Intel DC S3700 SSD Features New Proprietary Controller 54
crookedvulture writes "For the first time in more than four years, Intel is rolling out a new SSD controller. The chip is featured in the DC S3700 solid-state drive, an enterprise-oriented offering that's 40% cheaper than the previous generation. The S3700 has 6Gbps SATA connectivity, end-to-end data protection, LBA tag validation, 256-bit AES encryption, and ECC throughout. It also includes onboard capacitors to prevent against data loss due to power failure; if problems with those capacitors are detected by the drive's self-check mechanism, it can disable the write cache. Intel's own high-endurance MLC NAND can be found in the drive, which is rated for 10 full disk writes per day for five years. Prices start at $235 for the 100GB model, and capacities are available up to 800GB. In addition to 2.5" models, there are also a couple of 1.8" ones for blade servers. The DC S3700 is sampling now, with mass production scheduled for the first quarter of 2013."
Re:Proprietary (Score:5, Insightful)
What is "proprietary" supposed to tell me about hardware?
There is just so much wrong with calling things "proprietary" and thinking it'll make the reader perceive the product as superior.
TFS does a terrible job of, um, summarizing the situation; but it does actually make sense in context:
Intel's initial entry into SSDs(X-25) was based on an in-house controller, which(with the exception of the unpleasant 8MB firmware bug) was generally quite well regarded. Then it stagnated. They did a few tepid bumps and firmware updates; but no successor controller appeared. With SSDs actually able to saturate a 3GB/s SATA bus, the fact that Intel had nothing on the table for 6GB/s SATA began to become an issue.
More recently, Intel began shipping 3rd party controllers (most recently Sandforce, possibly some Marvel at some point) on everything but their enterprise gear.
Now, after the thick end of four years, they've brought out their first new SSD controller architecture. Whether it does, in fact, turn out to be better is not known; but it is news after such a long hiatus.