Intel® Solid-State Drive Data Center S3500 Series Gives Cloud Computing Major Boost

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Intel® Solid-State Drive Data Center S3500 Series delivers next-generation performance to meet the growing storage needs of cloud computing.Deployment of Intel® SSDs in data centers increases multicore CPU utilization, reduces rack space, lowers power consumption and improves total cost of ownership.Based on Intel's industry-leading 20nm NAND flash memory, the new SSD offers fast, consistent performance and stress-free protection in a cost- and power-efficient design.

Intel® Solid-State Drive Data Center S3500 Series
CLOUD COMPUTING EXPO, New York, June 11, 2013 -- Intel Corporation today announced the Intel® Solid-State Drive DC S3500 Series, its latest solid-state drive (SSD) for data centers and cloud computing. Designed for read-intensive applications such as Web hosting, cloud computing and data center virtualization, the Intel DC S3500 Series is an ideal replacement for traditional hard disk drives (HDD), allowing data centers to save significant costs by moving toward an all-SSD storage model.
Intel SSDs, including the Intel SSD DC S3500 Series, enable transformational improvements in cloud infrastructure, fostering new and enriching Web experiences. End customers experience quicker Web page loads and improved response times as a result of dramatically improved data access times and reduced latency. IT managers and cloud developers are rewarded with improved total cost of ownership as a result of reduced power consumption, more consistent performance and smaller space requirements. More than half of U.S. businesses now employ cloud computing applications, and IDC predicts that worldwide spending on cloud services will reach $44.2 billion this year1. Data centers powering these cloud applications need to quickly, efficiently and reliably scale to handle the tremendous growth of connected users and data traffic.
"The Intel SSD DC S3500 Series breaks through barriers – like the need for high throughput/low latency storage with a low total cost of ownership – to deliver the storage solution that meets the needs of the cloud, and its demand for storage, which has exploded in recent years," said Rob Crooke, Intel corporate vice president and general manager for the Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. "Intel's data center family of SSDs helps make cloud computing faster and more reliable, enabling more transactions and richer experiences."
In cloud computing and data center environments, fast and consistent performance, reduced power consumption, high multicore CPU utilization and stress-free data protection are important requirements. The Intel SSD DC S3500 Series offers enterprise IT and data center managers storage options that deliver increased IO performance, reliability and a lower total cost of ownership over traditional HDDs, ideal for cloud applications.
"Intel SSDs have enabled our chip designers to gain up to 27 percent performance throughput in our massive design distributed computing environment," said Kim Stevenson, chief information officer at Intel. "In fact, we are increasing our deployment of Intel SSDs in our data centers from 10,000 units to 40,000 by the end of this year to enable our global design team to help bring products to market faster."
By combining 20nm Intel® NAND Flash Memory technology with SATA 6 Gb/s interface support, the Intel SSD DC S3500 Series delivers sequential read speeds of up to 500 MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 450 MB/s and a tight distribution of input/outputs per second with low maximum latencies. Random read performance can go up to 75,000 input-output operations per second.
The Intel SSD DC S3500 Series also includes data protection features to address IT and data center professional's concerns of data loss. Built-in capacitors provide a short period of backup power to the drive allowing it to finish operations in the event of power loss. The drives also use 256-bit AES encryption for data protection.
The new SSDs will be offered in capacities ranging from 80 gigabyte (GB) to 800GB and both 2.5 and 1.8 inch form factors. Available through Intel distributors and resellers, the Intel DC S3500 Series is offered at the suggested channel price of $115 for a 1.8-inch 80GB drive and $979 for a 2.5-inch 800GB drive. It is also accompanied by a 5-year warranty.
The new DC S3550 Series, as well as a previously released data center family (Intel SSD DC S3700 Series and 910 Series), are being showcased in Intel's booth (#519) at the Cloud Computing Expo. The event runs from June 10-13 at Jacob K. Javits Center in New York.
More information on Intel SSDs can be found at www.intel.com/go/ssd or by accessing the multimedia press kit at www.intel.com/newsroom/ssd. Follow Intel SSDs on Twitter: @intelssd, or communities.intel.com.
About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com.
Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
1 "Neovise Report, Public, Private and Hybrid Clouds – When, Why and How They are Really Used."
View the original article here

