Enterprise SSD Prices Drop by a Third with OCZ's Agility EX Series

From DailyTech: The prices of Solid State Drives using Multi-Level Cell NAND flash have dropped a lot recently. This is mostly due to Intel incorporating flash memory using 34nm technology in its newest generation of X25-M SSDs. This process was first introduced late last year by IM Flash Tech, its joint venture with Micron Technologies, but IMFT was only recently able to overcome mass production problems in order to meet the quantities that Intel needed.

Although MLC flash is fine for most uses, the corporate enterprise market demands the faster speeds and higher reliability of Single-Level Cell NAND. SLC flash is capable of much faster write/erase speeds and cycle reliability than MLC flash, but costs more for the same amount of storage. This has limited its adoption to IT departments that require the highest long-term reliability and lowest down time possible, or tiered storage uses in small and medium businesses. The extremely low latency and fast access speeds have made incorporating SSDs a high priority for IT departments eager to improve performance at a low cost. SSDs are much more cost effective than traditional 15k RPM hard disk drives, especially in a tiered storage environment.

OCZ has been having a lot of success with its Vertex series of SSDs using the Barefoot flash controller. Made by Korean upstart Indilinx, the controller provides random read and write performance that surpasses most of the rest of the market. The Vertex EX series pairs the Barefoot controller with SLC flash to compete against Intel's X25-E in the enterprise market. Recently, OCZ began using MLC flash from second tier manufacturers along with the Barefoot controller to introduce slightly slower SSDs in its Agility series at a much lower price.

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