Latest Intel Move Secures SSD Future For ServersLatest Intel Move Secures SSD Future For Servers

At its latest Intel Developers' Forum, Intel brought out a solid-state drive (SSD) intended for the server market, with properties that could combat both server noise and server power consumption, and provide much-needed competition that should bring down prices.Called the X25-E, the SSD is a SATA replacement with a read speed of 250 MB/second and a write speed of 170 MB/second, plus a 75-microsecond read latency. The units are supposed to include proprietary technology for reducing read/write wear on the memory cells, probably by rotating the location of the data through the memory's physical addresses.

Lacking moving parts, SSDs are basically silent, although a single non-idle mechanical hard drive probably contributes only about 5 decibels to a server's acoustic noise in most cases. This is not very significant at the high end, where servers can emit an annoying 70 decibels, but it is a significant contribution at the low end (i.e., the kind of servers used in small offices) where an idle system may generate less than 40 decibels.

As for power, Sandisk figures that its 32G SSD drives (intended for laptops) use about half as much power as mechanical drives.

According to press coverage, the X25-E will be available in a 2.5-inch form factor with a 32GB version available in 90 days and a 64GB version available in 1Q09.

There was no mention of prices, although in the past there has been a significant price premium for SSDs. Hopefully, that will soon change. As was previously reported, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, and EMC have come out with SSDs for their server lines.

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