RAIDON Rolls-out a DIY SSD Solution

btarunr · Jul 23, 2008, 01:22 PM

With the prices of solid state drives (SSD) on the fall, this gadget comes a tad late, but if you're (still) looking for an inexpensive SSD-like solution, Taiwanese manufacturer RAIDON unveiled an SSD enclosure, a device that holds up to two Compact Flash (CF) cards in either RAID 1 or NRAID (capacity increment) modes. Another demerit is that while the prices of SSDs are on a fall, the prices of CF cards aren't. 16 GB cards are selling for prices which make buying two 16 GB CF cards pointless compared to 32 GB MLC SSDs. What looks like the a 2.5 inch SSD with the hood closed, clearly isn't. The enclosure has the same exact dimensions of a 2.5 inch drive with mount-holes. The device supports both IDE and SATA host interfaces.

Source: Hexus.net

newtekie1 · Jul 23, 2008, 01:28 PM

This device came to the market too late. Two 32GB CF cards will cost you $100 a piece, $200 total, plus the cost of this device which I assume will be in the $50 range. A 60GB SSD drive goes for $300, so for $50 more you might as well just go with the SSD.

tigger · Jul 23, 2008, 01:30 PM

Not in the uk,16gb cards are about £100($200)

VulkanBros · Jul 23, 2008, 01:46 PM

unless you have a bunch of CF card´s from old cameras or whatever...
then it would make sense

FreedomEclipse · Jul 23, 2008, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigger69

Not in the uk,16gb cards are about £100($200)

actually - no, prices are not as high as that Amazon.co.uk Has them for £89.99

but year for a mere £10 difference roughly

Baum · Jul 23, 2008, 02:15 PM

CF cards are ssd? thought there are some sort of small HDD inside with running pattern and heads? they are not shock resistant or fast seeking.

and aren't they sloww?
i tried to mod my IPTV with new CF 145x speed @1GB but XP was ultra slow on write/read.
Transferspeed is/was far away from my sata 2.5"

am i wrong? correct me.........

but i would buy it as my lappi only got one slot for hdd and with that i would be able to upgrade right? just plug in another card.

DrPepper · Jul 23, 2008, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baum

CF cards are ssd? thought there are some sort of small HDD inside with running pattern and heads? they are not shock resistant or fast seeking.

and aren't they sloww?
i tried to mod my IPTV with new CF 145x speed @1GB but XP was ultra slow on write/read.
Transferspeed is/was far away from my sata 2.5"

am i wrong? correct me.........

but i would buy it as my lappi only got one slot for hdd and with that i would be able to upgrade right? just plug in another card.

They are definately SSD and not mechanical but as for performance I thought it would be the same as a SSD unless it was used from a usb or firewire etc.

newtekie1 · Jul 23, 2008, 02:46 PM

CompactFlash cards are definitely Flash memory based, which is what SSD drives are based on. It is essentially the same technology and they are shock resistant.

However, there were Compact Flash sized hard drives released in the market a few years back, that were mechanically based. I know Seagate and Sony both released version like this to help increase the storage size available in the form factor. However, once flash memory became cheaper, they died off.

DrPepper · Jul 23, 2008, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtekie1

CompactFlash cards are definitely Flash memory based, which is what SSD drives are based on. It is essentially the same technology and they are shock resistant.

However, there were Compact Flash sized hard drives released in the market a few years back, that were mechanically based. I know Seagate and Sony both released version like this to help increase the storage size available in the form factor. However, once flash memory became cheaper, they died off.

You might be right there

russianboy · Jul 23, 2008, 03:22 PM

They were called "Microdrives" used in Mp3 players and the like.

They were fragile, and used a lot of power.

Fitseries3 · Jul 23, 2008, 03:26 PM

this CF to raid drive thingy has been at my Microcenter for 4 months now. if 8gig CF cards were so damn much i'd pick one up to try. the price sucks but i get discounts. it sells at MC for $84.99 and the 8gig CF cards are $79 each.

EDIT: i'll go grab one today IF someone can find me 2x 8gig CF cards for cheap.

iamollie · Jul 23, 2008, 03:53 PM

its a shame that sd dont have a high enough read write. otherwise that would have amazingly high capacities. imagine you could fit like 50 sd micros into a 2.5 drive

newtekie1 · Jul 23, 2008, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitseries3

EDIT: i'll go grab one today IF someone can find me 2x 8gig CF cards for cheap.

