SSD Controllers, Still Secret Sauce (Silicon Motion)

Silicon Motion controllers gain acceptance and is integrated by Hynix, SanDisk, and maybe by Intel (see below).

"SM2256 also features Silicon Motion’s proprietary NANDXtend technology, which utilizes three levels of error correction and data protection to effectively triple the program/erase cycle count for TLC NAND.  Combined with global wear-leveling algorithms, the lifespan of an SSD utilizing the SM2256 is significantly extended.  It also features real-time AES256 encryption, as well as being TCG Opal compliant."

More about Silicon motion (2nd article below) - Silicon Motion Penetrating NAND Flash Fabs - SMI on the Rise

Also See June 2012 ( Flash Memory Controller is the Secret Sauce) 

"Controller is a key edge in designing fast and low power flash memory systems.....even though by 2012 ....5 SSD controller company acquired recently:

* In March of last year OCZ acquired Indilinx 
* In may 2011 SanDisk bought Pliant
* LSI acquired SandForce in October 
* December brought Apple's acquisition of Anobit 
* Now SK Hynix has acquired Link_A_Media"

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Silicon Motion Announces SM2256 SSD Controller WithSupport For TLC NAND — CES 2015 Update

We were privileged yesterday to meet with Robert Fan, Vice President and General Manager of Silicon Motion to discuss their latest SSD controller, the SM2256, which features support for TLC NAND.  Historically, TLC NAND has had a reputation of having low endurance and reliability, and hence was not suitable for use in solid state storage devices.  Fast-forward to today, and we are seeing new technology and software/firmware tools that are able to increase both the reliability and endurance of TLC NAND, now making it a viable alternative to the more expensive MLC NAND for use in certain SSDs.

The SM2256 supports a wide variety of NAND chips, including ONFI 3.0, toggle 2.0 and asynchronous NAND.  It also supports the latest process geometries, including 1x, 1y, and 1z NAND from all major NAND suppliers, and includes 3D NAND.  The SM2256 is a 4-channel controller, yet offers performance that rivals that of 8-channel controllers.  It supports up to 32 NAND devices, which gives it the capability to support up to 1TB of flash storage.  The SM2256 also features a 16-bit wide DRAM interface at DDR3/DDR3L speeds.

As an OEM solution, the SM2256 offers controller and firmware from a single source, simplifying its usage.  The firmware is both customizable and upgradeable. The SM2256 supports both device sleep mode (DevSleep) and PHY sleep mode (CFast PHYSLP), as well as TRIM functions.  It also features S.M.A.R.T. drive performance and health monitoring attributes.

In the above image, we see a trio of engineering samples that are utilizing the Silicon Motion SM2256 with various NAND configurations. In the close-up shot below, we see the SM2256 residing on the PCB of a 512GB SSD utilizing 19nm TLC NAND and a 512MB DDR3 DRAM chip from Hynix.

The SM2256 also features Silicon Motion’s proprietary NANDXtend technology, which utilizes three levels of error correction and data protection to effectively triple the program/erase cycle count for TLC NAND.  Combined with global wear-leveling algorithms, the lifespan of an SSD utilizing the SM2256 is significantly extended.  It also features real-time AES256 encryption, as well as being TCG Opal compliant.

Performance of the SM2256 is augmented by utilizing an SLC cache.  Real world performance numbers from qualifying OEMs put sequential read speeds at a range from 514MB/s to 545MB/s.  Qualifying sequential writes range from 458MB/s to 477MB/s.  Random 4K read speeds are averaging 97,000 IOPS, with random 4K write speeds averaging around 40,000 IOPS.  The screenshot below shows similar results.

Silicon Motion has enjoyed widespread adoption of their previous SM2246 controller, which is being utilized by over 30 OEMs as shown in the graphic below. For additional information click on “SM2256″ in the selection guide here at Silicon Motion’s website.  This will take you to the product page for the SM2256.

Silicon Motion Penetrating NAND Flash Fabs - SMI on the Rise

Silicon Motion Penetrating NAND Flash Fabs with their innovative new controllers (NASDAQ: SIMO)

By: Chris Ramseyer Jan 8, 2014

CES 2015 - Over the last year we've often discussed Silicon Motion's rise in the SSD controller space. The fabless semiconductor's SM2246EN controller was well received, first by smaller SSD manufacturers, and now by NAND flash fabs.

This week, SanDisk announced the new SSD Plus that is priced less than $70 in 128GB. The SSD Plus won't break any performance records but is clearly designed to break price barriers. SanDisk didn't brief media before introducing the SSD Plus at Storage Visions 2015, but since that time we've learned that Silicon Motion is inside with a custom variant of the SM2246EN controller.

Getting one NAND fab company to use your controller is a big step for a controller maker that was virtually unheard of one year ago. Getting two is big news for investors. Just days after the SanDisk announcement, Crucial, a division of Lexar and also a NAND flash manufacturer, announced the new BX100. Again, this new low cost consumer SSD with 16nm MLC flash is managed by a Silicon Motion SM2246EN controller.

