rack are aimed at small offices for simple applications, whereas the ThinkServer TD100 Tower, TD100x Tower or RD120 Rack is developed for medium-sized businesses that involve additional capabilities. All the ThinkServers come pre-loaded with management tools that include:
# ThinkServer EasyStartup – A hardware configuration tool to get the servers up and running quickly
# ThinkServer EasyUpdate – An update utility to easily identify, download and install hardware and firmware updates
# ThinkServer EasyManage – A full featured tool that works with LANDesk to manage the performance of one or more servers from a single console.The ThinkServer servers work with Microsoft Windows Server or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell.

All these ThinServers incorporate Easy LED Diagnostics that enables server administrator to easily diagnose hardware issues; and Advanced ECC Memory to smoothly minimize the chances of system downtime due to memory failure.

The ThinkServer TS100 Tower and RS110 Rack are single-socket servers, while the ThinkServer TD100 Tower, TD100x Tower or RD120 Rack are double-socket servers.

The ThinkServer TS100 Tower is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo and Xeon 3200 Series processor and sports Intel 32101CH9R chipset, an 8 GB Memeory, SS/HS 4×3.5″ SATA/SAS or HS 8×2.5″ SAS storage, CDRW/DVDROM drives and ATI ES1000 graphics with external DDRII 64 MB memory.

Powered by Intel Xeon 3000 and 5000 series processor, the ThinkServer TD100/TD100x Tower features Intel 5000 ICH7R chipset, a 32GB/48GB Memory, SS/HS 4×3/5″SAS or SATA OR SS/HS 8×3.5″ SAS or SATA storage, CDRW/DVDROM drives and ATI ES1000 graphics with external DDRII 64 MB memory.

Next is the Thinkserver RS110 Rack that comes equipped with Intel Celeron, Pentium Dual, Core 2 Duo/Quad and Xeon 3000 Series processor, Intel 3210ICH9 chipset, an 8 GB memory, SS/HS 2×3.5″ SATA/SAS or SS/HS 4×2.5″ SAS storage, CDRW/DVDROM drives and ATI ES1000 with DVO graphics.

Lastly, the ThinkServer RD120 Rack employs Intel Xeon 3000 and 5000 processor, Intel 5000 ICH7 chipset, a 48 GB memory, CDRW/DVDROM drives and a storage options such as 6 x 3.5 inch HS SAS or 4 x 3.5 inch HS SAS Plus tape, 8 x 2.5 inch HS SAS Plus Tape, DDS6 Internal Tape Option supported on either 2.5-inch SAS or 3.5-inch SAS.

Lenovo’s ThinkServers are expected to hit the Indian market by this month for a starting price of Rs 45,000.

Having a tough time waiting for Intel's Core i7 platform to finally reach retail shelves? While power users patiently wait for next generation components to emerge, Evga has offered up an early look at its upcoming X58 SLI FTW motherboard.

"Evga is proud to show a sneak peek of a new motherboard based on the Intel X58 Express Chipset, supporting the upcoming Intel Core i7 processor," Evga wrote in in a statement. "The Evga X58 SLI FTW motherboard will feature 6 DIMMs of triple channel DDR3 memory, and a board layout optimized for the enthusiast including 2-way and 3-way SLI support."

The new board represents a departure from what has been an exclusive partnership with Nvidia, at least in terms of the chipset. Nvidia will still be represented on the all-black PCB with SLI support, which has been a long awaited marriage between Intel chipsets and Nvidia graphics.As implied by the FTW moniker, Evga's upcoming motherboard boasts several features of interests to enthusiasts and overclockers, such as VDroop control, 100 percent solid state capacitors, and no less than 10 SATA ports with an eSATA port thrown in for good measure.

Evga says the board will be available in November for an as-yet undetermined amount.

Intel has begun shipping the X25E Extreme SATA SSD, which the company has proclaimed as its “highest performing SSD”. The 32GB SSD is based on Intel’s 50nm single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash memory technology.

