Today, SSSI released the Client PTS.  Client refers to a single user / few tasks environment, as opposed to Enterprise, which implies multiple users / many tasks.  What are the differences between the Client and Enterprise PTS?

The Enterprise PTS calls out a Write Saturation test, where the SSD is written to continuously over the entire drive capacity 4 times or for 24 hours, whichever comes first.  This test provides a good idea of the robustness of the drive in an enterprise environment. This test is not applicable to Client environments, and was not included in the Client PTS.

The other three main types of tests measure IOPS, throughput (MB/sec), and Latency (how quickly a drive responds to commands) and are included in both Enterprise and Client PTS.  Here the Client PTS differs in that that tests may be performed on smaller segments of the drive, not all of the portions of the drive being tested need to be preconditioned, and different types of test stimulus are applied. These changes were based on the testing of literally dozens of different SSDs, as well as data provided by manufacturers of client SSDs.

The Client and Enterprise PTS documents can be downloaded at www.snia.org/pts.

SSSI will be at the Flash Memory Summit in the Santa Clara Convention Center, August 9-11.

Come see us in booth 319, where we’ll feature an SSD performance demonstration, and experts will be ready to discuss the Solid State Storage Performance Test Specification, including a new spec that will be announced at the show.

For booth and conference schedules, see www.flashmemorysummit.com.

Apple recently announced Trim support for all SSD-capable Macs.  What is Trim?

The SSSI Glossary defines the Trim command as “A method by which the host operating system may inform a NAND Flash-based SSS device about which blocks of data are no longer in use and can be erased. Such blocks may then be written without having to erase them first, enhancing SSS device write performance.”

A drive’s internal Garbage Collection performs a similar task as Trim by erasing blocks that have been previously marked for deletion.  However, because of the way that many operating systems work, there will be some blocks that can be repurposed of which only the OS is aware; Trim addresses this issue.

For Trim to be functional, both the SSD and the OS must support it.  Most SSDs of recent vintage support Trim, but check the features list to be sure.

In addition to the Apple OS, anyone who’s been paying attention knows that Microsoft Windows 7 supports Trim.  And an increasing number of Linux versions support Trim, plus FreeBSD and OpenSolaris.  Wikipedia has a more detailed list.

The SNIA SSSI site has a new page entitled Solid State Storage Standards Explained.   It provides an overview of standards on drivers, interfaces, connectors, form factors, security, and testing that must be considered when designing or evaluating an SSD.  There are links to each standards site to get further details. 

The page will be updated regularly and inputs are welcome.  Questions and comments may be sent to asksssi@snia.org.

Update:  A recording of this webcast is available here.

Presenter: Tom Coughlin, SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative and President, Coughlin Associates

Abstract: This session presents a brief overview of the solid state technologies which are being integrated into enterprise storage systems today, including technologies, benefits, and price/performance. It describes where they fit into today’s typical enterprise storage architectures today, with descriptions of specific use cases. Finally, the session speculates briefly on what the future will bring.

This week, the SSSI formally released the Enterprise Solid State Storage Performance Test Specification.   The SSS PTS provides standard test methodology for measuring the performance of Enterprise-class SSDs, so that the performance of products from different manufacturers may be fairly compared.  The press release can be found here. 

The Enterprise SSS PTS may be downloaded from here.

A Client (single user) SSS PTS is planned to be released in Q3 2011.

SSSI will be in booth 616 at Storage Networking World in the Santa Clara Convention Center on April 5-6.  The booths are open 12:30-3:00PM and 5:30-7:30PM on Tuesday, plus 11:00AM-3:00PM on Wednesday.

The SSSI booth will feature a demonstration of the Performance Test Specification by Calypso on their tester.  White papers and other information on SSDs will be available as well.

SSSI has been working with Storage Strategies NOW (www.ssg-now.com) on a survey about solid state storage technology adoption, practice, and deployment.  We’ll have copies of the survey in the booth or it can be completed on-line at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/476489/Solid-State-and-High-Speed-Memory-Adoption-Practice-and-Deployment.  Qualified responses will receive a $7.50 Amazon gift card or have the option to have it donated to the Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund.

Come to SNW and ask SSSI about SSDs.

The Enterprise Solid State Storage Performance Test Specification v1.0 draft has been posted at http://www.snia.org/publicreview/ and is available for download.  [Update: released specification is now available here.]

The Enterprise SSS PTS provides a standard way of measuring the performance of SSDs for Enterprise applications, thus enabling fair comparisons of SSDs from different suppliers.

It is anticipated that final release of the Enterprise SSS PTS will occur in April 2011.

Work is ongoing in the  SSS Technical Work Group on development of a Client SSS PTS.

More information about the SSS PTS can be found at http://www.snia.org/forums/sssi/knowledge/education/.

SSSI will be at Storage Visions in Las Vegas on January 4-5.  Our booth will feature a demonstration of Storage Pairing (HDD + SSD) technology, details about the SSS Performance Test Specification, and lots of informative white papers & other literature.

For more information about the show, see www.storagevisions.com, and for the latest information about Solid State Storage, visit SSSI in booth #4.

SSSI authors have created a number of interesting and useful white papers recently.

Solid State Storage Performance Test Specification (SSS PTS) White Paper describes the soon to be released SSS PTS and explains the test methodologies contained therein.

SSSI Glossary is a collection of terminology that will be a valuable reference for those wishing to better understand Solid State Storage.  It will be updated with new terms regularly.

SSS PTS Case Study illustrates how the SSS PTS can be used to compare the performance of SSDs by describing the test results of 17 different SSDs.

These white papers and others can be found at http://www.snia.org/forums/sssi/knowledge/education/.