When we reviewed  the Intel SSD DC P3700 earlier this year, it was our first chance to get a really good look at what NVMe could do for storage.  As a quick refresher, Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) is a protocol that is set to replace AHCI for storage.  It leverages PCIe as the physical interconnect, specifically PCIe x4 Gen3, which …

Normally, when we work with SSD manufacturers, the class of product is pretty straight forward.  Whether it be enterprise, consumer or enthusiast, we normally have an easy time pinning down the the point of the product.  With Samsung, you might need a degree in marketing to figure out what is going on.  This has been a point of contention in …

At the 2014 Samsung SSD Global Summit, Samsung showcased its latest consumer SSD, the 850 PRO.  Just like the 840 PRO before it, we loved the 850 PRO’s performance and technological advances.  In fact, it is probably the best SATA 3 (6Gbps) drive on the market.  As an enterprise reviewer, I expected the normal 6-12 month wait before the 850 …

It’s not every day that we see an SSD that makes us stop and think.  After our trip to Computex, we were able to take delivery of something that is fairly unique in terms of enterprise storage.  The ALLONE Cloud Disk Drive 101 RAMDisk is not your normal SSD, in fact, it really isn’t an SSD at all. Technically speaking, …

With the release of the SSD DC P3700, Intel has delivered on the most anticipated piece of storage technology in recent memory.  This release is all about NVMe.  We have been hearing about NVMe for years, but an end product always seemed just out of reach.  We also expected the first devices to be exorbitantly priced enterprise SSDs.  While not the …

Samsung is today extending its enterprise offering with the release of the 845DC EVO.  They are aiming this release directly at those server and data center customers who are looking for a cost effective solution with great consistency and performance. A little over a year ago, we took a look at the Samsung SM843, an enterprise SSD that competed in …

The current PCIe add-in-card storage market is separated into two general architectures.  The first is ground-up, native PCIe designs, such as the Micron P320h.  These devices eschew a typical SATA/SAS controller in favor of specialized flash controllers that have native PCIe interfaces.  This is where the market is heading.  In fact, later this year, you should start to see many …

Today, Micron has announced a new member of its enterprise SSD family, the M500DC.  Typically, Micron likes to focus on performance and reliability with their enterprise drives, with cost being a secondary factor. With the M500DC, they have made price a priority. INTRODUCTION About this time last year, we were reviewing the Crucial M500 960GB.  This was the first drive …

A lot has changed since the announcement of the Optimus Eco earlier this year.  The most notable change is the company supplying it.  When we last looked into SMART Storage Systems, they had just finished being acquired by SanDisk.  At that point, though, nothing had really changed except for ‘a SanDisk Company’ being added to their name.  Many were unsure exactly …

If you have been following The SSD Review in 2013, you are probably familiar with our coverage of 12Gbps SAS.  Throughout the year we have covered HBAs, RAID Adapters, Enclosures and SSDs.  We have been incredibly busy reviewing new products, but one product in particular has stood out.  In all of our 12Gbps SAS reviews we have sung the praises …