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SandForce releases SSD controller for the cloud

Chip aimed for use in MLC NAND flash products used in cloud computing environments

SandForce today unveiled a new solid-state drive (SSD) controller that's optimized for cloud computing environments.

The new SF-2481 processor is positioned for use in the multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash SSDs used in cloud computing environments. The product is attractive for cloud environments because because as it has almost twice the error correction code (ECC) as its predecessor, the SF-2200 controller.

SandForce SSD controllers have long supported up to 55 bits per 512-byte sector, but the new SF-2481 is able to go beyond the built-in flash ECC support. ECC combined with error detection finds reconstructs data where errors have occurred due to data corruption.

The new controller also has Predictive Failure Analysis firmware to help ensure reliability, the company said.

As with the previous SF-2200 controller, the SF-2481 supports the SATA 6Gbit/sec SSD interface. It sports balanced sequential read and write speeds of up to 500 MB/sec and random read and write speeds of up to 60,000 I/Os per second, the same as its predecessor.

The controller also has automatic double AES encryption equal to 300-bit protection with Secure Crypto-Erase control, which generates a new random encryption key each time a data erase is done, ensuring old data cannot be read because it cannot be unencrypted.

"The SF-2481 SSD Processor was specifically designed to deliver the perfect combination of performance, endurance and intelligence required in cloud computing data centers," said Jeremy Werner, director of marketing for SandForce, in a statement.

The SF-2481 SSD Processor is sampling to OEMs now and will ship in mass production in January 2012.

Lucas Mearian covers storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, financial services infrastructure and health care IT for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at @lucasmearian , or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed . His e-mail address is lmearian@computerworld.com .

Read more about cloud computing in Computerworld's Cloud Computing Topic Center.

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