Texas Memory PCIe SLC Flash Card Beats Fusion-io and Virident

Texas Memory Systems Inc. (TMS) announced the results of independent testing conducted by the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Manno, Switzerland, showing that the company’s standard-configuration RamSan-70 (450 GB) PCIe card performs better than comparable devices and alternative high-speed hard disk drives in enterprise-class environments.

The September 2011 CSCS report entitled Comparison of PCIe SLC Flash cards by analysts Hussein N. El-Harake and Thomas Schoenemeyer, summarizes the benchmark testing performed on the RamSan-70, which replicates previous testing on the performance of cards built by Fusion-io and Virident. Using two open-source benchmark tests to perform bandwidth and IOPS measurements, the tests, carried out in August 2011, proved that the RamSan-70’s performance compared to SATA drives or other PCIe devices is "outstanding."

"The RamSan-70 provided by far the best IOPS result we have ever measured at CSCS with a peak of more than 300,000 IOPS at 4K for (the) FIO (benchmark test), which is consistent to the expected value," reads the report. "(It) delivers a very stable IO bandwidth over a wide range of block sizes, which is a clear differentiator to the (Fusion-io and Virident) cards tested in the previous study."

The RamSan-70 is available in two configurations, starting at 450 GB of usable SLC NAND Flash capacity, which was used by CSCS in its independent testing. Adding a mezzanine card, another 450 GB for a total of 900 GB of usable Flash capacity, delivers 600,000 random read IOPS. The 900 GB RamSan-70, an SLC-based PCIe Flash card, performs at twice the speed of the tested version that set the lab’s performance record. Users can start with 450 GB and 300,000 IOPS board and add the mezzanine card later when more capacity and performance is needed.

The RamSan-70 handles all Flash management functions without impacting the host CPU. It incorporates patented Variable Stripe RAID (VSR) technology that increases MTBF and endurance. When a Flash device fails on a Virident unit, the Flash device must be replaced. When a Flash device fails on the RamSan-70, VSR automatically bypasses the failing device without requiring any downtime. Other RamSan-70 features include proprietary enterprise-level reliability features which include chip-level RAID and an advanced ECC algorithm that corrects more errors than required by the manufacturer.

The Series-7 Flash Controller  is field-upgradable, ensuring that Texas Memory Systems customers will always have the best performance and features. The Series-7 Flash Controller, combined with Toshiba 32nm SLC Flash, provides enterprise performance and reliability.

"It wouldn’t surprise anyone if they heard me say that when speed and performance are critical to the success of a company’s business, there is no better solution on the market today than the RamSan-70," said Holly Frost, CEO of Texas Memory Systems. "But to have those claims backed up by independent testing by a respected organization like the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre, we are able to validate the hard work we’ve undertaken to achieve our results. We went head-to-head against Fusion-io and Virident and we came out on top. Add in our exceptional service, and there’s no reason to turn to anyone other than Texas Memory Systems."

Designed for the OEM market, the RamSan-70 is the an in-server storage solution for data warehousing, ERP, data acquisition, scientific computing, and web content.