Hybrid Hard Drives: How, Why, and When?

Objective Analysis

Publication Date	December 2007
Publisher	Objective Analysis
Product Type	Report
Pages	44
ISBN Number	not applicable
Product Code	OBJ00004

Buy this product or for assistance call +44 20 7060 7474

PDF £2,405.00$4001 | €2692

FAX Order above formats by FAX

Summary

Hybrid Disk Drives, the combination of a standard hard disk drive and a NAND chip, are a budding phenomenon enabled by new features of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. This technology promises to sweep the PC hard drive market. Objective Analysis' Hybrid Disk Drive study will explain the technology, its potential market, competing technologies, and how the NAND market, the PC market, and the HDD market will all be impacted by this new twist on an old technology.

Key Findings:

It seems that everyone knows that NAND belongs in the PC, but there are differing views as to how and where it belongs.
The broadest support today is for the Hybrid HDD, which has today only been introduced by two HDD makers. Although several times as many companies manufacture SSDs, the economics of this approach pose a challenge to widespread adoption.
Software support is key to the acceptance of the hybrid drive, and today this software support is lacking. Vista features to support the hybrid drive fall short of expectations.
Once hybrid drives, or some similar technology, find acceptance, Objective Analysis expects to see adoption sweep the market in only four years.
No matter how high the acceptance of hybrid drives, their contribution to overall NAND revenues will remain low peaking at about 4% of total market revenues

Content

Executive Summary
What is a Hybrid Hard Disk Drive?
- Elements of a Standard HDD
- The DRAM Cache
- Limitations of DRAM Caches
- A NAND Alternative
- NAND's Nonvolatile Advantage
- NAND's Price Advantage
- NAND as a Cache for the HDD
- Intel's Turbo Memory Alternative
- SanDisk's Vaulter Disk
Benefits of the Hybrid HDD
- Power Consumption
- Access Speed
- Reliability
- Shock Tolerance
- Where the Truth Lies
The Role of Software Support
- Why a Cache Needs Software Support
- The ""Instant-On"" Myth
- Issues with Legacy
- Why will Support Take so Long to Materialize?
Alternatives to Hybrid Drives
- Solid State Drives
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Standard HDDs
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- DRAM Write Caches
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Increased DRAM Main Memory
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
Cost Implications of NAND Disk Caches
- How NAND Costs will Add to HDD Costs
- Consumer Reaction to Costs of Alternatives
- Net Benefit to the NAND Market
HDD Makers' Plans
- Devices Currently Introduced
- Samsung
- Seagate
- Fujitsu
- Hitachi
- Toshiba
- Western Digital
- Expectations for the Future
What Happens Next?
- Near-Term Expectations
- Software Changes and Their Impact
- A Forecast for Hybrid HDD Shipments
- The Impact of Hybrid Drives on the NAND Market
Summary
Methodology
Figures
Tables
Author
- Jim Handy