Interview With Solid State Leader : "SSD Industry is Exploding"
Solid State Drives are one of the up and coming technologies that I am personally very excited about. In just a few short years that "spectacular" aura that surrounds the technology will be dispelled, and SSD will be a standard, common thing. Furthermore, I have a feeling the implications of its success are more far-reaching into the fabric of the economy of the industry than anyone can speculate. SSD has the potential to make or break some fortunes in the long run.Any discussion about SSD right now has to include talk about MTron, a key player in the industry as the manufacturer of the highest performing SSD's available. MTron has been getting press since early last year as the poster child for Solid State, and their product basically embodies the general public perception of the technology : FAST and EXPENSIVE. My interest led me to getting acquainted with Bobby Braunstein, the Director of Sales of RocketDisk, the largest distributor for MTron here in the States. These guys have been right on the forefront of the wave since it started late last year, so I couldn't think of anyone else that could possibly have a better perspective. They actually have a very interesting story in that their business has its roots in another company, Electron Networks, an IT consulting firm who services major multinational corporate accounts in multiple industries. I spent some time on the phone with Bobby recently to get his take on this exciting new emerging industry.
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Ed Borden: Tell me about Electron Networks and how you guys got into the SSD market.
Bobby Braunstein: Our network professionals are on the front lines managing corporate networks every single day and one of the biggest problems is how to avoid data loss. Our experience is that no matter how much redundancy you have, that you can never completely remove the risk of losing critical data. We saw that it wasn't because of lack of investment in equipment or because of a lack of process -- even new hardware fails and no process is perfect. We saw the problem of data loss was because of the inefficient technology of the traditional hard disk drive. The old-school arm and platter has moving parts that receive a lot of wear and tear, and so the problem isn't "IF" a hard drive will fail... it is actually "when" a hard drive will fail.
So this was the biggest reason we made the jump into SSD technology a couple of years ago: To save the world from the problem of hard drive crashes and avoid the devastating consequences that accompany it. Certainly there are other benefits, but that is huge in our opinion and we see SSD as the most revolutionary product in the computer market, ever. That's a big statement but that is how we see it.
EB: How did you get involved with MTron specifically?
BB: Our constant search for the best quality, highest-performing SSD's led us to Mtron about 18 months ago when they were developing their controller. We heard about it and they saw how passionate we were about their technology and that we saw Mtron's high-performance SSD's as revolutionary. We have been "evangelists" for Mtron ever since.
EB: What's a general "state of the union" for the industry as a whole?
BB: It's exploding and it's also "waiting". Sounds like an oxymoron, but it's true. Most people really don't know that there are super-fast, high-performance SSD available right now that can ship today. Most people don't know who the leaders are, there are press releases every day, and just like every new technology, it can seem fragmented, very confusing. I think a lot of people are waiting because there's this common belief that the technology isn't there yet and that it's too expensive. And that's really not the case. It's certainly more expensive than regular hard drives, but especially for what it does, for the price, it's available right now.
EB: For widespread adoption, you don't think the prices and capacities are prohibitive?
BB: Would you agree that SCSI has achieved widespread adoption?
EB: In the server space, yes.
BB: Well, that's a huge market right there. So, there's an opportunity. SAS drives don't have high capacities. They just came out with 600GB now. The larger SATA drives, those are now just starting to get widespread adoption.
EB: Those are a LOT bigger though --
BB: Yeah, but they don't perform nearly as well.
EB: -- as SSD, right, I don't think that's a question.
BB: Yes, the price will take a little while. The price of the NAND flash that's used in our SSD's has been bouncing around a lot lately, but nothing ever goes in a straight line. The same drives we were selling two years ago for $3,000 are now selling for about $700, so pricing is coming down quite a bit in a very short period of time. That will continue but it won't happen overnight, and prices are still high for anything over 64GB. 128GB and 256GB SSD's are now available but they are still very expensive and the availability is scarce. That will change very soon."
EB: You said that you don't think people know who the leaders are. Who are the leaders?
BB: MTron is a leader, and I don't mean just on performance. Across the board. Crucial just came out with a 32GB and 64GB, and Ridata, their 32GB is out there, and it's seen in a lot of places, and Samsung too. They're a leader and make the components that every one is using. But no one really has a complete product line except for MTron. Most people just have a few 2.5"s. Supertalent has a complete line, but they're using a hard drive controller, and their performance is that of platter hard drives.
EB: Is the fact that they're 2.5" necessarily a bad thing? WD just released the Velociraptor in 2.5" because the high-density server industry is loving the smaller form factor and lower power draw. Even in special applications, 2.5" isn't something that can't be overcome.
BB: No, but for people who want to use it in desktops, they need to get a tray or something. I think WD is trying to really get into the notebook market with that.
EB: It doesn't even fit into all notebooks, though, because it's the wrong height. The tray is partially a heatsink.
