Contact Information: Contact: Joy Donohue SMART Modular Technologies (978) 805-2164 joy.donohue@smartm.com
SMART Modular Technologies Delivers Industry's First Solid-State Drive With Enterprise-Grade Multi-Level Cell Technology
XceedIOPS SATA Solid-State Drive Provides Cost-Effective High-Performance, High-Capacity, Highly Reliable Storage
| Source: SMART Modular Technologies
NEWARK, CA--(Marketwire - January 5, 2010) - SMART Modular Technologies (WWH), Inc. ("SMART"
or the "Company") (NASDAQ : SMOD ), a leading independent manufacturer of
memory modules and solid-state storage products, including solid-state
drives (SSDs), today announced the XceedIOPS SATA, its next-generation
enterprise-class SSD. Available in 1.8" and 2.5" form factors, the
XceedIOPS SATA is offered with either single-level cell (SLC) or
enterprise-grade multi-level cell (E-MLC) NAND technologies.
This cost-effective XceedIOPS SATA SSD is the second product in SMART's
XceedIOPS family, and the first SSD from SMART to feature the SF-1500
processor from SandForce, Inc. based in Saratoga, California. The XceedIOPS
SATA is the industry's first SSD to integrate E-MLC technology, which
provides significantly more endurance than SSDs based on commercial MLC
NAND flash.
Endurance for E-MLC is specified at 20,000 program/erase (P/E) cycles,
whereas current generation commercial MLC demonstrates 1,500 or 5,000 P/E
cycles, depending on the NAND flash vendor. The combination of the SF-1500
processor's minimal write amplification and E-MLC flash enables the
XceedIOPS SATA SSD to handle the most demanding enterprise workloads. For
example, a 5-year lifetime can be easily achieved with a 400GB XceedIOPS
SATA in an environment that demands 250MB/s sustained write and a 40% duty
cycle.
"Enterprise storage and server system OEMs are looking for SSDs that
provide improved performance, reduced total cost of ownership, and high
reliability," said Jeff Janukowicz, Research Manager, Hard Disk Drive
Components and Solid State Drives at IDC. "SSDs like the new XceedIOPS SATA
from SMART that meet these requirements and leverage enterprise-grade MLC
and controllers, like the SandForce processor, will help to accelerate the
adoption of SSD technology in the enterprise."
Featuring a SATA 2.6 interface and support for native command queuing (NCQ),
the new XceedIOPS SATA 1.8" and 2.5" SSDs are optimized for high
performance (up to 30K IOPS random read/write, 250MB/s sustained
read/write) and high capacity (up to 400GB). High reliability is achieved
through flash management techniques such as power and data fail protection,
data path protection, and an enhanced error correction code (ECC) engine.
Because of its high random read/write performance, a single XceedIOPS SATA
can replace several hard disk drives, thereby saving space, improving
reliability, and reducing power consumption. In fact, the 1.8" form factor
SSD was specifically designed for space-constrained blade server and
high-density computing applications.
"The enterprise SSD market appears to be entering a period of impressive
growth. Well-positioned to satisfy the requirements of enterprise
deployments, we expect our XceedIOPS SATA SSDs will provide low cost,
superior performance, low power, and high capacity flexibility," said Alan
Gulachenski, SMART's Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Solid
State Storage.
The XceedIOPS SATA SSDs are sampling this month to strategic customers,
with production quantities scheduled for the second quarter of 2010. For
more information, visit www.smartm.com.
About SMART
SMART is a leading independent designer, manufacturer, and supplier of
electronic subsystems to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). SMART
offers more than 500 standard and custom products to OEMs engaged in the
computer, industrial, networking, aerospace, defense, and
telecommunications markets. Taking innovations from the design stage
through manufacturing and delivery, SMART has developed a comprehensive
memory product line that includes DRAM, SRAM, and Flash memory in various
form factors. SMART also offers high-performance, high-capacity SSDs for
enterprise, defense, aerospace, industrial automation, medical, and
transportation markets. SMART's presence in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and
Latin America enables it to provide its customers with proven expertise in
international logistics, asset management, and supply-chain management
worldwide. See www.smartm.com for more information.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release, that are not statements of
historical fact, including any statements that use the words "will,"
"believes," "anticipates," "project," "estimates," "expects," "intends" or
similar words that describe the Company's or its management's future plans,
objectives, or goals, are "forward-looking statements" and are made
pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include those related
to the Company's business strategies and product plans, the timing of
production quantities and sample availability, the growth rate of the
enterprise market for SSDs, the speed that the enterprise market adopts SSD
technology, the market for the Company's products, product features,
performance, and reliability, and customers' cost savings.
Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results of the
Company to be materially different from the historical results and/or from
any future results or outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences
include, but are not limited to, design, production or manufacturing
difficulties, competitive factors, failure to meet protocols or MIL
qualification, new products and technological changes, fluctuations in
product prices and raw material costs and availability, dependence upon
third-party vendors (including the performance of their products supplied
to the Company), customer demand, changes in industry standards or release
plans, intellectual property disputes and other risks detailed in the
Company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including the Company's recently filed Annual Report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended August 28, 2009. Such risk factors as
outlined in our periodic report filings may not constitute all factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in any
forward-looking statement.
The Company operates in a continually changing business environment and new
factors emerge from time to time. The Company cannot predict such factors,
nor can it assess the impact, if any, from such factors on the Company or
its results. Accordingly, our future results may differ materially from
projections and investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be
relied upon as a prediction of actual results. These forward-looking
statements are made as of today, and the Company does not currently intend,
and has no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in
order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of
this press release.
SandForce is a trademark of SandForce, Inc.