|
Flash Memory to reach $1/Gig |
|
Written by Chris Tangora
|
|
Sunday, 01 June 2008 |
One of the most handy every day pieces of technology is the flash drive, made with NAND technology. The MacBook Air was recently introduced with a flash drive option, and flash drives seem like a great option for modders due to their small foot print.
A lot of that is going to change with SSD (Solid State Drives) in the next few months. Currently it cost the NAND manufacturers about $2.5/GB or $10 for a 4GB flash memory chip . Intel and Micron (known as Crucial to you and me) have partnered up to make IM Flash Technologies, LLC . IM Flash is focused on making NAND memory and has plans to change everything. Intel/IM Flash was a late comer to the NAND market, but they have quickly caught up.
While NAND might get cheaper for IM Flash, it won't help with the boutique feeling of flash memory until larger hard drives are available. Multilevel Cell (MLC) technology will help there. Essentially think of it as adding more chips connected to the same controller. 256GB Flash drives should be rolling out by the end of 2008 or early 2009. Expect to see
The final problem with NAND memory is it's life cycle. While most people believe that because there are no moving parts, the drives will last longer. That isn't necessarily true. MLC required for higher densities also generate more heat and thus have a higher data loss. MLC chips also require more advanced data loss management, since there are far more addresses to manage and more data loss overall.
So when you start seeing the flash memory start dropping in price and the disk drives getting bigger and bigger, be cautious. It isn't the same as the flash memory on the market now.
From news.com via codehound
|