They say when it comes it comes in threes. Analysts have recently come forward to state that Intel, a partner with Micron/Crucial/Lexar, has chosen a Silicon Motion controller for an unannounced consumer SSD that should break cover in the coming months. Most likely Intel will brand the new product in the 300 Series family, a low cost series that again is designed to increase the adoption rate of solid state storage technology, replacing mechanical hard drives.

None of this is all that radical when you know the history of the SSD market. SandForce quickly came to power but acquisitions and long product delays have left the door open for Silicon Motion to get a foot in the door. Now that Silicon Motion is sitting at the table, we think the real objective is for the company to use SM2246EN as a stepping stone for SM2256EN, a flash controller that takes advantage of new 3bit per cell technology that will further reduce the cost of solid state storage technology to consumers.

SSD Market Share/ SanDisk buys Fusion-io

A recent survey by Gartner (see below) shows Intel and Samsung leading in shipment of SSD storage for enterprise.

Sandisk is strengthening their position by buying Fusion-io

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

 IBM officially biggest all-flash array shipper - analyst

Gartner AFA data hits the street

By Chris Mellor, 13 Jun 2014 

No, it isn’t the greatly anticipated all-flash array magic quadrant, but it's great Gartner analysis nonetheless. The number-crunchers at Gartner HWQ have produced a Market Share Analysis: SSDs and Solid-State Arrays, Worldwide, 2013. Yummy. Let’s see what’s inside.

The doc, available as a download from Pure Storage (guess who's done well in the analysis) after registering a few details. It looks at both SSDs and all-flash arrays, which Gartner calls Solid State Arrays (SSAs) and IBM comes out as the leading SSA shipper – with Pure Storage second.

SSAs are defined carefully: ”SSAs are scalable, dedicated, solutions based solely on solid-state semiconductor technology for data storage that cannot be configured with HDD technology at any time. As distinct from SSD-only racks within ECB storage arrays, an SSA must be a stand-alone product denoted with a specific name and model number, which typically (but not always) includes an operating system and data management software optimised for solid-state technology.”

To cut a long story short, Dell and HDS all-flash array products are excluded, as are all-flash versions of – for example – EMC VMAX and VNX, and NetApp FAS arrays.

The SSD category embraces PCIe flash cards and also includes “self-contained solid-state NAND dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs), which must be used in dedicated slots in servers. Mainstream PC SSDs being used in servers are counted in this category due to end consumption.”

We’ll graph the information here, and you can read the detailed numbers by downloading the doc. The SSD info starts with worldwide vendor revenues:

Click chart for larger version

Total SSD revenues in 2012 were $7.2 billion, and in 2013 had risen to $10.99 billion, a 53.1 per cent increase.

Samsung as top dog got most of that with Intel, growing less, at number 2. Look at Sandisk’s rocketing growth up into the no 3 slot, closely followed by Micron. Toshiba held its fifth place but didn’t grow much. WD grew, Fusion-io declined and now we’re in the tail-enders.

Now let’s look at the enterprise SSD market:

Intel is top dog, not second-placed Samsung. WD, with its HGST/Intel SSDs is in third place followed by SanDisk successfully exhibiting its enterprise supplier credentials. Then there’s Fusion-io, which declined 2012 - 2013, Google with its internal use - amazing - Micron is a, we think, in a disappointing sixth place, NetApp a, for it, strong seventh then LSI and Seagate. EMC does not appear at all.

Now for the SSA numbers.

Here are the vendor revenue market share numbers:

Click chart to make it larger.

And here the actual SSA revenues by vendor:

Click chart to make it larger

IBM has had a wildly successful 2013 year, solidly overtaking Violin Memory to claim a dominating number 1 slot. Pure Storage has rocketed to the number 2 position in 2013 while Violin Memory slumped from first place in 2013 to third in 2013, illustrating the new management team’s uphill task. EMC has sprung into fourth place from a standing start and NetApp is not far behind in the fifth slot. Then there’s Nimbus Data and tail-ender Cisco - a dismal showing for the networking behemoth in our view, with startup SolidFire very close behind.

The SSA market was sized by Gartner at $236.5m in 2012, and 182.1 per cent higher at $667.3m in 2013. IBM’s SSA revenues grew at 278.1 per cent, Pure's at a magnificent 642.3 per cent and no other vendor outpaced the market, meaning they lost share.

Now this is artificial, as EMC, Kaminario, SolidFire and HP had no presence in Gartner’s numbers in 2013, but we can assert that Violin Memory, NetApp, Nimbus and Cisco all lost share from 2012 to 2013. With EMC, Kaminario, SolidFire and HP now in the SAA market we might expect these losses to continue in 2014.

The Gartner analysis contains more data, segment metrics and so forth. It’s worth a download and read if you’re interested.

Main takeaway? Big Blue really is big in SSAs, Pure Storage is living up to its hype, and the SSA market is growing at a fast lick. NAND the story goes on