Innodisk Long-Lifespan MLC SSDs

Innodisk Corp. is seeing interest in its new storage products from the point of sale (POS) and retail industry.

New SSD-equipped POS terminals and other products are making HDD drives obsolete in the POS industry. That’s because POS systems using SSDs beat HDD units in terms of reliability, performance, power use, weight, size, noise, and durability – making them more cost effective. To push this technology trend further, Innodisk developed Evergreen-series MLC SSDs with their L² architecture to have a longer lifespan compared to traditional MLC SSDs. They are also designed for under 128Kb applications, which makes them optimized for kiosks, ATMs, and POS units.

Thanks to Evergreen-series MLC SSDs increased reliability, POS units equipped with these SSDs can be used in previously inaccessible environments..

In a recently released case study, Innodisk revealed how its customers are now using SSD-based POS units to perform point of sale and other customer interaction in environments previously seen as difficult or impossible. These include extreme environments, temporary or mobile structures, as well as locations such as supermarket self-checkouts, where POS units are exposed to constant contact with customers. Companies using Innodisk SSDs in POS units now include national leaders in several markets, including retail and hospitality.

Innodisk SSDs offer a range of advantages over traditional technology, while keeping prices competitive. These advantages include better performance, lower power consumption, and shock resistance. Unlike HDDs, Innodisk SSDs work in a very wide temperature range, from -40°C up to 85°C, allowing them to reach new markets where HDDs cannot be relied upon. Furthermore, they are not vulnerable to overheating, so they do not require cooling fans, further reducing noise as well as removing another moving part that is prone to failure. SSDs do not have any moving mechanical components at all. They also possess lower access times and less latency than HDDs, and users won’t need to undergo time-consuming defragmentation either.

According to the POS maker, AdvanPOS, HDD problems are one of the most common reasons for POS unit failure. In fact, unreliable HDD drives make it difficult for POS makers to serve markets where there is high demand for their products. Innodisk’s Evergreen SSD series now makes it possible for AdvanPOS to serve these markets with viable and reliable products.

With Innodisk’s iSMART software, AdvanPos Technology Co., Ltd and its customers can detect problems with an SSD long before it fails, allowing replacement of a malfunctioning SSD without losing data or inconveniencing customers.

"The number one reason why we use Innodisk Evergreen SSDs is that the iSMART can monitor the health of SSDs, and notify users of the expiry date," says Alcott Huang, supervisor of AdvanPOS’s R&D division. "They have saved our customers, and us, numerous headaches."

More about AdvanPOS’ adoption of Innodisk’s SSDs