"ReadyDrive" to improve storage speed
updated 10:25 pm EDT, Mon July 31, 2006
MS on "ReadyDrive" storage
A new technology dubbed "ReadyDrive" featuring NAND flash memory designed to complement standard hard drive technology could decrease access time, reduce power consumption, and limit the incidence of hard disk failures due to sudden impacts. Computerworld reports that laptops will be the first systems to incorporate ReadyDrive, though the technology will likely extend to desktop systems, and even servers. ReadyDrive can cache portions of the operating system, resulting in faster boot up times. "I would expect to see a 30 percent boot time savings," said Ruston Panabaker, an architect for Microsoft's Windows hardware innovation group.
The architect said that data retrieved from the cache will transfer two to three times as fast as from a hard drive, according to the report, and Samsung says its hybrid disk drive featuring ReadyDrive is 50 times faster than standard hard disk operation.
