[quote author=“OnMyWayUp”]3. Hell if there is a more reliable, cheap, and better performer than flash… then maybe it is time to drop the flash. But compared to the mechanical drives, again what i have been arguing, that are EXTREMELY unreliable, and offer less performance. (Not to say that I am dropping my support for flash but right now… practically, flash is the medium that I would choose.
We feel exactly the same way, but the thing is that for the forseeable future (probably a shorter length of time than you think I mean when I say that) mechanical hard drives beat flash on two of the three conditions you outlined above. I like flash. It’s totally supplanted two awful technologies: floppies and Zip disks and is good at what it does.
Storage is the next big frontier of computing. Databases, multimedia, recorded communications of all kinds, search indexes, etc, etc, etc are growing at an almost geometric rate. The storage technology market is hot and we’re seeing dozens of new media and storage formats in the prototype stage from the tech that started this thread to BuRay to MRAM to organic storage to 3D storage. Back in 2004, this stuff is either insanely expensive or unavailable, so I’ll go with the one that has the huge practical and technological head start. Anyone else who is doing anything serious (business-wise) will do the same.
I hope you guys understand that when I say that flash is gonna rule the world that I am just looking to start trouble ( er, I mean a spirited debate :wink: ). Truthfully, I just really like the technology and look to see it go mainstream. I realize the challenges presented for this hope I have. I agree with OnMyWayUp when he says we need a better storage medium, and flash has such a theoretical upside. Flash is also here now. Some of the other technologies mentioned truely belong in Popular Science magazine. I can also see the practical side where Drachen and tifo both are looking at what is working for now. You two seem like “comfort zone” folk anyways. :wink:
You know where I stand. When flash becomes an option in place of mechanical drives with the right volume and a reasonable price, I will only darken the cable of a mechanical drive for external storage purposes. Until then, I am waiting for the world to catch up to my fantasy of losing the platters. :D
PS…having a direct connection to the motherboard for added performance (instead of IDE or USB) would be so sweet, too. Great idea!
[quote author=“TruthSeeker”]I can also see the practical side where Drachen and tifo both are looking at what is working for now. You two seem like “comfort zone” folk anyways. :wink:
Not comfort zone, really. I need it to work. Now or in the near future. For example:
My boss says: “Word came down from the chairman that we need to digitize our entire asset library. We’ll start with about 600 GB of data available and probably have almost a TB by next spring. How much will this cost and when can I get this project started?” (paraphrasing for clarity, brevity and sanity)
If I’m the sysadmin, which would my boss like to hear:
1. Let’s wait 5 years for a storage system that costs $45,000+ with Flash! It will be faster, smaller, less noisy and cutting edge technology.
- or -
2. Here’s a solution for less than $10,000 including backup that will do what we need and I can have the equipment here in two weeks.
[quote author=“TruthSeeker”]I hope you guys understand that when I say that flash is gonna rule the world that I am just looking to start trouble ( er, I mean a spirited debate ).
We know. You’re just getting a rise out of the fact that techies don’t let arguments die unwon. :wink:
[quote author=“TruthSeeker”]PS…having a direct connection to the motherboard for added performance (instead of IDE or USB) would be so sweet, too. Great idea!
Actually, i don’t think it’s a good idea…as it would add yet another standard. And there doesn’t seem to be any added benefit of yet another standard. What are the problems with the current interfaces? Is it bandwidth?
USB 2.0 480Mb/s (60MB/s)
Firewire 400Mb/s or 800Mb/s (50 or 100MB/s)
PATA 133MB/s
SATA 150MB/s (moving to 300MB/s shortly)
Like I mentioned before, the fastest commercial flash memory cards top out at 12MB/s. So, there’s still quite a bit of room. The standardization of going through USB 2.0 is a good thing. I don’t think plugging flash memory directly onto a motherboard really solves any problems nor does it add any tangible performance benefits.
Not sure how flash memory can make obsolete the spindle based storage platforms anytime in the near future. Sure, for portable audio devices and laptops I can see where they become useful, but technology isn’t going THAT fast. I haven’t seen an well priced flash based PDA with over 100mB of memory at all. Two 1gig modules of DDR400 Corsair Micro RAM already left gaping holes in my wallet.
Now, what’s wrong with spindle based drives? Reliability? Most manufaturers offer 3 years warranty anyways. By the time the warranty expires, you might as well get double the storage with a new drive. Size? 0.85inch spindle devices have been developed and already exceed flash based storage capacities. Speed? My two 200gig 7200RPM Seagate SATA drives in RAID achieve 76mB/s. My 1gig MemoryStick Pro maxes out at 16mB/s. Now considering that my two spindle devices cost the same as my MemoryStick, I know which storage medium I’d prefer for backups.
[quote author=“long”]Not sure how flash memory can make obsolete the spindle based storage platforms anytime in the near future. Sure, for portable audio devices and laptops I can see where they become useful, but technology isn’t going THAT fast. I haven’t seen an well priced flash based PDA with over 100mB of memory at all. Two 1gig modules of DDR400 Corsair Micro RAM already left gaping holes in my wallet.
Now, what’s wrong with spindle based drives? Reliability? Most manufaturers offer 3 years warranty anyways. By the time the warranty expires, you might as well get double the storage with a new drive. Size? 0.85inch spindle devices have been developed and already exceed flash based storage capacities. Speed? My two 200gig 7200RPM Seagate SATA drives in RAID achieve 76mB/s. My 1gig MemoryStick Pro maxes out at 16mB/s. Now considering that my two spindle devices cost the same as my MemoryStick, I know which storage medium I’d prefer for backups.
Welcome to the board. This ‘Flash’ topic has been going on for months throughout countless threads, but welcome to the real side…
[quote author=“long”]Not sure how flash memory can make obsolete the spindle based storage platforms anytime in the near future. Sure, for portable audio devices and laptops I can see where they become useful, but technology isn’t going THAT fast.
Floppies and CRTs are not obsolete either. But many people still use those. Do you?
[quote author=“long”]
Now considering that my two spindle devices cost the same as my MemoryStick, I know which storage medium I’d prefer for backups.
No arguement here, either. If we were conversing about backup mediums, I would not waste my text. However, I am interested in a flash based laptop which will load Win XP and all my main apps. Temperature, solid state, and weight are big with many people concerning laptops. The speed will increase if demand warrants such. If spindle drives were not mainstream, do you think you would be able to get the kind of speed you have now from your precious RAID setup? The answer is no.
