FFD: Fast Flash Disk

What Is FFD?

What is the same size as a hard drive, the same shape as a hard drive, has the same connectors as a hard drive, has the same memory as a hard drive, looks to the system just like a hard drive, but is 200 times as expensive? The answer is Fast Flash Disk. Basically, FFD is a flash memory array packaged as a plug-n-play, drop in replacement for an IDE or SCSI drive. Capacities range from 32 MB to 10.2 GB. So, for all that money, there must be some good points, right?

The Good Points

Since FFD is all solid state, there are no moving parts. No moving parts means no seek time, no read/write latency. Access time runs less than 0.1ms. No moving parts means high reliability; 99.999%, to be exact. And high reliability is maintained even with an unstable power supply. MTBF is calculated at 2,000,000 hours. (What is that, 228 years?) Superior reliability means no maintenance required. All solid state means shock resistant. These things can withstand 50Gs for 11ms, and 1500Gs for 0.5ms. Vibration resistance is also high (16.4G RMS). They comply with MIL-STD-810E, and with telecommunications NEBS Level 3. And unlike traditional magnetic hard disks, they are very resistant to magnetic fields. One peculiar feature of FFDs, of interest for some very specialized applications, is security erase. FFDs can completely erase their entire load of information in about 5 seconds. Just the thing if the enemy is at the gate. Standard models operate in temperatures of 0 ~ 70° C. Extended protection models can withstand operating temperatures of -40 ~ 85° C. There is also an anticorrosive option with special coatings on the internal PCBs. These units operate well even in marine atmospheres.

The Medium Points

While seek time is very good, read/write speed for FFD is nothing special. For IDE FFDs, sustained read/write is around 3.5 MB/sec, with burst rate at 16.7 MB/sec. For SCSI FFDs, sustained read/write comes in at under 4 MB/sec, with burst at 9.7 MB/sec. Ultra Wide SCSI FFDs show sustained read at 28.5 MB/sec, sustained write 23.5 MB/sec, and burst at 40 MB/sec. Reading endurance is unlimited. Endurance for write/erase cycles is 250,000 to 1,000,000. The former limiting factor for flash memory, as you may know, was cell burnout. FFD overcomes this through balanced write management, or what they call "Dynamic Wear Leveling." The warranty is 5 years.

The Bad Point

The bad point is, well, the price.

Applications

FFD boasts an impressive list of customers, including dozens of big names we're sure you've heard of. And where do these famous players deploy their FFDs? Airborne radar, black boxes, in-flight map displays, ground-based telecom systems, broadcast systems, wireless base stations, mobile video stations, audio/video servers, military control systems for radar, sonar, and fire control; factory automation, robot control, nuclear systems control, and mining test equipment, to name a few. And since the form factors of FFDs exactly mimic standard drives, the retrofit market is wide open, especially for mission-critical applications.

Product Range

Conclusion

If you need state-of-the-art mass memory, that offers great performance, great reliability, zero maintenance, operates well under harsh conditions, and you can pay a little more (okay, a whole lot more), FFD is for you.

Find Out More

To find out more about how Advantech puts cutting edge technology to work, contact your Advantech representative today, or check out the Advantech website at www.advantech.com

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