Read More

Experience the AMD Test Drive Program

When I need a break from the world, I often stare down one of my PC chassis until I invent a problem that can only be solved by ripping it open, swapping out some parts, rebooting and then rebooting again because I forgot to hit F10 or delete at the BIOS splash screen.  If you know what I'm talking about you are going to love my next sentence.

AMD is looking for some enthusiasts (nerds), like me, to participate in AMD’s all new A-Series Test Drive program, launching in conjunction with the announcement of our new 2013 Elite A-Series APUs for desktop.  We want to share our excitement with representatives from our DIY community.  The first step is to get our test-drivers everything they need for a killer new system based on our latest and greatest desktop APU, the A10-6800K, codenamed "Richland".  Of course, every expedition needs a trusty, but slightly off-beat tour guide. Not to worry, I got you!  I will be participating and blogging my experience with said test drive.  We can all chronicle the experience together; transform our respective stacks of hardware into the engines for real-world experiences.  That's the key.  We AMDers want to know how you're turning technologies into action. I remember using my first home build to unleash my fury on the Kilrathi in Wing Commander and I remember my wife using our PC to design our wedding invitations.  That's science becomes art.

Details, details.  Here they are ...

The AMD A-Series Test Drive program targets AMD’s most vocal fans who are active in the component community.  AMD provides the components and software (OS, apps) necessary to build an A-Series-based system and asks in turn that participants build a system, then comment/post their experiences (videos, photos, comments, etc.), ultimately helping to guide other enthusiasts to become advocates of AMD.

I am excited. I have been at AMD for almost 7 years and I have owned every generation of APU.  The evolution has been breathtaking, but I have cleared a spot in my home office for the newest, fastest, APU.  With you, as a part of the AMD Test Drive program I will benchmark, game, time my bootup and maybe throw a few different OSs on there for good measure.

Check back after launch for updates from the “Youngblood” lab.  I'll also introduce you to my partner in crime, my just-turned-4-year-old son.

Gerald Youngblood (@GCYoungblood) is Head of North America Marketing at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites, and references to third party trademarks, are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only. Unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links and no third party endorsement of AMD or any of its products is implied.

Supporting Resources

View the original article here

Read More

Seagate starts shipping a 5mm thick 500GB hard drive

The future of storage in ultra-thin portable devices such as Ultrabooks is clearly SSDs, but the major storage companies haven’t given up on traditional hard drives just yet. Back in April, Western Digital shipped a 5mm thick 500GB hard drive, and now Seagate is doing the same to offer up some healthy competition in the form of the Laptop Ultrathin hard drive.
There doesn’t seem to be much differentiating the UltraSlim Western Digital and new Seagate drives. They are both the same size, offer the same amount of storage, and prices start at $89. That makes them significantly cheaper than an SSD, albeit slower and more power hungry. But even with that being the case, both Asus and Dell have apparently already placed orders for the new drives for use in laptops and tablets.
One area of the drives where Seagate and Western Digital do differ, however, is in the connectors used. WD opted for a new integrated connector that combines power and data transmission. Seagate on the other hand is sticking with the more traditional SATA connection and separate power connector. That should make it easier to use the drive with existing hardware designs, albeit at the cost of an extra cable.
The space and cost saving a 5mm hard drive offers should enable lower-end laptops and budget Ultrabooks to get a little thinner. Alternatively, battery capacity could be increased, and hopefully that’s the route taken by most vendors. I think for the most part laptops and Ultrabooks are thin enough, we just want to be able to use them for longer away from a power outlet.
Now read: Seagate to stop producing 7200rpm 2.5-inch hard drives
View the original article here

Read More