SSD Drive Toolkit

SSD drives which are based on flash memory in most cases are more productive than traditional hard disks with magnetic plates. SSD disks better resist to external harms. But they are much more expensive. To date, replacement of hard drive to SSD drive in the laptop adds to the price $100-600 depending on capacity.

Nevertheless we see how fast SSD drives are closing to their competitors’ price. Today you can find the low-end models with capacity of 32-64GB which can be purchased for $90-150. But 3-4 years ago price for such a device reached $1000 or even more. The question arises – when will SSD drives be selling at the same price as HDDs? And will they at last?

Brian Beard, manager of Samsung Semiconductor flash memory marketing unit, attempted to clarify the situation. According to him, the achievement of price parity is only the matter of time. Over the past five years flash memory price each year is declining dramatically – by 40%, 50%, 60% yearly or even more. And there is a tendency of further price lowering. Brian believes, SSDs would have equal price with hard disk drives in the next few years

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It’s good to know that there’s people in the world which like to do fun things. Company of friends decided to connect 24 SSDs to one PC. And they successfully did it. Moreover, the resulting experimental system was lightning-fast.

24 Samsung SSD Drives in One PC

In less than one day guys assembled powerful PCs based on two 3.2-GHz Quad-core CPU Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9775, motherboard Intel Skulltrail D5400XS, 4GB of RAM FB-DIMM DDR2-800, two ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 video cards. But the key feature of computer is disk subsystem: twenty four 256GB Samsung SSD drives with total capacity of 6 terabytes. To organize the drives massive enthusiasts used RAID-controllers Adaptec Series 5 and Areca 1680ix-24.

One of the most difficult steps was finding of the optimal configuration of SSD drives. After a series of experiments and errors had been found the best option – 10 drives connected to the controller Areca, 8 to the controller Adaptec, and the remaining 6 directly to the SATA-ports of the motherboard. In this approach fantastic performance was achieved – serial read/write speed exceeded 2GB/s. But to obtain such a result experimentalists had to disconnect one of the video cards because the computer hadn’t enough power to initialize the Areca controller. In addition they had to unplug all optical drives to free ports. Power supply to this unique system was provided by two kilowatt Corsair HX1000W units.

Let’s note some main characteristics of assembled PC:
* The speed of reading from the SSD with a serial access: 2121.29MB/s (measured using IOMeter);
* Writing speed with serial access: 2000.195MB/s (measured using IOMeter);
* Loading of all Microsoft Office applications in only 0.5 seconds;
* Loading of 53 applications in 18.09 seconds.
You can see whole process of assembling and testing in the this video:

Here’s nice video showing disk drives benchmark. Weight, speed in special situation and vibration resistance are tested.

Samsung introduced the world’s first camcorder with a 64 GB SSD. Samsung HMX-H106 is a Full HD (1920×1080) camcorder. The device is previous model VM-MX25E + SSD. In addition to 64 GB version Samsung has released a smaller 32 GB modification – HMX-H105.

Samsung HMX-H106 at CES

HMX-H106 Supports H.264 codec and equipped with a Schneider Kreuznach Vaioplan HD optics (37mm focal length). 4.7-megapixel matrix perceives and transforms the image coming through lens. 2.7 -inches screnn, 10x optical zoom and new image stabilizer – the additional advantages of that device. Price of Samsung HMX-H106/H105 is unknown. New camcorder will become available in April and H105 is set to begin shipping in March.

Samsung HMX-H106

Official Samsung Press Release:

The HMX-H106, Samsung’s new flagship full-HD digital camcorder, is the world’s first to feature an internal 64GB Solid State Drive (SSD). Samsung’s renowned SSD technology offers a substantial advantage over the use of Hard Disk Drives (HDD) in a digital camcorder, providing consumers with higher performing and more durable internal memory. In comparison to HDD, Samsung’s SSD technology is more lightweight and compact, operates silently with very low heat emission, and features no moving parts, which significantly reduces overall power consumption and enhances reliability. No moving parts also make SSD technology more durable and resistant to shock and vibrations, which pose a considerable threat to the performance of HDD based digital camcorders.

Additionally, Samsung’s SSD technology is faster than HDD, including quicker boot-up and read/write speeds which is required for the amount of data recorded in full-HD resolution. When actively reading and writing data, Samsung’s SSD technology consumes approximately 1/8th of the power of a comparable HDD.

The HMX-H105 and HMX-H104 offer 32GB and 16GB SSDs, respectively, and like the HMX-H106, also allow consumers to expand memory capacity using an SD/SDHC memory card. The HMX H100 does not feature an internal SSD and requires the use of a SD/SDHC memory card.

The new H-Series full-HD digital camcorders also utilize H.264 compression, which significantly increases recording time. At full-HD resolution and when set to fine mode, users can record up to three hours directly to the 16GB HMX-H104, six hours to the 32GB HMX H105, and an unparalleled 12 hours to the 64GB HMX-H106.

Producing a high-quality image starts at the lens, which is highly regarded as one of the most important components of a camcorder. Precision optics are paramount in helping produce inspiring video and Samsung’s H-Series camcorders underscore this assessment by incorporating world renowned Schneider optics. The camcorders’ Schneider Kreuznach Varioplan HD lens features a 10x optical zoom and is paired with Samsung’s new Optical Image Stabilizer to help reduce the blur found in footage as a result of vibrations and hand shake.

The Schneider lens also features a 37mm wide-angle focal length. Unlike other camcorders offering a typical angle of view of 40~50mm, the H-Series’ 37mm wide-angle Schneider lens allows users to fit more of their desired scene into the frame, making the camcorder ideal for recording large groups of family or friends, breathtaking landscapes or even capturing all the action at sporting events.

The trusted Schneider lens also helps capture remarkably clear and sharp video with accurate color reproduction. The H-Series’ direct HDMI connections allow consumers to effortlessly enjoy their full-HD content on their HDTV without the need for proprietary docking cradles. Consumers can also utilize the camcorders to take more than just stunning high definition video, as each offers a built-in strobe flash and the ability to capture 4.7 mega-pixel digital still photos.

“This new series of high-definition digital camcorders clearly speaks to Samsung’s commitment to providing today’s consumers with the most advanced and highest performing digital imaging technology,” said Tony Sorice, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Digital Imaging at Samsung Electronics America. “Our ability to leverage the synergies that exist across our various businesses in the design and manufacture of digital camcorders and cameras, allows us to better meet customer demands and bring higher-performing digital imaging solutions to market faster and more efficiently.”

At the heart of Samsung’s new H-Series of full-HD digital camcorders is a high performance CMOS imaging sensor. Measuring 1/4.5 inches, the CMOS sensor boasts 2.2 mega-pixels and yields impressive light sensitivity helping enhance the overall imaging experience for the end-user. The camcorders also offer a large 2.7 inch touch screen LCD, which serves as the gateway to the camcorders’ comprehensive suite of features. The swiveling LCD also gives users access to key camcorder controls, including record and zoom. When utilized in conjunction with Samsung’s proprietary swivel grip, the additional placement of controls on the LCD screens allow users to effortlessly control the camcorder at low or high angles.

The camcorders also feature a HD Time Lapse recording mode that will give consumers the ability to experiment with their creativity. When shooting in the Time Lapse recording mode, the camcorder will record a single image at an interval pre-selected by the user, either 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 30 seconds, and will save each image as one single movie file.