Intel SSD 320: Taking Reliability To The Next Level

Interesting post about Intel’s SSD technology…

Intel SSD 320 drives include redundant flash memory. Should any of the drive's blocks go bad, they can be remapped to the surplus storage transparently. The new SSDs also include an array of capacitors able to keep the controller running during a power loss. Cached information is quickly written to non-volatile flash to maintain data integrity.

We all know SSDs are fast. They're so fast, in fact, that many enterprises dependent on high-performance storage have replaced cabinets full of mechanical disks with just a handful of solid-state drives to achieve similar I/O throughput. But, in a business environment, uptime is often even more important than speed.

Intel already has a fantastic reputation for delivering reliable SSDs. Its drives are increasingly being used in mission critical environments specifically because they're proving to be so dependable. Real-world data from the company's reseller partners help quantify those claims—Intel's second-generation mainstream X25-M came back .59% of the time, while competing SSDs demonstrated a greater than two percent return rate.

And now that we're looking at the third-gen SSD 320, Intel's reliability story gets an even more substantial emphasis. To begin, SSD 320 drives include redundant flash memory. Should any of the drive's blocks go bad, they can be remapped to the surplus storage transparently. The new SSDs also include an array of capacitors able to keep the controller running during a power loss. Cached information is quickly written to non-volatile flash to maintain data integrity.

Those improvements add up a product in which customers should put even more faith. In fact, Intel recently fortified its warranty coverage on the SSD 320, extending it from three years to five.