Intel claims that the X25E can increase the performance of servers, workstations, and storage systems by 100 times over hard drives, if measured in terms of Input/Output per Second (IOPS).

The 32GB SSD, which Intel claims can reduce energy costs by five times, boasts of 35,000 read IOPS and 3,300 write IOPS. The official press release pegged the maximum read speed at 250 MB/s and maximum write speeds at 170 MB/s respectively.The 32GB version is out now and carries a price tag of $695. The production of the 64GB version will begin in first quarter of 2009.

Verbatim has launched two new multi-media hard drives, MediaStation and MediaStation Pro. Offering upto 500 GB in storage capacity, these drives enable users to easily store videos, photos, music and films and then play it back directly via the TV or an audio system. These drives weigh just around a kilogram.
The MediaStation features a 3.5" SATA hard drive for smooth writing and reading of data. It can store upto 1,000 hours of video (Mpeg 4) or 6,300 hours of music (MP3) or 250,000 5-Megapixel photos. The multimedia drive can play back all popular video, audio and graphics formats, including MPEG4, DivX, MP3, WMA, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, JPEG and PNG. All connection cables required for this are available with the drive. The included composite and S-video connection cables ensure picture-perfect playback. The standard version of MediaStation offers a scaled resolution of 1080i. A USB 2.0 connection allows additional data media to be docked with the MediaStation Pro and content transferred or displayed directly onto TV.In addition to all the features of MediaStation, the MediaStation Pro version offers a WLAN connection with the help of which data from the PC can not only be transferred conveniently to the MediaStation Pro, but can also be played back directly in real time on the TV. Offering an HDMI connection for the best possible audio and picture quality, and full HD (1080p), the MediaStation Pro is also capable of receiving Internet radio streams, Shoutcast and Icecast, directly via the Internet connection. Both MediaStation and MediaStation Pro supports Digital Audio 5.1 format and offer a state-of-art remote control that enables easy on-screen navigation. It is even possible to create personal playlists and set up private, password-protected folder options on both the drives.

Both MediaStation and MediaStation Pro will be available by November '08 at an MSRP of Rs 15,000.

Confused by terms like SATA II, SATA Gen 2, and SATA 3Gb/s? You're not alone. With today's release (link in PDF format) of the PHY (physical layer) portion of the forthcoming SATA revision 3.0 specification (details here), SATA-IO, the trade association responsible for defining Serial ATA specifications, is trying hard to stomp out the many misidentifications of SATA specifications and features over the years.SATA revision 3.0 doubles the speed of the current 3Gb/s version, reaching transfer speeds of 6Gb/s. So, what should you call the newest member of the SATA specifications family? According to the SATA Naming Guidelines, here's what to do:

* The first reference in a document should read: "Serial ATA International Organization: Serial ATA Revision 3.0." Additional references can be to either "SATA Revision 3.0" or "SATA 6Gb/s."

SATA-IO is also serious about cleaning up the confusion surrounding current technologies and products as well:

* Don't use "SATA I" or "Gen 1": instead, use "SATA Revision 1.x" or "SATA first generation" or "SATA 1.5Gb/s."
* Likewise, "SATA II" or "SATA Gen 2" are also on the "don't talk that way" list, replaced by "SATA Revision 2.x" or "SATA second generation" or "SATA 3.0Gb/s."

The SATA Naming Guidelines page includes a useful table for helping computer users, marketers, technical writers (like yours truly) and others properly describe the three generations of SATA drives and devices. With SATA Revision 3.0 expecting to be ratified by the end of the year, here's hoping this initiative will help undo the years of confusion over SATA.

Look for the SATA Label...

SATA-IO is also working to make sure that SATA devices work properly, with today's launch of its certified logo program (link in PDF format). To learn more about SATA-IO, see the SATA-IO website.

Mystery Solved!

So, where did the term SATA II come from? SATA II was the original name of the current SATA International Organization (SATA-IO).

