Marvell ARM Reference Design with SanDisk SATA SSD

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and SanDisk Corporation announced their collaboration on a new generation of microservers for enterprise cloud storage.

Combining Marvell’s ARM reference design with SanDisk’s SATA SSD modules, the solution offers a combination of performance, low power and spatial efficiency for I/O intensive environments.

Marvell will demonstrate the new platform at the 2012 Flash Memory Summit and Exhibition, which runs from August 21-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

"SanDisk is pleased to partner with Marvell in the storage microserver market," said Kevin Conley, SVP and GM, Client Storage Solutions at SanDisk. "Our collaboration underscores both companies’ commitment on delivering low power server solutions that are helping fuel the demand for SSD-based storage in this fast growing market."

Servers based on the Marvell quad core ARM-based ARMADA XP SoC products – the first quad-core ARM processor designed for enterprise-class cloud computing applications – drive higher CPU utilization and offer demand based scaling. The result is lower power, efficiency server solutions for data centers and enterprises.

In addition, the Marvell ARMADA XP series of multi-core processors employs a low power architecture and incorporates up to four Marvell-designed ARM V7 MP-compliant 1.6GHz CPU cores to deliver the best performance per Watt for next-generation ‘green’ system designs. It supports SMP (Symmetrical Multi-processing) / AMP (Asymmetrical Multi-processing) modes with hardware cache coherency and a 64-bit DDR2/DDR3 memory interface at an 800MHz clock rate (1600MHz data rate) to enable performance.

SanDisk’s SATA X100 SSDs used in the Marvell solution are high-speed, energy-efficient storage products that offer improved performance for a range of applications. With an advanced solid state architecture and ability to achieve high speeds, these SSDs outpace traditional HDDs in every performance category. X100 SSDs offer a 6 Gbit/s SATA interface and achieve read and write speeds of up to 500 MB/s and 430 MB/s respectively. Providing up to 256GB of storage in an mSATA form factor, these SSDs can provide high density arrays of storage inside single blade configurations. And since they have no moving parts, SSDs run cooler, create less noise, and use less power than HDDs, that result in more efficient and reliable operation that can be optimal solution for microservers.

"For Marvell, collaborating with SanDisk is an opportunity to bring to market the very best combination of ARM and SSD technologies as they relate to enterprise storage," said Ted Weatherford, senior director and product line manager, Cloud Services and Infrastructure (CSI) Business Unit at Marvell. "What’s more, we’ve created a new generation of microservers that significantly outpaces competing attempts at speed, efficiency and, most importantly, scalability. To the extent that enterprises need to support an increasing number of machines and devices – inside and outside the office in a 24/7, global capacity – Marvell and SanDisk deliver a comprehensively connected lifestyle in a simple and powerful package."