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Features

The Hybrid Power Punch

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DQI Bureau
New Update

In a major push towards the hybrid storage drive technology, a
strong group comprising Hitachi, Samsung, Seagate Technology and Toshiba have
formed a Hybrid Storage Alliance. The alliance aims to work towards
communicating the benefits of hybrid storage drive. It plans to show how flash
memory/hard drive technology can expand the capabilities of notebook computers
and also work towards technology's market adoption. According to Joni Clark,
chairperson, Hybrid Storage Alliance, "The hard drive industry is
continuously looking for ways to bring greater value to the systems in which our
technology resides and to those who use them." According to the research
firm IDC, hybrid hard disk drives will comprise 35% of all hard disk drives
shipped with portable PCs by 2010.

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The move appears very encouraging. The alliance claims to
address two crucial problems faced by software vendors in terms of PC
performance-power consumption and speed. The alliance ultimately aims to give
faster users experience that run longer on a battery charge. In a nutshell, the
alliance's efforts are to combine the unmatched capacity and
cost-effectiveness of hard drives with the responsiveness, power-efficiency and
durability of flash memory. It also marks the merging of two competing
technologies as one.

Potential
Benefits of Hybrid Hard Drives

  • Faster Boot-up and
    Resume:     Once a notebook PC with a traditional drive is turned
    on, hard drive's platters must spin up before boot-up can begin.
    Booting straight from a flash     memory chip eliminates this delay.
    Likewise, hybrid drives resume operation from     hibernation faster
    than traditional models, since frequently accessed data is stored in
    the NAND flash before a system goes to sleep.

  • Lower Power
    Consumption:     Hybrid drives curtail platter spin time which
    reduces power draw. This, in turn, extends battery life, especially
    important in notebook PCs and other mobile applications.

  • Higher Reliability:
    Reducing platter spin time extends drive life.

  • Greater Durability:
    Every time data is pulled from the flash memory, the system has
    greater shock tolerance because the drive platter isn't spinning.

  • Ease of
    Installation:     Incorporating flash memory directly onto the hard
    drive greatly simplifies installation and does not require
    additional real estate on the host system. Furthermore, installing
    hybrid drives in Windows Vista systems is as simple as installing
    traditional drives.

  • Data
    Separation/Data Security:     Having flash on the hard drive keeps
    all the system information stored in one location so that security
    or encryption mechanisms can be employed to protect all the data
    centrally. Storing data on the hard drive also helps with data
    recovery in case of a sudden system shutdown.

Source: www.hybridstorage.org

Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system has already
integrated this aspect through its Windows SuperFetch technology. It provides
the benefits of both flash and disk drive technology for PCs. Windows SuperFetch
allows applications and files to load much faster than the Windows XP-based
computers. According to Microsoft, SuperFetch uses an intelligent prioritization
scheme that understands which applications the users use most often, and can
even differentiate the applications that users are likely to use at different
times.

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The hybrid initiative is a significant step but the real test
will come when hybrid products are launched as promised by these top five
vendors and the kind of response it gets from the market place.

Sudesh Prasad


sudeshp@cybermedia.co.in