Braidwood's SSD cache is cited for 2011

Author: Richard Swinburne
Published: 27th October 2009
Comments (7) Stumble
Braidwood's SSD cache is cited for 2011

The Gigabyte P57 motherboard with Intel Braidwood socket.

Multiple sources have told bit-tech that Intel's latest attempt at SSD cache, codenamed Braidwood, will not be coming this year - or even next. It's now pipped for sometime in 2011.

This is apparently due to several reasons: firstly, NAND prices are going up due to limited supply and general underinvestment this year from NAND manufacturers and it was hinted that in its current state as part of the P57 platform, it doesn't really do much for performance.

Since all went quiet on the Eastern front after Computex, we suspected that Intel would not launch Braidwood this year, however such a significant delay is still surprising.

That's fine with us, because in its current form it's an Intel proprietary technology using only Intel NAND (limiting competitive pricing and controllers). We'd much rather see investment in a simpler solution to boost mass storage performance of SSDs. Right now, the Flash Cache seems limited to those with the flash cash, and we'd rather not bother.

We asked Intel about the delay, but it refused to comment on unannounced products.

Do you care about Braidwood and P57? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Quote alastor 27th October 2009, 16:00
Quote:
That's fine with us, because in its current form it's an Intel propitiatory technology using only Intel NAND (limiting competitive pricing and controllers).
Propitiatory or proprietary?
Quote moshpit 27th October 2009, 16:41
Quote:
Originally Posted by alastor
Propitiatory or proprietary?
I honestly don't see Braidwood as anything other then a distraction right now. It's underpowered and unneeded.
Quote mclean007 27th October 2009, 17:13
Quote:
Originally Posted by moshpit
Quote:
Originally Posted by alastor
Propitiatory or proprietary?
I honestly don't see Braidwood as anything other then a distraction right now. It's underpowered and unneeded.
Agreed. More RAM and/or a faster disk will see much more benefit for the same investment IMHO.
Quote DbD 27th October 2009, 17:39
By the time it finally comes out we'll all be using real SSD's so it'll be pointless.
Quote chrisb2e9 28th October 2009, 04:10
Maybe thats why there was little investment this year?
Quote sagspipet 28th October 2009, 04:11
Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisb2e9
Maybe thats why there was little investment this year?

By the time it finally comes out we'll all be using real SSD's so it'll be pointless.
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Quote l3v1ck 28th October 2009, 10:41
What's the point?
Surely it's less cost effective to modify motherboard design, add cache sockets to the motherboard and buy the cache separately than it is for SSD manufacturers to add a bit more to each SSD. And what about extra latency on cache that's not physically on the drive?
Quote Star*Dagger 29th October 2009, 05:46
I'd like to see the Torchwood version!
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