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Intel and Samsung are making a push to extend their data center-class SSD lines with new models featuring higher performance, consistency and endurance than SSDs targeting client devices.
Intel on Monday unveiled the DC S3700 series SSDs, which are available in 100-GB, 200-GB, 400-GB and 800-GB capacity points and which feature twice the read performance and 15-times faster write performance compared to the company's previous 710 series SSDs.
Samsung last week introduced new server and enterprise storage SSDs, including a SATA model and a dual-ported SAS model.
[Related: Slow Ultrabook PC Uptake Dents SSD Shipments: Report]
Intel's new DC S3700 SSDs are the company's third-generation data center SSDs after the introduction of its X25-E enterprise SSD in 2009 and its model 710 in 2011, said Roger Peene, director of data center SSD solutions in Intel's Non-Volatile Memory Solutions group.
The SSDs that Intel labels as data center models are those focused on performance, which Peene said includes more than just an increase in random IOs per second (IOPS).
For instance, the DC S3700 SSDs feature 15 times the write IOPS and double the read IOPS of the earlier model 710, Peene said.
"Also, they are focused on consistent performance," he said. "In laptops and desktops, consistent performance is not required. It's easy for drives to keep up with the client user. But in RAID, storage tends to operate at the performance of the slowest component, and an SSD that runs slower than expected can slow down the entire RAID performance."
Data on the DC S3700 SSDs is protected end-to-end with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error detection, parity checks on all internal busses, error correcting code (ECC) memory and logical block address (LBA) tag protection, Peene said.
"We are working to ensure there is no silent data corruption," he said.
The DC S3700 SSDs also feature high-availability electrolytic capacitors to ensure data in flight is stored if power drops, Peene said. They are based on 25-nanometer MLC technology that allows 10 full data writes per day in order to protect the flash memory from wearing out.
The drives include a five-year warranty and are rated for 2 million hours mean time between failure (MTBF), he said.