Let’s talk about SCSI for a moment. The disk interface which was once ubiquitous with high-end workstations and servers is now on the verge of obsolescence. With the influx of inexpensive and reliable Serial ATA hard disks and hardware SATA RAID controllers (which can provide excellent performance at a fraction of a SCSI’s price), it’s not surprising to see why legacy SCSI doesn’t even enter the mind of enterprise server and workstation platform buyers, even those diehards of the past.
However, like PATA's evolution to SATA, SCSI has also gone the way of serial connectivity and it still holds its advantages. For example, 15K RPM hard disks are only available with a SCSI or SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) interface, and true hardware SAS RAID cards, when paired with 15,000 RPM disks, can deliver performance that SATA setups simply can’t deliver at this point in time. Not to mention the additional diagnostic, error reporting and recovery capabilities of SAS in a RAID set, that you just can't get in the event of a drive failure in a SATA RAID set. However, the price per gigabyte versus the performance that SAS offers over SATA simply hasn’t worked out in favor of SAS, and as such, the standard has been struggling to stay relevant. This is evident in the new generation of solid state hard drives (SSDs) being offered with SATA interfaces and not a hint of SAS SSD offerings on the horizon.That said SAS solution providers seem to be reacting, as the barriers to entry for SAS versus SATA have been fading away as of late. SAS controller cards can be had for a little as $70, and SAS hard drives are dropping in price, though historically capacities have trailed SATA by a long shot. Also, some new motherboards offerings are being equipped with onboard SAS controllers as well.


Today, we’ll be showcasing one of the most significant developments to date, toward getting SAS more frequently into the vernaculars of workstation/server buyers and maybe even a few enthusiasts - relatively cheap, high-capacity SAS storage – thanks to Seagate. Seagate currently offers 10,000 and 15,000 RPM disks with SAS interfaces at a fraction of the capacity versus SATA offerings and as such, much higher prices. However, Seagate just launched their Barracuda ES.2 platform with a SAS interface that offers capacities up to 1 Terabyte (1 TB). Not only is the Barracuda ES.2 the highest capacity SAS disk to date, it’s also the first SAS disk we’ve seen on the market with a 7,200 RPM spindle speed and SATA-like pricing.

Transcend has announced availability of its newest industrial memory solution, a high-speed Serial ATA (SATA) Flash Module, in India. The module is claimed to be specifically designed for use in thin clients, blade servers, ultra-compact sub-notebooks, and space-limited industrial installations.

The new solid-state flash module offers speed in a lightweight compact package. It comes with a direct motherboard connection and a low-profile design that saves space and does away with the need for bulky cables that hog space and restrict airflow, the company said.According to Transcend, with robust, non-volatile flash memory, the SATA flash module is ideal for use in harsher, more demanding industrial environments.

The SATA flash module is smaller than conventional 2.5-inches and 3.5-inches SATA hard disk drives; it is claimed to use far less power, and promises vastly improved shock- and vibration- resistance, more data retention durability, and instant access speeds with zero spin-up or seek time.

The module comes with built-in ECC (Error Correction Code) and advanced wear leveling algorithm that aims to ensure long-term data transfer and storage for professional computing applications. It supports Ultra DMA Mode 4 with transfer speeds of up to 1.5Gb/s, is RoHS-compliant, and is more silent, cool, and power-saving, according to Transcend.

The SATA flash modules are available in 1GB and 2GB capacities in both vertical (male SATA data and power connectors) and horizontal (female SATA connector with mini 2-pin power and mechanical write-protection switch) versions to satisfy industrial application requirements. They are priced at Rs 8,500 and come with a three-year warranty.

This has been an exciting year for the storage industry. Not only have notebook hard drives seen capacity jump up to 250 GB, but 3.5" desktop hard drives have finally reached the terabyte capacity point. These drives are the mainstays for enthusiast users as well as for data centers, with expensive SAS or SCSI drives are increasingly being replaced. 3.5" SATA storage serves as so-called near-line storage, which sits in between high-availability online storage based on RAID arrays, and offline storage, which is usually a backup solution. With the advent of Samsung's latest product family, the Spinpoint F1, the quartet of Hitachi, Samsung, Seagate and Western Digital is once again complete.