Since ASUSTeK introduced the first EeePC adopted a 4GB solid state drive (SSD) in 2007, more laptops started to replace conventional drives with SSDs. Even the capacity was only 4GB for EeePC and Linux OS was run, many users still reinstalled Windows XP in EeePC. Therefore, after the release of Windows 7, desktop, laptop makers as well as ASUSTeK’s new EeePC will enhance the compatibility with the newly introduced Windows 7 OS. Not only hardware manufacturers, but Microsoft’s Windows 7 also is adjusted to better fit SSD in terms of compatibility and efficiency.
Windows 7 enhancements and adjustments
Mainly, Windows 7's new "trim" feature improves SSD’s lifespan and read/write circles. Comparing with conventional hard drives, Windows 7‘s re-engineering will enable SSD to run faster and shorter time of data search. The attached table shows the differences between conventional hard drives and SSDs.
Table 1: the comparison between conventional hard drives and SSDs
In addition, Windows 7 will turn off disk defragmentation when it detects an SSD instead of a spinning disk drive.
SSD manufacturers
In terms of SSD manufacturers, SanDisk introduced ExtremeFFS which is SandDisk’s new flash management technology in November, 2008. ExtremeFFS SSD is expected to be on the market next year with four times faster than existing SSDs. ExtremeFFS has the potential to greatly extend endurance and accelerate SSD random write speeds by as much as 100 times compared with existing systems. SanDisk also newly introduced two measuring tools specified for SSD.
The measuring tools are industry metrics including vRPM and LED announced by Rich Heye, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Solid State Drives (SSD) Business Unit at SanDisk Corp, in Microsoft WinHE 2008 conference in Los Angeles. vRPM (virtual Revolutions Per Minute) gives users benchmarks to evaluate the endurance of SSDs and their performance vs. hard disk drives (HDDs) and other SSDs. LED (Long-term Data Endurance) is to measure the longevity of a SSD.
To better perform Windows Vista at SSD than HDD, the new flash management technology and faster write speed and longevity is necessary. However, the performance of a HDD is based on RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) which doesn’t apply to SSD. Therefore, vRPM will enable users to compare the performance between SSD and HDD. Heye also predicted that the performance of SSD will be four times faster than the existing in 2009 and six times faster than a 2.5 inch HDD. Moreover, LED is the first industry metric that expresses how long data can be reliably stored in SSDs in a measurable number. SanDisk already proposed the metric to JEDEC, the developer of standards for the solid state industry.
In Taiwan, the impact of SSD has increased. How to cope with the impact and to gain the maximum profit for the industry is the main concern. When there are no testing standards, several companies found the Solid State Drive Alliance (SSDA) to ensure the quality for users. Founders are A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., ASMedia Technology Inc., Allion Test Labs, Inc., CoreSolid Storage Corporation, ITE Tech, Inc., ITRI, JMicron Technology Corp., Phison Electronics Corp., Silicon Motion, Inc., Silicon-Power Computer & Communications Inc., Solid State System Co., Ltd., Toshiba and Ulink. The SSDA was established in November, 2008 and aims to define, integrate and promote the SSD Compliance Standard in order to initialize and create an industry acknowledgeable Compliance Program in accordance with the test platform standard defined through leaders of industry professionals.
Conclusion
Taiwan has taken an important role in the fields of memory modules and SSD controlling IC in the world. When overseas leading manufacturers enter SSD market progressively, Taiwan-initiated SSDA did take a first step in compliance standards. In the future, the certification and standards are getting accepted worldwide that will help Taiwan-based manufacturers to take a lead in SSD supply chain.
It is not difficult to find the enhancements and changes for SSD in Windows 7 Beta. In future three years, the writer assumes the SSDs will not fully replace HDDs. For the advantage of SSD’s read/write speed and capacity, SSDs still have a good chance to become the mainstream when SSD prices continue plummeting.