Rather than just pumping out new SSD models as fast as it can like some companies have been doing lately, Kingston is trying something a little different.

Kingston has introduced the SSDNow V series bundles which should make upgrading to an SSD easy as can be. The bundle includes step-by-step instructions, mounting brackets, cloning software, and even a 2.5″ USB SATA enclosure when you get the laptop bundle.

This should attract mainstream consumers that aren’t quite so tech savvy but would like to have the benefits that SSDs provide. Right now Kingston has two desktop and two notebook bundles available, each coming in 64GB and 128GB flavors. Prices range from $149 to $284 and Newegg currently has them available.

via. TweakTown.com

A-DATA had plenty on display at its Nangang booth, but for us, clearly the most interesting thing was its SSD demonstration showing off eight A-DATA 500 Series SSD’s configured in RAID 0.

via. TweakTown.com

OCZ launched its new OCZ Colossus SSD with a storage capacity of up to 1 TB. In about eight weeks you should be able to buy the new series with 500GB and 1TB capacity, featuring the standard 3.5” from factor for SSDs. Dual Indilinx controllers and a JMicron RAID controller for a RAID 0 array are making this capacity possible. The rumored price for the 1TB version is supposed to be around 2500 Euros or roughly 3500 USD.

UPDATE:
Further features are:
* Form Factor: standard 3.5”
* Power requirements: 5V, 1.6A
* Interface: SATA2
* Capacity: 0.5 TB, 1.0 TB
* Estimated Wt: 400gm
* Seek Time: <0.2ms
* Operating Temp: 0-70 deg C
* Operating Performance:
o Read: Up to 265 MB/s
o Write: Up to 265 MB/s

via. Guru3D.com

As many of you might know, previous SSDs which incorporated JMicron’s JMF602 flash controller experienced stuttering problems during random write operations, and their follow-up chip, the JMF602B, only partially fixed the issues, forcing companies “to combine two JMF602B chips and an internal RAID chip from JMicron to boost performance.”

It seems that JMicron learned from those mistakes though and is going to unveil “a new NAND flash controller for use in Solid State Drives (SSDs) in the near future. The JMF612 chip uses an ARM9 core in a 289-ball TFBGA package, and will support the use of up to 256MB of DDR or DDR2 DRAM as an external cache.

The JMF612 chip is designed especially for a new generation of NAND flash chips built using smaller process geometries that will be entering the market soon. The new flash chips will be smaller, faster, and cheaper to manufacture. IM Flash Technologies, a joint venture between Intel and Micron, is already building 34nm NAND, while 32nm NAND from Samsung and Toshiba will soon be entering production. The use of a cheap single-chip controller and new higher density flash chips could cut prices in half by the vital Christmas shopping season.

The first terabyte SSDs on the market could end up using this controller chip. It uses eight memory channels to access its storage quickly and without lag.”

via. Guru3D.com

This morning, Super Talent Technology, announced that its new RAIDDRive is now available for enterprise servers, workstations, and even gamers looking to send performance through the roof.

Not only does the RAIDDrive increase the performance and capacity of PCIe-based storage environments, but now serves as the market’s largest and most innovative server-based solid-state storage solution by supporting up to 2 TB of single-level cell or multi-level cell Nand Flash memory.

According to the company, the RAIDDrive will come in three flavors: RAIDDrive ES (Enterprise Servers), WS (Workstation), and GS (Gamers). However, the base structure of all three models features a DRAM Cache, and connects to the main rig via a PCIe 2.0 x8 interface. The kicker here is that the RAIDDrives are capable of delivering lightning-fast sequential read speeds of up to 1.2 GB/sec., and sequential Write speeds of up to 1.3 GB/sec. Additionally, consumers can even configure the drives with an internal RAID5 capability, providing an extra level of data protection.

As for the uniqueness of the three different RAIDDrives, Super Talent optimized each one for a specific need. For enterprise server implications, the RAIDDrive ES is geared for compute intensive applications such as database transaction processing, virtualization, and business intelligence. For the gamer, the RAIDDrive GS focuses their IO Subsystem, whereas the RAIDDrive WS is optimized for handling workstation tasks such as animation, CAD/EDA simulation, video editing, scientific computing and more. As an added bonus, the ES version even features an on-board battery to protect data on the DRAM cache in the event of a power loss.

“We are proud of the innovative intellectual property that our outstanding engineering team has developed,” said CH Lee, COO of Super Talent. “The RAIDDrive is just the latest in a series of patented products which enable us to provide differentiated products to our customers.”

Since 2003, Super Talent has provided RAIDed SSDs with multiple patents, and has even shipped SSDs with internal RAID structures for many years. Super Talent’s existing RAIDSSD product line includes the DuraDrive ET, the DuraDrive AT, and the MasterDrive RX. But as for the three new RAIDDrive models, Super Talent did not offer any pricing, however interested consumers can head here to order one from a local Super Talent sales office.

via. Tom’s Hardware