Hitachi-LG Embedding SSD Into an Optical Disc Drive

Hitachi-LG Data Storage Inc. (HLDS), in optical disc storage (ODD), announced HyDrive, the world’s first solid state drive (SSD) embedded ODD. HyDrive is going to be available in August 2010, installed on the Family PC MN 102-O from MONEUAL. HLDS will ship HyDrive with other PC OEMs from March 2011.

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The SSD capacity will be 32GB and 64GB for the 1st generation and up to 256GB with the 2nd generation, which will be ready for mass production in March 2011 and have even faster SSD performance moving from SATA3.0Gbps to the SATA6.0Gbps interface.

HyDrive performance stands to reach its full potential on performance notebooks such as the ASUS N61DA, delivering data handling capabilities currently unavailable to consumers worldwide.

HyDrive enables a total storage solution on the PC using the advantages of three storage device types: conventional hard drives, solid state drives and optical drives – without added space on the motherboard and modification of system architecture limited to replacing the existing ODD. Only HyDrive enables this through an identical framework to that used in conventional ODDs.

HyDrive offers hard disk drive (HDD) performance boosting in two ways. One is through using the entire SSD as a cache by the HLDS filter driver. The other is by having Windows and Microsoft Office applications installed and the remaining capacity serve as a cache.

Having 32GB of SSD suffices in accommodating Windows and Microsoft Office applications, offering consumers the enjoyment and stress-free experience of PC usage with pure SSD speeds.

HyDrive also enables a smaller PC foot print (7-9” tablet PCs such as the Ultra Mobile PC, for example) by removing the HDD or SSD from the motherboard and just having HyDrive with its SSD as primary storage.

HyDrive can offer users 30-60% faster booting, shutdown and application loading on the optimized hardware of the ASUS N61DA.

Other features have been developed for a combination of ODD and SSD benefits, such as robust media readability which differentiates readability and playability of data, audio or movie discs from other ODDs in the market, using the dedicated burning feature. It provides smooth and seamless playback even of discs in poor condition due to scratches and fingerprints.

HLDS have been working with their partners AMD, ASUS and MONEUAL to achieve a market launch.

“AMD’s latest 8-series chipsets have both the required hardware and driver support for HyDrive, including SATA port multiplier support, which enables combined optical and solid state functionality in the HLDS HyDrive”, said AMD’s Niles Burbank, Senior Product Manager for AMD’s Platform Solutions.

MONEUAL will deliver the very first launch of HyDrive through their Family PC MN 102-O in August 2010, showcasing home theater quality performance. HyDrive is capable of playing back CD, DVD and Blu-ray media, and fast booting and application loading with 32GB SSD.

ASUS plans to launch the 1st generation HyDrive on their Eee Top range, and the 2nd generation HyDrive global debut on the N61DA notebook after testing HLDS samples.

Comments

It's a completely new and curious idea to offer a 12.7mm-thick 3Gb SATA device integrating Blu-ray drive and SSD into the same box. The market of optical disc is shrinking and Hitachi-LG, the biggest worldwide manufacturer of optical drives, is trying to find new ways to sell its products. This new hybrid unit at least convinced two OEMs, Asus and Monueal.

What's the interest of this Hitachi-LG's combo HyDrive compared to hybrid disk drives like the unit from Seagate incorporating HDD ans SSD? The main one is that you can design a PC with an optical disc drive but without HDD, totally replaced by a lower capacity but faster SSD as primary storage.

But do you need CD, DVD or Blu-ray on your computer? When did you use your optical disc drive for the last time? Everybody now prefers USB keys or external HDDs as removable devices rather than optical discs with slow access time and transfer rate, and with relatively small capacity.

HyDrive has probably a better chance to succeed for tablets or very small PCs to look at movies on the road, or for CE set-top boxes or multimedia devices. But, in this case, do you really need a high-performance, high-priced and low-capacity SSD?

Since several years, we have remarked that in the Hitachi huge group, there was no evident relation between its two subsidiaries, Hitachi-LG focused on optical technology, and Hitachi GST concentrated on Winchester technology. In a way, HyDrive competes with HDD. Why not a similar product embedding an optical disc drive and one of the new 2.5-inch 7mm HDD from HGST rather than SSD, to build another kind of complete storage device reducing the number of components for PC, notebook and netbook OEMs?