THRASHER2
08-15-2007, 03:36 AM
Coming soon: The solid state server and TVs with auto-rewind
Flash memory makers have taken over cell phones and MP3 players and want to start moving into notebooks. So what's next on the colonization roadmap?
Servers (http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9758855-7.html), says Frankie Roohparvar, vice president of NAND development at Micron Technologies. Server makers are looking at ways of replacing drives in servers.
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d//i/ne/pg/fd_2006/060101_server.jpg
"That is the area where they (the hard drive industry) are weakest next," he said over a lunch meeting.
It sounds weird initially. Servers typically come with large drives, and flash memory costs around 10 times as much as space on drives, when you look at it from a cost per bit point of view.
Performance, however, is a key consideration in many segments of the server market. In some servers, data is actually only stored on the perimeter of the hard drive for more rapid access, he asserted. Thus, much of the storage space goes fallow, which in turn shrinks the cost delta between hard drives and flash.
Plus, energy consumption goes down. That's a favorite on the IT buyer checklist.
Flash memory makers have taken over cell phones and MP3 players and want to start moving into notebooks. So what's next on the colonization roadmap?
Servers (http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9758855-7.html), says Frankie Roohparvar, vice president of NAND development at Micron Technologies. Server makers are looking at ways of replacing drives in servers.
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d//i/ne/pg/fd_2006/060101_server.jpg
"That is the area where they (the hard drive industry) are weakest next," he said over a lunch meeting.
It sounds weird initially. Servers typically come with large drives, and flash memory costs around 10 times as much as space on drives, when you look at it from a cost per bit point of view.
Performance, however, is a key consideration in many segments of the server market. In some servers, data is actually only stored on the perimeter of the hard drive for more rapid access, he asserted. Thus, much of the storage space goes fallow, which in turn shrinks the cost delta between hard drives and flash.
Plus, energy consumption goes down. That's a favorite on the IT buyer checklist.