How cheap do you consider cheap? Newegg has 8GB CF cards for $26 a pop. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211259

UPS 3 Day Shipping is $7, but if you change it to the 3-7 Day "Eggsaver" shipping, it is only $2.69.

Edit: I guess, now that I look at it, if you use 8GB CF cards for $26 a piece, you can build a 16GB SSD for under $100. That really is pretty good price wise. It is only the 16GB CF cards that are priced too high.

Fitseries3 · Jul 23, 2008, 04:44 PM

eh... the cheaper ones dont write as fast. thats the problem with this idea. you need good quality CF cards that can read and write fast in order to make it worth getting.

Solaris17 · Jul 23, 2008, 05:03 PM

This is an amazing idea

OnBoard · Jul 24, 2008, 09:50 PM

This has been out for ages, as in CF to IDE adapter. And it has veen tried also with CF card failing very soon. If some miracle hasn't happened with flash cards in last couple years, please don't put anything valuable in these, if you don't want to lose all the data.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but SSD drives write on different parts of the flash all the time to limit the wear and tear, while CF doesn't do it, they have no "brain". Make this a swap drive and see smoke coming out soon

(well not, but they will fail, they have to, or I'll be sad as I would have used a flash card swap drive couple years now..)

edit: CF to IDE adapter is 3 bucks, those with free IDE slots on motherboard try that first. Now if someone has been using something like that with heavy usage for a while, please tell. 2-4GB card would work fine as a swap and cost next to nothing. Or go for two CF to SATA adapters and RAID-0 them

Jul 23, 2008, 01:22 PM	#1
btarunr Editor & Senior Moderator Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hyderabad, India Posts: 14,984 (7.29/day) Thanks: 788 Thanked 12,911 Times in 5,655 Posts System Specs	RAIDON Rolls-out a DIY SSD Solution With the prices of solid state drives (SSD) on the fall, this gadget comes a tad late, but if you're (still) looking for an inexpensive SSD-like solution, Taiwanese manufacturer RAIDON unveiled an SSD enclosure, a device that holds up to two Compact Flash (CF) cards in either RAID 1 or NRAID (capacity increment) modes. Another demerit is that while the prices of SSDs are on a fall, the prices of CF cards aren't. 16 GB cards are selling for prices which make buying two 16 GB CF cards pointless compared to 32 GB MLC SSDs. What looks like the a 2.5 inch SSD with the hood closed, clearly isn't. The enclosure has the same exact dimensions of a 2.5 inch drive with mount-holes. The device supports both IDE and SATA host interfaces. Source: Hexus.net

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Jul 23, 2008, 01:28 PM	#2
newtekie1 Semi-Retired Folder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 17,774 (6.48/day) Thanks: 780 Thanked 5,125 Times in 3,714 Posts System Specs	This device came to the market too late. Two 32GB CF cards will cost you $100 a piece, $200 total, plus the cost of this device which I assume will be in the $50 range. A 60GB SSD drive goes for $300, so for $50 more you might as well just go with the SSD. __________________ Rig1: System Specs. Rig2: A8-5600K@4.4GHz / AsRock FM2A75 Pro4 / 8GB Corsair DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 / HD7560D / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB WD Green + 3x3TB WD RED in RAID5 Rig3: Athlon X2 4200+ / M4A79 Deluxe / 4GB G.Skill Pi DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 / GT430 / Sony DVD-Burner / 500GB WD Rig4: Phenom II x6 1605T @ 3.6GHz / Asus M5A99X Evo / 8GB PNY DDR3-1600 9-9-9 / GTX470 & GTX470 / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB Seagate

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Jul 23, 2008, 01:30 PM	#3
tigger I'm the only one Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: HU5 1LL Posts: 7,215 (2.75/day) Thanks: 475 Thanked 951 Times in 780 Posts System Specs	Not in the uk,16gb cards are about £100($200) __________________ http://img.techpowerup.org/110324/v6351cpuzvalj197.jpg ]Monster E6300 oc http://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/2163.html

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Jul 23, 2008, 01:46 PM	#4
VulkanBros Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: At the Pico Mundo grille Posts: 1,090 (0.36/day) Thanks: 249 Thanked 206 Times in 147 Posts System Specs	unless you have a bunch of CF card´s from old cameras or whatever... then it would make sense __________________ If your knees aren´t green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life.... -Calvin

