Great news flash fans, Intel will be increasing the storage density of SSDs quite significantly over the next few years. They will be using the 3D NAND technology we have just been introduced to to stack flash memory with 32 planar layers for 32GB per cell with MLC and 48GB per cell if TLC flash is used. This increased density could lead to 10TB SSDs by 2017 as well as mobile devices with 1TB of local memory that runs at higher speeds than the current generations as well. As The Register noted this will have to be accompanied by price reductions as at $1.00/GB no one would even dream of a 10TB drive and even at $0.50 it would be far too expensive. Perhaps Ryan's dreams of low cost flash storage are not as far out there as some seem to feel, indeed he may not be aiming low enough for price per GB. You can also get a peek at what Samsung, Hynix and Sandisk will be up to in the same article.
"IMFT, Intel Micron Flash Technologies, a partnership between Intel and Micron, has a 3D MLC NAND technology, which will be used to build 10TB SSDs in two years."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Linux distributor SUSE delves into software-defined storage @ The Inquirer
- Intel decides to keep tablet subsidies, say sources @ DigiTimes
- Mozilla remembers 2013. Y'know, back when it still gobbled at the Google money-trough @ The Register
- Digitimes Research: Samsung, Apple, LG rank as top-3 smartphone vendors in 3Q14 @ DigiTimes
- KitGuru visits Logitech’s G Labs in Switzerland
- First in line to order a Nexus 6? AT&T has a BRICK for you @ The Register
- Tech ARP 2014 Mega Giveaway Contest
What are the average
What are the average read/write speeds of SLC, MLC, and TLC, and what are the average error rates of these different cell sizes, is there any way to measure the amount of error correction being done on a SSD, and produce a metric to give readers an idea of what extra processing is done on a particular brand of SSD, such as error correction, or other processing that might slow down the Read/write speeds, or impact the wear and tare on the cells, or the storage degradation over time.
If the Idea of having flash is for speed, and power savings, will a drive with TLC Cells, that are more error prone, and result in more error correction being done, be less power efficient over its lifetime, and what about TLC on a smaller process node, will TLC be able to scale considering its inherent problems, compared to SLC, or MLC? I like the move towards maybe 1TB SSD drives, but I do not trust TLC, epically in light of the recent firmware problems with TLC based drives, hopefully this new technology will make SLC, and MLC a more affordable option. No word on R/W speeds on the Intel SSD with this flash technology?
I’ve written up an editorial
I've written up an editorial that touches on this here, but the error rate discussion is moot provided there is sufficient ECC present to correct errors effectively enough as to not negatively impact performance. The TLC specific issues with the 840 EVO were not so much with TLC as they were with incorrect factory initialization of the flash in those specific units.
Less talk, more action.
Less talk, more action.
Don’t blow your 3D load too
Don’t blow your 3D load too fast. Be smart like HDD manufacturers and slowly trickle new capacities out. Maybe pick up the pace since we are stuck mostly at 512GB with a few 1TB drives here and there. NAND’s successor is still quite a ways off.
I’ve been a “Supporter of
I’ve been a “Supporter of 3D”, but it did not prove popular 😉 .
So take that!, now you will like 3D … (evil laugh).
Seriously, the increase in density is great. An HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) SSD or (small) 128GB Memory Cards may come soon.
For most people it’s not
For most people it’s not density but rather price per GB that is most important.
Even the thin M.2 SSD form factor easily fits in the thinnest laptop and has 1TB SSD’s.
Personally I’d like to see a 2.5″ SSD that is internally a 3xRAID1 device with individual swapping units. Once the RAID controller detects a unit must be replaced a light goes on and a software warning is issued.