SMART Storage Systems Challenges Enterprise SSD TCO Models with CloudSpeed 500 Release

SMART Storage Systems has announced the release of their newest SSD aimed at the Enterprise market, the CloudSpeed 500.

This SSD is positioned to provide a SSD with a higher write endurance, but a very low Total Cost of Ownership for entry and mid-level users. SMART has achieved excellent penetration into the entry server space with the release of the XceedStor 500S SSD, but has noticed a common practice that is becoming more popular among these users.

A ‘new’ usage model that is being utilized by many is the ‘rip-and-replace’ consumption role. This entails customers utilizing lower tier MLC SSDs in high write environments, and effectively using them at full throttle until they expire.

This of course happens very quickly with SSDs that are not designed for these write-intensive environments. By playing the “TCO Game” these users are coming out ahead by implementing the low cost structure of MLC SSDs, even though they are replacing them quickly. For the exploding caching segment this is becoming a very common practice, with light random mixed read/write workloads that can be punishing for standard light enterprise SSDs.

The CloudSpeed 500 SSD looks to address this emerging market segment with a higher write endurance while maintaining the low price structure. This is achieved by combining elements of their Guardian Technology with the LSI SandForce SF-2581 processor. SMART is currently the only vendor of the mature and stable LSI-FCD controller with a Tier-1 OEM design win.

The Guardian Technology allows for much higher endurance figures to be pulled from standard consumer class MLC. Employing their flash characterization knowledge and test methodologies developed with their Optimus SAS SSDs has provided these large gains in endurance. Enjoying a boost from 3,000 P/E Cycles to an impressive 15,000 P/E Cycles creates a much higher write endurance by utilizing these proprietary approaches.

With the host of enterprise features and a standard 5-Year warranty, the CloudSpeed 500 will be sampling to OEMs in Q2 2012.

PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS

• 60/20K IOPS Random Read/Write
• 500/500MB/s sustained Read/Write
• 3 full random drive writes per day
• 5 Year Warranty
• ECC, Data Path Protection, Data Fail Protection
• High Reliability Backup Power Circuitry
• MLC Flash
• SATA 6Gb/s 2.5″
• Enterprise Code Base & Support