Due to demanding performance workloads, SLC technology has been the technology
of choice for SSDs in enterprise computing environment. Therefore, it came as
a surprise when in August of this year, STEC, the leading enterprise SSD
vendor announced that it will offer MLC-based enterprise SSDs.
Are these products aimed at niche applications or do they suggest the
beginnings of broader adoption of MLC technology in SSDs in the enterprise
space? This report provides a thoughtful analysis of SSD usage models and
what applications could conceivably be addressed by MLC technology.
In addition, a detailed examination of SSD adoption in notebook, low cost
mobile and desktop PCs is provided.
An excel spreadsheet of all the data in the report along with a the report in
.pdf format is provided.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF TABLES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
ENABLING MLC TECHNOLOGY IN THE ENTERPRISE
NAND (SSD Usage Models) in Enterprise
Overcoming the Shortcomings of MLC Technology
Applications for MLC Technology
ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS
Performance Characteristics
Total Cost of Ownership
General Pricing Trends
Server-attached SSDs
Boot Drives
PCIe
SATA/SAS I/O
Storage-attached SSDs
Boot Drives
FC/SAS I/O
Total Enterprise SSD Market
LOW COST MOBILE PC APPLICATIONS
Netbooks
Smartbooks
Value proposition
Implications for SSDs
Market Outlook
MAINSTREAM PC APPLICATIONS
Trends
Notebook PC Market
Total Cost of Ownership
mSATA
Desktop PC Market
Computing SSD Market
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
SWOT Analysis
NAND Flash Vendors
HDD Vendors
Module Houses
Controller Vendors
HDD Controller Vendors
Summary
Vendor Status
PC Applications
Enterprise Applications
APPENDIX I: NAND FLASH MEMORY OVERVIEW
NAND Flash Memory Introduction
Concept
NAND Flash Architecture
APPENDIX II: ENDURANCE
REFERENCES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT FORWARD INSIGHTS
Services
Contact
List of Figures
Figure 1. Write/Read Workload Applications
Figure 2. Sequential/Random Workload Applications
Figure 3. SSD vs. HDD in the Enterprise - Performance Characteristics
Figure 4. Enterprise HDD vs. SSD Hardware Cost
Figure 5. SSD vs. HDD IOPS
Figure 6. Server Forecast
Figure 7. Total Enterprise SSD Units Forecast
Figure 8. Total Enterprise SSD $/GB Forecast
Figure 9. Total Enterprise SSD GB Forecast
Figure 10. Total Enterprise SSD Revenue Forecast
Figure 11. Total Enterprise SSD Units by Technology
Figure 12. Total Enterprise SSD GB by Technology
Figure 13. Total Enterprise SSD Revenues by Technology
Figure 14. SSD vs. HDD in Low Cost Mobile PCs
Figure 15. Low Cost Mobile PC Unit Forecast
Figure 16. Low Cost Mobile PC Unit Forecast By Technology
Figure 17. LC Mobile PC SSD Capacity Mix
Figure 18. Low Cost Mobile PC SSD GB Forecast
Figure 19. Low Cost Mobile PC SSD Revenue Forecast
Figure 20. SSD Performance Trend
Figure 21. 2.5" SSDs vs. HDDs in PCs - Performance Characteristics
Figure 22. Productivity Improvement Over PC Life
Figure 23. Savings vs. Cost for 128GB SSD Over 3 Year PC Lifecycle
Figure 24. mSATA SSD vs. 2.5" HDD in PCs - Performance Characteristics
Figure 25. Notebook PC Unit Forecast
Figure 26. Notebook PC SSD Unit Forecast
Figure 27. Notebook PC SSD GB Forecast
Figure 28. Notebook PC SSD Revenue Forecast
Figure 29. Desktop PC Unit Forecast
Figure 30. Desktop PC SSD Unit Forecast
Figure 31. Desktop PC SSD GB Forecast
Figure 32. Desktop PC SSD Revenue Forecast
Figure 33. Computing SSD Unit Forecast
Figure 34. Computing GB Forecast
Figure 35. Computing SSD Revenue Forecast
Figure 36. SSD vs. HDD $ / GB
Figure 37. NAND Flash Cell Programming
Figure 38. Multi-level Storage in NAND Flash
Figure 39. NAND Flash Cell Reading
Figure 40. NAND Flash Cell Erase
Figure 41. NAND Cell String
Figure 42. NAND Cell String
Figure 43. NAND Flash Memory Architecture
Figure 44. 8Gb NAND Flash Memory Organization
Figure 46. Endurance vs. SSD Capacity
List of Tables
Table 1. NAND Usage Model
Table 2. Selection Criteria - SLC or MLC?
Table 3. MLC vs. SLC SSD Parameters
Table 4. Boot Drive Forecast (Server-attached)
Table 5. PCIe SSD Forecast
Table 6. SATA/SAS I/O SSD Forecast
Table 7. HDD & SSD Shipment Forecast
Table 8. Storage-attached SSD Forecast
Table 9. LC Mobile PC SSD Product Mix Forecast
Table 10. LC Mobile PC SSD Price Forecast
Table 11. HDD Failure Costs
Table 12. Notebook PC Tasks
Table 13. Savings Over 3 Year PC Life
Table 14. Notebook PC SSD Capacity Unit Mix Forecast
Table 15. Notebook PC SSD OEM Price Forecast
Table 16. Desktop PC SSD Capacity Unit Mix Forecast
Microprocessor Market to 2015 - Enterprise Shift to Cloud Computing and Popularity of Mobile Computing Increasing Demand for Multi-core Processor Chips
