Violin's new 6000 Series array

Violin Memory released a new line of all-flash-memory storage arrays yesterday, but my recent discussion with CEO Don Basile was all about the company’s future, which he said includes an upcoming IPO and possibly a flash acquisition or two. Fellow solid-state startup Fusion-io is flying high after going public in June, so now’s probably the time for Violin to really make a splash and establish its name.

Basile said his company is planning an IPO for the first or second quarter of 2012, a move that makes sense if you buy into Basile’s view of the world. Unlike Fusion-io, which sells flash components that plug into servers, Violin sells full-on storage arrays consisting of flash memory. Violin wants to disrupt the multi-billion-dollar storage and transaction-processing markets, whereas as Fusion-io is more of a complementary play in those areas.

That’s not a slight against Fusion-io —  Basile was CEO there before coming to Violin — it’s just an assessment of the state of the flash-memory-in-the-data-center market. The thinking no doubt is that if Fusion-io can succeed as a public company, the potentially more lucrative Violin can too.

But Violin has one big obstacle in its quest to dominate the flash-storage world. That would be a list of well-funded startups such as Nimbus Data Systems, Pure Storage, Nimble Storage and others that are pushing their own flash-storage arrays and are marketing themselves around prices that rival hard disk drives (see Nimbus’s chart to the right).

By contrast, Violin typically sells high-end gear targeting high-end customers. For example, it has a deal with HP for a massive online transaction processing systems that rival Oracle’s pricey Exadata appliance.

Basile is fine with this arrangement, though. Positioning Violin as a whole-system vendor (Violin owns its IP from chips to software, Basile said) against software companies that do little hardware innovation. (Although, Nimbus Data Systems, at least, confirmed to me that it doesn’t OEM its hardware.) Right now, he said, Violin focuses on the Global 5000, whereas other flash-storage vendors tend to focus on the mid-market. Ultimately, though their paths might cross, he acknowledged.

At that point — if Violin does want to court smaller accounts — Basile said he thinks its current product lineup will do the trick, but he’d be open to buying someone if need be. All the flash activity means there’s a real market for the technology, he noted, and that means there’s some good innovation going on outside of Violin.

Basile probably has the cash to make such a move if need be. Violin has taken in million in venture capital this year alone, along with 0 million in debt financing, and Basile thinks the company could do 0 million in revenue next year. That would double the 0 million it’s projected to earn in 2011. A successful IPO, of course, would put even more money in the bank.

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For most of us, the decision to move to flash-based storage has been one wrought with compromise: suffer through a year of ramen to afford a capacious SSD, or splurge on steak and settle for a cramped one. While we await our platterless future, Samsung keeps on chuggin’, having just begun volume production of a speedier line of solid state drives it calls the PM830. Available in 128, 256 or 512GB flavors, they tout 20nm-class MLC NAND flash and SATA 6Gb/s support — which equates to 500MB/s reads and 350MB/s writes, or almost double last year’s model. Before you reach for the plastic, know that the line is available only to OEMs — you know, computer manufacturers — with the firm promising consumer-friendly goodies for all you DIY types soon. Of course, no word on when that’ll be or how much they’ll cost, but at least the PR after the break’s free, right?

Continue reading Samsung’s speedy 6Gbps SSDs shreds bits, blows minds

Samsung’s speedy 6Gbps SSDs shreds bits, blows minds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 02:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Sony MiniDisc Walkman to stop spinning in September (video)

Sony MiniDisc Walkman to stop spinning in September (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 22:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If your foremost dream is to jack into a dystopian cyberpunk reality where hackers play with human brains (and you also happen to love Japanese anime), you’d best book your flight to Tokyo right now — a Shibuya department store has set up a basic cyberspace simulator straight out of Ghost in the Shell. That’s the film Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society, to be precise, which just got a stereoscopic 3D re-release in Japan this week, and in its honor creative services company Kayac set about constructing a high-quality Kinect hack. Microsoft’s depth camera tracks the lean of your body, while the honeyed virtual reality is projected onto a pair of nearby walls, and it’s your objective to slap the Tachikoma tank silly without falling over yourself. Get a peek at what it’s like to play with in the video above.

Kinect dives into anime cyberspace, dares you to catch cute robot tanks (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A visit to the Ameritron Amplifier Factory. Learn how these popular tube type and solid state RF amplifiers are built.
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At IDF09 Intel demonstrated a high-speed optical cable technology available next year that will connect mainstream electronic devices like laptops, HD displays, televisions, cameras, video players, iPods, docking stations and Solid State Drives (SSDs) to each other using optical fiber, rather than copper wires. Developed by Intel and codenamed Light Peak, this proposed technology paves the way for a new generation of extreme computer input and output (I/O) performance, delivering 10Gb/s of bandwidth, with the potential ability to scale to 100Gbs over the next decade. At 10Gb/s, a user could transfer a full-length Blu-Ray* movie in less than 30 seconds. The company intends to work with the industry to determine the best way to make this new technology a standard.
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• Speed Class Rating: – Class 4: 4MB/sec. guaranteed minimum data transfer rate
• Operating Temperature – -13° F to 185° F (-25° C to 85° C)
• Storage Temperature – -40º F to 185º F (-40º C to 85º C)
• Dimensions – 0.94-Inch x 1.25-Inch x 0.08-Inch (24mm x 32mm x 2.1mm)

The SDHC card offers larger-volume data storage and optimized recording performance with support for FAT 32 file formats. In addition, Kingston’s SDHC card uses speed “class” ratings known as Class 2, 4 and 6 that deliver a minimum data transfer rate for optimum performance with SDHC devices.Although identical in size to today’s standard SD card, the SDHC card is designed differently and is only recognized by SDHC host devices. To ensure compatibility, look for the SDHC logo on cards and host devices.For added reliability and durability, the solid-state SDHC memory card is built of nonvolatile memory components and has no moving parts that could wear out or break.Kingston and Amazon.com have teamed up to offer this item in Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging, a recyclable, easy-to-open alternative to traditional packaging. A Frustration-Free Package comes without excess packaging materials such as wire ties, hard plastic “clamshell” casings, and plastic bindings. It’s designed to be op

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