Finally took the time to get to grips with some SSDs from the time when they were still interesting, i.e. before September 2008 when
Intel released theirs and demonstrated how to do it right.
What might these have in common? That they use SLC flash and are not quite what they seem to be at first glance.
First the SanDisk, straight from week 22, 2007. Eight 2GB Samsung flash modules on one side of the PCB...
...and another eight on the other side. Accompanied by a home-grown SanDisk controller and a Marvell 88SA8040 PATA-to-SATA bridge in plain sight. Yup.
Benchmark results show this not being a problem at all, but writes are only half of
what they're supposed to be.
Next the mighty Mtron from week 27, 2008. Sixteen 2GB Toshiba flash modules on one side...
...another sixteen on the other side. Accompanied by a home-grown Mtron controller, a cache module and a Marvell 88SA8052 PATA-to-SATA bridge. Yet again!
At least, it shows promising results for its time.
This was probably the most boring post you've read all week, but I don't care
😉