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Jul 23, 2008, 02:15 PM	#6
Baum Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Germany,Hannover Posts: 403 (0.13/day) Thanks: 78 Thanked 31 Times in 22 Posts System Specs	CF cards are ssd? thought there are some sort of small HDD inside with running pattern and heads? they are not shock resistant or fast seeking. and aren't they sloww? i tried to mod my IPTV with new CF 145x speed @1GB but XP was ultra slow on write/read. Transferspeed is/was far away from my sata 2.5" am i wrong? correct me......... but i would buy it as my lappi only got one slot for hdd and with that i would be able to upgrade right? just plug in another card.

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Jul 23, 2008, 02:46 PM	#8
newtekie1 Semi-Retired Folder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 17,774 (6.48/day) Thanks: 780 Thanked 5,125 Times in 3,714 Posts System Specs	CompactFlash cards are definitely Flash memory based, which is what SSD drives are based on. It is essentially the same technology and they are shock resistant. However, there were Compact Flash sized hard drives released in the market a few years back, that were mechanically based. I know Seagate and Sony both released version like this to help increase the storage size available in the form factor. However, once flash memory became cheaper, they died off. __________________ Rig1: System Specs. Rig2: A8-5600K@4.4GHz / AsRock FM2A75 Pro4 / 8GB Corsair DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 / HD7560D / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB WD Green + 3x3TB WD RED in RAID5 Rig3: Athlon X2 4200+ / M4A79 Deluxe / 4GB G.Skill Pi DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 / GT430 / Sony DVD-Burner / 500GB WD Rig4: Phenom II x6 1605T @ 3.6GHz / Asus M5A99X Evo / 8GB PNY DDR3-1600 9-9-9 / GTX470 & GTX470 / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB Seagate

Jul 23, 2008, 03:22 PM	#10
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Jul 23, 2008, 03:26 PM	#11
Fitseries3 Eleet Hardware Junkie Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 14,993 (7.28/day) Thanks: 4,318 Thanked 3,285 Times in 2,186 Posts System Specs	this CF to raid drive thingy has been at my Microcenter for 4 months now. if 8gig CF cards were so damn much i'd pick one up to try. the price sucks but i get discounts. it sells at MC for $84.99 and the 8gig CF cards are $79 each. EDIT: i'll go grab one today IF someone can find me 2x 8gig CF cards for cheap. Last edited by Fitseries3; Jul 23, 2008 at 03:38 PM.

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Jul 23, 2008, 03:53 PM	#12
iamollie Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 101 (0.05/day) Thanks: 7 Thanked 8 Times in 8 Posts System Specs	its a shame that sd dont have a high enough read write. otherwise that would have amazingly high capacities. imagine you could fit like 50 sd micros into a 2.5 drive __________________

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Jul 23, 2008, 04:44 PM	#14
Fitseries3 Eleet Hardware Junkie Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 14,993 (7.28/day) Thanks: 4,318 Thanked 3,285 Times in 2,186 Posts System Specs	eh... the cheaper ones dont write as fast. thats the problem with this idea. you need good quality CF cards that can read and write fast in order to make it worth getting.

Jul 23, 2008, 05:03 PM	#15
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Jul 24, 2008, 09:50 PM	#16
OnBoard Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Finland Posts: 2,773 (1.13/day) Thanks: 302 Thanked 382 Times in 302 Posts System Specs	This has been out for ages, as in CF to IDE adapter. And it has veen tried also with CF card failing very soon. If some miracle hasn't happened with flash cards in last couple years, please don't put anything valuable in these, if you don't want to lose all the data. Correct me if I'm wrong, but SSD drives write on different parts of the flash all the time to limit the wear and tear, while CF doesn't do it, they have no "brain". Make this a swap drive and see smoke coming out soon (well not, but they will fail, they have to, or I'll be sad as I would have used a flash card swap drive couple years now..) edit: CF to IDE adapter is 3 bucks, those with free IDE slots on motherboard try that first. Now if someone has been using something like that with heavy usage for a while, please tell. 2-4GB card would work fine as a swap and cost next to nothing. Or go for two CF to SATA adapters and RAID-0 them __________________ CPU-Z validation sig pics temporarily blocked Last edited by OnBoard; Jul 24, 2008 at 09:57 PM.

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