Solid-state drive (SSD)
An SSD (solid-state drive or solid-state disk) is a storage device that stores persistent data on solid-state flash memory. SSDs actually aren't hard drives at all, in the traditional sense of the term, as there are no moving parts involved. Instead, an SSD has an array of semiconductor memory organized as a disk drive, using integrated circuits (ICs) rather than magnetic or optical media.
Smart Response Technology
• SRT is managed by Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) software version 10.5 or later, and implemented in its device driver and the Z68 motherboard's firmware.
• It is available only when the (integrated) disk controller is configured in RAID mode (but not AHCI or IDE modes) by implementing a style of RAID-0 striping.
• Supports both Write-back (Maximized mode) and write-through (Enhanced mode).
• The maximum utilizable cache size on the SSD is 64 GB.
• Caching is done at the logical block addressing (LBA) level, not the file level.
• TRIM garbage collection is currently not supported for SRT caching devices, so the SSD's performance is solely maintained by its own firmware.
This tip will compare single-level cell and multi-level cell flash memory, or SLC vs. MLC.
SSDs should be part of any storage acquisition discussion in 2012 for some very compelling reasons that are shared by SLC and MLC flash storage -- performance, power efficiency, and reliability.
Flash is expensive when measured on a dollar per gigabyte basis. It’s inexpensive when measured as dollar per IOPS or dollar per gigabyte throughput.
But capacity is the tail that wags the storage dog. Data capture is on an accelerating curve, making capacity a key criterion. Flash storage capacity density seriously trails HDD storage by a large significant margin and will continue to trail for at least the near term.
Enterprise MLC (eMLC) is a type of multi-level cell (MLC) flash that has been enhanced to accommodate more write cycles than consumer-grade MLC flash offers.
External Links:
Smart Response Technology : http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review/2