iSSD, embeded SSD's (the successor of standard NAND)

[CPUnltd]

I decided to open a thread about this as it relates directly to this project (to me) in that I wonder if this could be a possible hardware upgrade somewhere down the line (similar to the newer omap chip when costs drop) and whether people thinks it would be worth it/will catch on... This is the first I've seen of a possible NAND successor, and for better or worse, I think it will be interesting...

http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/SanDisk-iSSD-and-IntelMicron-TLC-flash/


oh well... looks like I can't remove the poll... so my noob is now present forever in this post...

 

[Grench]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive

"As of 2010, most SSDs use NAND-based flash memory, which retains memory even without power."

 

[CPUnltd]

guess my noob is showing...

 

[CPUnltd]

so iSSD and NAND is redundant? why make SSDs for embedded devices if it's the same thing? unless there is a capacity difference and iSSD is a grouping of multiple NAND chips?

 

[Exophase]

SSDs are usually multiple NANDs in parallel, which is necessary to offer bandwidth competitive with hard drives.

 

[CPUnltd]

so iSSD is an upgrade from standard use of NAND then?








would be nice if I could modify the main topic to say something like "iSSD, embeded SSD's (the successor of standard NAND)" ...if any mods are so inclinde...

 

[Drack]

The tech is much faster and much, much more expensive.

That's about it.

Put this tech in a Pandora and its price will double.

 

[cbox]

Yeah, a 60 gig SSD is close to $100, add that to a Pandora and you're talking a big bump in price.

 

[Prometheus]

would be nice if I could modify the main topic to say something like "iSSD, embeded SSD's (the successor of standard NAND)" ...if any mods are so inclinde...

I am so inclined. Title changed.

 

[Tempel]

From what I read of the article, I think that this SSD's claim to fame is its SATA interface in such a small package. This would make it easy to integrate into common motherboards. I don't know what interface our NAND uses - we might not even be able to find out, considering it's part of the SoC - but I expect that the Pandora has no built-in SATA hardware. So I don't think this would be easy to integrate into the Pandora, though maybe it'll be useful in Pandora 2 or 3 (but even then, a SoC including NAND would still probably be the better approach).

 

[second exodous]

Huh, I never thought of embedding SSDs into motherboards, this would be a vast improvement if the OS uses 20 gigs on the motherboard and then for storage the user or computer manufacturer adds a HD for media. I've wanted to get a 20 gig SSD to put / on and have /home on a normal drive but SSDs are so freaking expensive. I've never used more than 20 gigs for the OS and that is a little overkill for me as I don't do a lot of gaming on my computer anymore.

Maybe on the Pandora2 we'll have embedded SSDs but I really hope that someone will figure out how to put a SATA controller onto a OMAP4 platform.

 

[CPUnltd]

Oh, I'm sure that in the realm of saving this technology for the successor of the current form of the Pandora would yield higher capacities at lower prices as well as the ability to make this gaming UMPC compete with gaming class laptops (which will DEFINITELY be worth it) of course, I would vote to have the screen size increased to 5in just due to the sheer content capabilities of the device. In the realm of game emulation, I can't see it being more than 2 generations behind, maybe even bumping up to one (PSX puts us 2 gens behind PS3, so no worse than that ) Thing is, there aren't many games for linux that require more processor power than the Pandora currently has. From what I remember, the entire Humble Indie Bundle can function on Pandora! But space would be an issue for that to get the speed boost of being installed vs ran via SD card. The way I see it going down that makes the most sense would be a standard NAND for / with the iSSD option (starting at 4GB) for /home and primary software that was not already flashed to /.

Similar to how I have my GP2X setup, I'd have all the emulators and core games I play frequently copied to the iSSD in .pnd format or "installed" to a well-named folder for IGG (instant gaming gratification) and house the emulator roms and other games that I play less often on the SD cards... with the iSSD, I'd be able to swap out which games are more important to me with new titles, or old titles that suddenly become more interesting (or whatever floats my boat on the software side)... I learned to fragment my partitioning a long time ago and avoid single partitions like the plague! so if I had my way, that is how I would do it... and depending on how "embedded" these iSSDs would be, upgrading them would be a nice touch to have.

What I forsee in the realm of OP implementing these would be getting a beagleboard with an opening for iSSDs (similar to the current boards or maybe with updated hardware on said "new" board) and offer iSSD options similar to how custom laptop sites give options on hard drive space or other upgrades on the laptop... so the Pandora would have it's base price and there would be a drop-down menu (defaulted to "no iSSD +$0USD" or something of the like) which would list each iSSD size and the additional price for it. This way, the buyer has options and if they got the money to spend, cool... OP can install the chip on their Pandora prior to shipping... if not, then they go with the standard model (which should still have the iSSD slot available for future upgrading via OP or the daring HBHM (Home-Based Hardware Modifier)...

Hope you guys like my Acronyms... I rather enjoy making them up on the fly.

 

[Prometheus]

I'm not quite sure where the BeagleBoard comes into it, CPU. What's that got to do with the current Pandora, or a future one? (Am I misunderstanding something, here?)

 

[typs lik dis]

Isn't the Pandora a Beagleboard with gaming controls, an extra SD slot, etc. hooked up in a case?

 

[Prometheus]

No, it isn't. (Warning: VERY old link. Do not bump.)

 

[WizardStan]

How the dickens is that rumour still around? :blink:

 

[typs lik dis]

It seems, based purely on the specs posted on open-pandora.org, to be just like a Beagleboard. They run the same software. They are roughly the same size. They have basically the same cpu, gpu, ram, etc. Just sayin, not hatin.

 

[TrashyMG]

It seems, based purely on the specs posted on open-pandora.org, to be just like a Beagleboard. They run the same software. They are roughly the same size. They have basically the same cpu, gpu, ram, etc. Just sayin, not hatin.

Well it is similar in the fact it shares some of the same components. But they differ in board design, hardware control not to mention it has Wifi / Bluetooth and game controls. With the same argument you can say a Motorola Droid or N900 is based off a beagleboard.

Which I'm not BTW.

 

[Near_Kstor]

Now it is official.
The Pandora 2 will feature 64gigs iSSD. FINALLY we can perform multiboot, having all OS's you want into the pandora, no SD Card required to boot your Gentoo, Ubuntu, or whatever distro you can think of!!

 

[WizardStan]

It seems, based purely on the specs posted on open-pandora.org, to be just like a Beagleboard. They run the same software. They are roughly the same size. They have basically the same cpu, gpu, ram, etc. Just sayin, not hatin.

They're based on the same hardware in the same sense that a Mac and a PC are both (now) x86 processors.