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OCZ goes SSD crazy at CES, leaves no port unplugged
OCZ came rolling into CES this year with a pile of SSDs in tow. Most are pretty firmly aimed at the enterprise market but, what's impressive, is how the company has made sure to cover practically every interface . If you're looking to fill up some PCIe slots, the Z-Drive R5 and are R4 CloudServ have you covered. The former is based on the Kilimanjaro platform, designed with help from Marvell, and can deliver a staggering 2.52 million IOPS and 7.2GB/s. The latter is an evolution of the existing R4 line, but with nearly double the performance in a card that can carry up to 16TB of solid state storage. If rack-mount servers are more your style, the SATA 3.0-packing Chiron delivers a respectable 560MB/s and 100,000 IOPS in a 3.5-inch package. The most exciting item, at least for consumers, is the Lightfoot -- an external, compact SSD ready to take over your under-utilized Thunderbolt port. Lightfoot will be available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB sizes, though, price and release dates are still very much up in the air. Check out the gallery below and complete PR (with a few more products) after the break.
OCZ's Z-Drive R4 PCIe SSD offers 2,800MB/sec, 500,000 IOPS, plenty of thrills
Hard to believe that we spotted OCZ Technology's original Z-Drive at CeBIT 2009. Just over two full years have passed, and already we've seen the 600MB/sec claims offered on that fellow eclipsed by a few successors. Today, the latest in the line is making its debut, with the Z-Drive R4 offering 2,800MB/sec and over 500,000 IOPS with a single SuperScale controller; step up to a dualie, and you'll see 5,600MB/sec transfer rates coupled with 1.2 million input-output operations per second. Not surprisingly, this guy's aimed squarely at enterprise users -- folks who can genuinely take advantage of the speed, and are willing to pay the unpublished rates (yeah, we asked!) that go along with it. It's retaining the PCIe-based form factor, and will be shipped in two standard configurations: a half height version designed for space constrained 1U servers and multi-node rackmount servers, and a full height version. Each of those will be made available with SLC / MLC NAND flash memory, and as with all of OCZ's enterprise kit, customer-specific configurations and functionality are available upon request. Full release is after the break, big spender.
OCZ intros Vertex 3 Pro, Vertex 3 EX and Z-Drive R3 PCIe SSD at CES
Hello, speedsters! OCZ Technology has just busted out a new trio of solid state solutions here at CES, so we won't waste any time getting down to business. Up first is the performance-oriented, MLC-based Vertex 3 Pro, which runs along quite hastily on the SATA 6Gbps interface. We're told that it's built with a next-generation SandForce controller, enabling it to approach 80,000 IOPS and demonstrate 550MB/sec transfer rates. Up next is the Vertex 3 EX, which also utilizes a SATA 6Gbps interface but relies on SLC Flash memory. It's also capable of pushing a similar read rate (and the write rate of 525MB/sec ain't too shabby, either), with both the EX and Pro to be offered in capacities of 50GB, 100GB, 200GB and 400GB. Finally, the third-generation Z-Drive is being officially revealed, with the Z-Drive "R3" PCI Express SSD being the company's first SandForce-drive PCIe SSD. It's engineered for Tier-0/1 data applications, and offers performance rates of 1GB/sec and 135,000 IOPS. Those with absurdly deep pockets can buy one with up to 1.2TB of onboard storage, but alas, OCZ's not serving up MSRPs on any of these guys. The full release is after the break, complete with details on its new ZX Series of power supplies. %Gallery-112480%
OCZ's Z-Drive gets swappable NAND sticks, ludicrous speed in second incarnation
While Fusion-io's PCI-Express SSDs garner glowing reviews and deplete wallets accordingly, OCZ hasn't been so lucky -- even as its similar Z-Drive boasted seriously speedy sequential transfer speeds that made it desirable for video editing and the like, it was tested and found wanting in consumer applications. This time, OCZ is playing to its strengths and marketing its next batch of Z-Drives directly to the professional market. Boasting banks filled with hot-swappable NAND modules, OCZ claims the Z-Drive R2 can be serviced and upgraded in the field -- and with two full tiers of flash memory woven together in a 2TB, eight-way RAID 0 configuration on their premium Z-Drive p88 model, the company claims you'll see 1.4GB/s (yes, that's gigabytes per second) read and write speeds. No word on pricing and availability, but you can safely assume that the power to instantaneously teleport your entire Doctor Who wallpaper collecti-- we mean, edit raw 1080p footage in real time -- won't come cheap.
OCZ's Z-Drive PCI-Express SSD gets exhaustively reviewed
Man, talk about a letdown. It's hard to put into mere words just how excited we were about the OCZ Z-Drive when we saw an early prototype shell way back at CeBIT, and now that it's shipping out to affluent users, we've got a remarkably thorough review explaining that it's probably not the dream device we were all hoping for. The good folks over at Hot Hardware managed to slam the Z-Drive m84 into their PCIe slot and run it through a battery of tests, and aside from larger file transfers, there just wasn't a mind-blowing amount of awesomeness to speak of. Critics expected this thing to rival at least an SSD RAID solution driven by a software RAID controller, but for whatever reason, that simply wasn't the case. Hit the read link for more benchmarks than you'd ever care to see on a weekend, and feel free to pocket that plastic.
