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Enterprise SSDs: Technologies & Markets

Objective Analysis
April 1, 2010
118 Pages - SKU: OJA2662543

Abstract Table of Contents Search inside this report Related Reports

The earliest and most stunning successes for flash SSDs are occurring in the enterprise server sector.

What is unique about enterprise applications that warrants the use of a drive that is deemed to be far too costly for many other applications?

In this expanded update to a highly-acclaimed prior report Objective Analysis not only explains why and how SSDs are gaining traction in the enterprise server market, but we back this up with detailed unit shipment forecasts for SSDs into each of the major enterprise markets..

This study exhaustively examines several enterprise server applications and explains the appeal of SSDs in each.

Readers will gain a thorough understanding of enterprise flash SSDs and their market, and will learn how and why this market will grow at such a rapid pace.

The study is based upon a rigorous months-long survey of all levels of the enterprise data center market, including IT managers, enterprise server and storage OEMs, SSD and HDD manufacturers, and even the makers of the chips inside these systems.

Executive Summary
SSDs in the Enterprise
Enterprise Server Types and what They Need: SSDs and Virtualization; How SSDs Complement Data Centers; Overcoming SSDs’ Quirks; Standards Help Improve Performance; Why SSD Acceptance is Limited; Various Models of SSD Adoption; Managing SSDs; The Impact of Price; Enterprise SSD Price Forecast; Total Cost of Ownership; Forecasts by Application; Total SSD Forecast; Methodology; Further Reading; Figures; Tables; Author
Figures: Figure 1. The Gap in the Memory Hierarchy; Figure 2. The Gap Between DRAM and HDD is Growing; Figure 3. NAND Fills the Gap between HDD and DRAM; Figure 4. Storage Hierarchy in a Typical Computing System; Figure 5. Average Price per Gigabyte History of NAND and DRAM; Figure 6. Access Density Decreases over Time; Figure 7. The Time Required to Read the Entire Contents of an HDD has Increased over History; Figure 8. HDD I/O Rates Surpass those of SSDs at Large Block Transfer Sizes; Figure 9. HDD and SSD IOPS Growth over Time; Figure 10. HDD vs. SSD IOPS for Different Block Sizes; Figure 11. SSD and HDD Read Bandwidth Increases with Increasing Block Size; Figure 12. Chips inside a PC SSD; Figure 13. Disk Writes can be Cached in an SSD’s DRAM Buffer; Figure 14. Power Consumption in SSDs and HDDs; Figure 15. Lifetime SSD Random Writes Increase with Increased Spare Area; Figure 16. A Server's Air Flow Causes HDDs to be Cooled with Preheated Air; Figure 17. Random Write IOPS of Intel Mainstream SSD against Seagate Capacity HDD; Figure 18. SSD Performance as a Function of Block Size and R/W Mix; Figure 19. Pliant Technology's "Eyebrow Chart"; Figure 20. SSD I/O Bandwidth Varies with Changing Workloads; Figure 21. NAND vs. HDD Gigabyte Price History; Figure 22. Temporary NAND Price Collapses do not Indicate an SSD/HDD Price Crossover; Figure 23. Short Stroking Limits HDD Head Movement, Increasing Data Speed; Figure 24. Effect of Fixed Cost on Storage Array; Figure 25. Effect of Fixed Throughput on Storage Array; Figure 26. Two Approaches to Reaching 30k IOPS in a 30TB Storage Array; Figure 27. Effect of Fixed Capacity on Storage Array; Figure 28. Performance Improvements Depend upon Data Placement; Figure 29. IBM's Performance Gains through the Easy Tier Automatic Optimization; System; Figure 30. There is Some Question of Where SSDs Fit Best; Figure 31. SLC Flash Prices Can Rise Significantly Higher than MLC; Figure 32. Enterprise SSD Prices Should See a Steep Decline over Time; Figure 33. Enterprise SSD Average Capacity and Price Forecast; Figure 34. Enterprise SSD Revenue Forecast; Figure 35. Unit Shipment Forecast for Enterprise SSDs; Figure 36. SAS SSDs will Out-Ship Fibre Channel before PCIe Takes the Lead; Figure 37. Total Enterprise SSD Shipments by Interface
Tables: Table 1. Visa Key Card Processing Statistics; Table 2. I/O Streams of Four Standard Servers vs. One Virtualized Server; Table 3. HDD, Enterprise HDD, and Enterprise SSD Price and Performance; Table 4. Comparing Power Consumed by Enterprise SSDs and HDDs; Table 5. Specifications of Equivalent High-End HDD and High-Performance SSD Systems; Table 6. Environmental Comparison of Typical SSDs and HDDs; Table 7. SSD Consumption Forecast for Transaction Processing Systems; Table 8. SSD Consumption Forecast for Media Servers; Table 9. SSD Consumption Forecast for Large Internet Servers; Table 10. SSD Consumption Forecast for Science and Engineering Systems; Table 11. Combined Enterprise SSD Forecast by Application (Thousands of Units); Table 12. Top-Down Enterprise SSD Forecast; Table 13. Enterprise SSD Unit Shipments by Interface (Thousands of Units)

Enterprise SSDs: Technologies & Markets

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