OCZ HSDL Eliminates the Bottleneck of Current Interfaces for Unparalleled Performance

[btarunr]

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for computing devices and systems, has unveiled a proprietary interface called "High-Speed Data Link" (HSDL) to accelerate the progression of solid-state storage. Unsatisfied with existing interface options, OCZ developed HSDL to eliminate I/O bottlenecks and enable SSD technology to operate at its full potential. With this initiative, OCZ aims to enhance high performance computing (HPC) and I/O-intensive infrastructures for its clients.

"Solid State Drive throughput speeds are increasing at a rate in excess of what current storage buses can support, and as a result, storage protocols are quickly becoming the bottleneck to storage subsystem performance," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology. "Designed for both high-performance computing and enterprise storage applications, our new High Speed Data Link interface addresses this issue and revolutionizes data storage by significantly outperforming other current interfaces delivering performance at levels that saturate most CPU buses."



Capable of running up to 20 Gbps of data bandwidth per channel, HSDL significantly outperforms existing storage interfaces such as Serial ATA (SATA) and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) which only offer 3 Gbps / 6 Gbps data rates. Furthermore, multiple HSDL channels can be combined for maximum bandwidth to increase productivity levels in both consumer and enterprise applications.

OCZ's new HSDL interface is the driving force behind the "OCZ IBIS," an upcoming 3.5-inch SSD to be launched under the new HSDL initiative. As the first solution to make use of the HSDL interface, the OCZ IBIS Series has the potential to redefine storage and surpass the limitations currently placed on hard drives as well as other SSDs.

HSDL is an open standard and allows other devices to leverage this high-speed internal interconnect technology. OCZ is diligently working with platform partners for mass HSDL adoption, and in the meantime, single port adapter cards will ship with every HSDL solid-state drive such as the IBIS Series, while quad port cards for multiple drive configurations will also be available to clients seeking even greater storage and bandwidth.

[n-ster]

wow, wasn't expecting this

[erocker]

Originally Posted by btarunr

OCZ is diligently working with platform partners for mass HSDL adoption

Good luck!

[n-ster]

ya never know

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by erocker

Good luck!

Well, you don't need platform (as in your motherboard) to have an HSDL port. OCZ gives a single port PCI-E x4 card.

[Batou1986]

Don't quote me on this but has anyone actually seen a real world bottle neck on SAS setup

I mean anyone can intentionally overpopulate an array and bottleneck it with synthetic benchmarks.
but in a single drive setup i don't think any ssd is gonna hit 6 Gbit/s of throughput,
unless there's some other "I/O bottlenecks" that im not aware of that they are referring to.

[erocker]

Originally Posted by btarunr

Well, you don't need platform (as in your motherboard) to have an HSDL port. OCZ gives a single port PCI-E x4 card.

Right, which is the more logical way to go for now. It would take years for a port such as this to show up, built in to a motherboard with the possible exception of AIB's adding it in at the expense of some other feature/pci-e lanes etc.

I'm just thinking along the lines of USB 3.0 adaptation time and things like that.

[Jizzler]

We'll see how this goes. The tests over at Anandtech didn't really inspire me much. I'll give them that it's still *very* early. A device could be designed with native HDSL in mind, which could show the benefits of the interface (not just raw bandwidth, but latency, etc). That's what it'll need to go against available solutions such as 4 channel 6Gbps (controllers to backplanes usually).

[xrealm20]

Still an awesome product - the 4 way card that OZC is developing that would allow for a 4 way IBIS array will deliver some staggering bandwidth results. This setup is currently more geared towards servers, but may end up coming down to desktops.

Passing PCIe lanes via SAS cables is rather brilliant, and I look forward to seeing where this tech ends up.

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by erocker

Right, which is the more logical way to go for now. It would take years for a port such as this to show up

HSDL is basically PCI-Express x4 with its own cable and port design, and probably data format. So it's not hard to propagate it from a technical standpoint. Just that you need chipset designers to scrap the PCI-E lane budget they've been stuck to since 2003.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by erocker

good luck!

+1

[DanishDevil]

Proprietary blah blah blah. Just make cheaper and faster PCI-E x4 SSDs then so everybody on a current-gen platform can use it.

And I'm with erocker on this one. Good luck getting people to integrate it.

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by DanishDevil

Proprietary blah blah blah. Just make cheaper and faster PCI-E x4 SSDs then so everybody on a current-gen platform can use it.

HSDL is an open standard. It's OCZ's way of pissing on the PCI SIG by designing a sleeker PCI-E cable than what you'll find on Infiniband.

[GunsAblazin]

Originally Posted by Batou1986

Don't quote me on this but has anyone actually seen a real world bottle neck on SAS setup

I mean anyone can intentionally overpopulate an array and bottleneck it with synthetic benchmarks.
but in a single drive setup i don't think any ssd is gonna hit 6 Gbit/s of throughput,
unless there's some other "I/O bottlenecks" that im not aware of that they are referring to.

Where talking enterprise servers, the work they do far outweigh a benchmark on a desktop or workstation and despite there power they still crash.

[WarEagleAU]

so how does the pciex4 slot do for bandwidth? Is it able to provide the 20GB/s OCZ is saying?

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by WarEagleAU

so how does the pciex4 slot do for bandwidth? Is it able to provide the 20GB/s OCZ is saying?

OCZ said 20 Gb/s. PCI-E 2.0 x4 is 32 Gb/s, PCI-E 1.1 x4 is 16 Gb/s, but rounded off as 20 Gb/s. I know, it's a large difference to round off, but it's the same as saying SATA 300 MB/s is SATA 3 Gb/s, or 600 MB/s is 6 Gb/s. The rounding off is mathematically wrong (8 bits make a byte, while storage industry rounds off 10 bits as a byte), but the entire industry does it anyway.

[n-ster]

1.25x and nearly twice is a big difference lol

[DaMulta]

So they are going to give this card away for free when you buy one of their drives?/?

If so NICE!

[n-ster]

probably will sell it as a combo with a price premium over a single drive

[steelkane]

ocz is my last choice for anything

[n-ster]

TBH, their SSDs are amazing, namely, Vertex 2, revodrive etc

[Frick]

It'll be interesting to follow. Good of them to make it an open standard as well. The future is indeed here.

[Tannhäuser]

It's hard to follow all the developments and possibilities regarding everything SSD is about. I'm STILL stuck on normal HDDs, because SSD still is way to expensive and beyond that changes on this market are running fast - the SSD you bought two months ago could already be antiquated today. At least this is a feeling I have. Correct me, if I got this wrong.

[DanishDevil]

That's how almost all current-gen hardware is, though. SSD's are not viable for the average user right now.

[n-ster]

Prices aren't that horrible... There was that Kingston 40GB with TRIM at 60$... I'm sure they will satrt including them mainstream soon