OCZ's PCIe SSD Z-Drive finally starts shipping
Call it coincidence if you will, but on the same day that Super Talent announced that its 2TB RAIDDrive would begin shipping next month, OCZ has finally confessed that its Z-Drive is shipping... right now! Originally shown in prototype form back at CeBIT, this PCIe card is equipped with four SSDs linked in a RAID 0 configuration. We'd originally assumed that just a few capacities of the same device would be available, but we're learning today that two iterations will be produced: the Z-Drive p84 will be MLC-based and tout a 750MBps maximum read rate / 650MBps maximum write rate, while the SLC-based Z-Drive e84 cranks that to 800MBps and 750MBps (respectively). Also of note, both models will be available in 256GB and 512GB sizes, though the 1TB flagship will be p84 only. We've checked Amazon again and it's still showing "1 to 3 months" before release, but hopefully there's a memo waiting in some admin's inbox to remedy that.
Final press shots emerge of OCZ's Z-Drive, shipments still forever away
Le sigh. When OCZ's hotly-anticipated Z-Drive popped up for pre-order on Amazon back in May, we just knew that this thing would be shipping out to consumers in no time flat. Yet, here we are in early September with an estimated ship date of "1 to 3 months." Thankfully for those anxiously awaiting a serious dose of PCI-Express-based SSD goodness, it looks as if the firm has finally nailed down the final look, feel and performance numbers for the device. There's no arguing that the unit you see above is all the excuse you need to invest in a translucent chassis, but it's the promised sustained write rates of up to 600MB/sec that really have us drooling. So far as we know, the outfit will still be charging somewhere in the neighborhood of four arms and 2.5 legs for the privilege of ownership, but if that 1TB edition just feels too far out of reach, hopefully the 250GB and 500GB models will only require a smattering of heists.
OCZ's Z-Drive priced at Amazon: $1,561 and way up
The kind folks at OCZ Technology's CeBIT booth told us that they expected the forthcoming Z-Drive to be priced between $1,500 and $2,000, and unfortunately for consumers, they were obviously just talking about the starting tag. Today, the much-hyped PCI-Express SSD card -- which strings a few blocks of flash memory together on a wicked fast PCI-E pipeline -- has been listed at Amazon, and the asking prices are downright eye-popping. The drive is slated to ship in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB flavors, with Amazon demanding $1,561.30, $2,450.50 and $3,368.99 for each in order of mention. We know read rates up to 500MB/sec and write rates of up to 470MB/sec are appealing and all, but damn.[Thanks, Gary]Read - 250GB Z-Drive listingRead - 500GB Z-Drive listingRead - 1TB Z-Drive listing
Prototype OCZ Z-Drive PCI-Express SSD splayed, scoped out
Mmm, PCI-Express-based SSD storage. Be honest, is there anything more delicious? The camera-wielding cats over at Hot Hardware managed to climb behind the scenes at OCZ Technology and snap a bevy of shots of the outfit's highly anticipated Z-Drive in prototype form, and while the device doesn't look all that different than the press shots we peeked last month, there seems to be some ways yet to go before this bad boy's available for purchase. At any rate, the innards look about as you'd expect 'em to, with loads of green PCB littered about with oodles of ultra-speedy flash storage. The drive pictured above is actually a 512GB version with a single 4-pin molex power connector and an X4 PCI-e slot, and it benched at upwards of 500MB/sec during read tests and 400MB/sec on write tests. Check the read link for a closer look -- just don't forget to prep the drool rag before heading over.
OCZ gets official with Z-Drive PCI-Express SSD
Technically, OCZ outed this here PCI-Express SSD way back at CeBIT in March, but it's just now making things super official. Now available with a fresh face and hard specifications, the Z-Drive is aiming to take on wares by firms like Fusion-io and provide blistering transfer rates to anyone who buys in. Essentially, this device removes the SATA bottleneck by employing the PCIe architecture and four Vertex controllers configured in four-way RAID 0 array. Curious about performance? Read speeds can hit upwards of 510MB/sec, while write speeds top out at 480MB/sec -- plenty respectable in our eyes. OCZ's planning to push these out in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities, and while final pricing is still being kept under wraps, we're told that it'll be kept "competitive."
OCZ's Z Drive puts 1TB of blazing SSD capacity in your PCIe slot: eyes-on
Here's a little something OCZ Technology cooked up just for CeBIT: a PCIe enclosure that'll contain 1TB worth of SSD storage with maximum read rates of up to 600MB/sec and maximum write speeds of up to 500MB/sec. Oh, and the sustained write speeds are right around 400MB/sec. Essentially, this device will contain four 256GB MLC-based OCZ SSDs along with 256MB of ECC DDR2 RAM; when slapped in one's desktop, they can choose to set it up as the boot disk or a slave. OCZ is also hoping to offer a 4TB edition by the end of the year, which is totally plausible given that 1TB SSDs are already a reality. The on-hand demo was just a mockup shell, but the finalized version shouldn't look much different than what's pictured in the gallery below. As for pricing and availability? It should hit the US of A in around six weeks for somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000. It's high-end, y'all.
IDL Motors' linear propulsion system gets demonstrated
We'll be honest with you -- IDL Motors' installation at Toy Fair 2008 was a bit short on details, but we're certainly digging what we saw. Apparently, both the Bullet Train & Cars and Z-drive creations were on display, and while the former used linear propulsion to whiz magnet-laden "cars" around a track, the latter enabled similar vehicles to climb steeper slopes than their previous prototypes. Still, we know what you're here for, so click on through to take a peek at the video.[Via MAKE]
