Why Managed Flash Technology
Dramatically Improves Flash Performance
Flash memory is a wonderful invention. It can randomly access data at speeds up to 60 times faster than a hard disk. Similarly, the newest MLC models are as cheap as enterprise hard disks. But Flash has a problem: when this data needs to be written back, the random write speed is often only 1/500th of the random read speed. As a result, most flash drives inherently perform a little better than some hard drives, and a little worse than others.
Our patent pending Managed Flash Technology (MFT) solves that random write problem, enabling Flash Drives to write clusters of random data in linear streams, thus allowing it to write at the full Flash Drive linear write speed of forty to ninety megabytes a second (which is 10,000 to 22,000 4kb writes per second).
Normal random writes put things back where they came from. Writing linearly requires us to put them where ever free space is available at this moment. This method of remembering things works as long as a memory table exists to tell you where a logical sector is at this moment.
Similarly, MFT often extends the effective write-life of Flash SSDs by two orders of magnitude. While this may not be of practical benefit if you are using an expensive single-level cell (SLC) based Flash SSD, it may be absolutely critical if you want to use the vastly less expensive, but more limited erase-life multi-level cell (MLC) drives.
That is the essence of MFT. In the following pages, we will consider particular elements in detail.
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