BB: Maybe that's why then. They had to cool it down.
What I'm saying is that nobody besides MTron really has this product line across high-performance SSD. Is that important? Yeah, I think it is. Performance and the lack of moving parts are the most motivating factors. Talk to anyone who's bought these SSD's which don't have the performance and it's a big disappointment. If it's at the retail level, I guarantee it's returned. It's the same technology as a regular hard drive, just with Flash on top of it. To charge that much money and not have those features available... For the same price or less, you can go with something that performs way better.
EB: Samsung's running at 80MB/s read/100MB/s write. Smart Modular is at 90/100.
BB: We've got a complete line that runs from 16GB to 128GB, with speeds at 80/100, 90/120, and 120/120, in 3.5", 2.5" and 1.8" is coming too.
Smart Modular is just not available in good quantities. They are special order, you can't get them quick.
Samsung has a lot of internal issues right now around Solid State. They actually make more money selling the NAND flash on the spot market. When they actually put it into SSD, they make less money. The question is why are they doing that. Well, they're Samsung. Branding is more important to them, in the long term. Samsung is going about it with caution as well. They only have 2.5" right now.
EB: And what are MTron's strengths in relation to all of these other products?
BB: Performance, quality, reliability, price, and selection. No other SSD company out there has such a complete, all-around package of SSD products like Mtron does.
EB: How are you going to retain that edge, though, when there are cheaper products hitting the market?
BB: By continuing to seek out and offer the best quality, highest performing SSD's on the market. Also, selection is a big one. Sure, lots of memory and hard drive companies are now getting into the SSD game but they don't have the entire package like Mtron produces for us. Right now everything is still brand new and people are just now realizing how revolutionary our products really are.
EB: I'm curious why MTron is using a small distributor like you guys - why aren't they going through the established channel?
BB: Great question. Actually yes, RocketDisk started out small but we have grown quite a bit in the last six months. We have increased our head count three fold and have plans to open offices in several major cities over the next 18 months. Plus, when you take into account Electron Networks, were providing a product/service package that is necessary for the industry to get on its feet. We take the expertise from Electron and use that to grow RocketDisk. So, we focus on businesses for our customer base where we can extend that consulting mindset. That's where we come from.
EB: Are you worried that MTron might eventually cut you out of the chain and end up in the channel?
BB: We're not worried at all. They shouldn't cut us out of the chain because of our unique service and expertise. People will always need that, but especially now with the SSD market being so fragmented and new announcements coming out on what seems like a daily basis. So, not only will they not cut us out, but our services are required. However, we're also in the process of working out special pricing with other SSD companies both domestic and abroad. So as our product line grows, we'll be less reliant on any one particular supplier.
EB: Do you guys have any challenges that might be unique to what you're doing?
BB: I would say that the biggest problems, especially end of 2007 and beginning of 2008, were price and supply. We're working with the factories to ramp up production and we are working with our customers to give projections as far ahead of time as possible. Technology gains in the actual manufacturing process will help capacity a lot, but that comes later in the technology life cycle.
EB: I'm also curious where you're seeing these products getting sold into, beyond the more obvious usages?
BB: A waterproof suit for the Navy SEALS that has an onboard computer built into the suit. Test machines in the automotive industry where there are a lot of vibration--uses where traditional hard drives will fail. Equipment in airplanes used to provide voice calls and fast broadband access for passengers. Satellites and other equipment that goes out into space. The AV industry and high def video market. Industrial manufacturing and similar environments where temperature is very hot or very cold (aka: "wide temp").
Really, though, I can't think of a single situation where it doesn't make sense to use SSD instead of a traditional hard drive, except when large capacity storage is needed. Also, the ongoing evolution of fitting the most powerful computer in the smallest footprint possible has created a huge demand for the smaller form factor 2.5" and 1.8" drives and the need for them in higher capacities, like the MTron 128GB GT and the MTron 1.8" ZIF -- which we will be selling very soon. Also the UMPC's and notebooks are driving demand as well. It is coming from pretty much everywhere and as the SSD market grows, so will the number of different applications for SSD technology.
EB: Well this was great, it was great to get an insider peak into what you guys are doing. Is there anything you want to leave with as the key message here?
BB: The one point that I want to make is that coverage that MTron and the other distributors are getting is mainly about performance and is for early adopters and enthusiasts, and what we want to get out there is that that's a great market, but that's not who we are. I love technology and everything, and I have a QX9770 in my desktop right now with an SSD, with a 790i eVGA motherboard and 8800 cards..
EB: Sweet!
BB: ..and I don't even play games, but I understand the enthusiast market. But, we're geared toward businesses because we're on the front lines everyday. We've got a full product line, and that's only going to get bigger. A lot of stuff is coming even just next month. A lot of people don't know that, so that's the message that we want to get out. This is more for businesses than anything, and it's ready to go now.
Labels: Hardware
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