Published work
Technical Analysis
More than 500 reviews, articles, guides and white papers, written to make storage technology legible and useful. 425 carry my byline and are listed below. The rest are white papers, press releases and technology-trend posts I wrote for enterprise SSD and server makers.
The archive
The SSD Review bylines, 2014–2019
Every card opens the original.
Stories 51 to 100 of 211, newest first.
Samsung 960 Pro M.2 NVMe SSD Review (2TB) – Breathtaking SpeedSize, weight, speed, latency, endurance, power consumption, price, warranty, etc. All these characteristics help to define storage media and are what classify some drives as entry level, others as mainstream, and a for a select few, enthusiast/prosumer.
WD Blue SSD Review (1TB) – WD Steps Into The RingMany of us know Western Digital as one of the largest HDD manufacturers in the market and that they have, for the most part, solely relied on HDD storage sales to become the giant they are today. In recent times they’ve adopted flash into their products.
Toshiba OCZ VX500 SSD Review (256GB/512GB/1TB) – A New MLC Contender In The Recent Sea of TLCThe OCZ Vector has been the top performing SATA SSD from the company for the past few years. Utilizing their proprietary Indilinx controller and most recently, Toshiba’s A19 NAND, they provided for strong performance for mainstream consumers as well as enthusiasts, but it did have its drawbacks in recent times.
Toshiba HK4E Enterprise SSD Review (800GB)What’s this? Another Toshiba HK4 series SSD review? Yes! This time around we are going to take a look at the higher endurance model of the HK4 family, the HK4E. The HK4E is rated for three drive writes per day rather than one like the HK4R.
Crucial MX300 SSD Review (1050GB) – Micron 3D NAND Meets RAID 0Whether it be on cars or computers, enthusiasts are always looking for ways to improve performance, ways to just one up their friends, or even just ways to spend money on their hobby when they have nothing else to do with it. Who doesn’t like having the best of the best at times? We know we sure love it.
LiteOn Demos Open Channel on Protoype U.2 SSD and Unveils EP3 M.2 NVMe SSD – Flash Memory Summit 2016 UpdateFrom the emergence of new flash storage server companies to more participation from the big players in flash, we are seeing FMS grow year after year as more and more gain interest in speedy memory. We see companies delivering break through products and solutions as well as industry wide trends forming.
Phison Displays Next Gen Controllers and More – Flash Memory Summit 2016 UpdateMaking our way over to the Phison booth we were greeted with some new products. First up is the S11T, which will help OEMs and other customers reduce their BOM cost. It is an industrial grade SATA 6Gb/s controller that is DRAM-less. It supports MLC/TLC 2D and 3D NAND. It features their SmartECC, end-to-end data path protection, and SmartZip technologies.
Maxiotek Shows Off Latest DRAM-less Controllers – Flash Memory Summit 2016 UpdateMaxiotek is a new name in the controller industry, but not new to the game. Maxiotek is the result of JMicron’s SSD controller and external enclosure departments splitting. The company is full of engineers and are working hard on delivering reliable controllers to the masses. Here at Flash Memory Summit they have on display quite a few new controller products.
OCZ RD400 Sales Through the Roof – Flash Memory Summit 2016 UpdateSince their acquisition by Toshiba, we have seen the OCZ booth get smaller and smaller at trade shows. This year at FMS, it is narrowed down to a single display. Not only has their booth been shrinking, but we have notices that their naming conventions have been shrinking as well.
Kingston Displays World’s Fastest 2.5” U.2 SSD – Flash Memory Summit 2016 UpdateSo many products at FMS revolve around delivering the most performance you could image. While we were impressed with the many server storage solution providers, we are always more focused on the SSD manufacturers and devices themselves, which is why we went over to speak with Kington to see what they had at their booth this year.
Transcend Demos SuperMLC and New Products – Flash Memory Summit 2016 UpdateMany vendors at FMS this year are introducing evolutionary products and Transcend is no different. While at their booth we spotted them demonstrating the performance of their SuperMLC NAND. SuperMLC was originally developed to deliver industrial customers the high performance and reliability that SLC offers, but at a lower, more cost effective price point.- Liqid SSDs and Software Enable 50GB/s and 10 Million IOPS Performance – Flash Memory Summit 2016 UpdateLiqid is a newer SSD solutions company that revolves around making innovative and disruptive technology for the bare-metal cloud to enable hyperscale agility to the masses. What does this mean? Well, through their reference SSD designs and software architecture they are able to deliver what is some of the best performance we have seen at FMS 2016 so far.
Microsemi Provides the Industry’s Highest Density, Lowest Power PCIe SwitchMicrosemi, has announced today that they are now offering a new PCIe Gen3 Switch, its Switchtec PFX PCIe switch. The Switchtec PFX PCIe switch provides for the the industry’s highest density and lowest power for data center, defense, communications, and industrial applications.
Toshiba’s ZD6000 Dual Port NVMe SSD Powers DDN IME14K All-Flash Application and File System Accelerator SoftwareToshiba, has just announced that their ZD6000-series NVMe SSDs will now be featured in DDN’s latest servers to provide for the capacity, quality, and reliability needed for the latest application acceleration and burst buffer technologies. Their collaboration enables the DDN IME14K to deliver redundancy, low latency, and game changing performance at the application layer, providing impressive compute ROI.
Corsair Neutron XTi SSD Review (480GB)It has been nearly two years since we have reviewed the Corsair Neutron XT. At its release it was the first SSD we analyzed with the Phison S10 controller and after putting it through the paces, we were quite impressed with its performance at first show.
WD Announces World’s First 64 Layer 3D NANDThis week Western Digital Corp. announced that it has successfully developed its next generation 3D NAND technology, BiCS3, with 64 layers of vertical storage capability. Pilot production of the new technology has commenced in the Yokkaichi, Japan joint venture facilities and initial output is expected later this year.
Crucial Expands MX300 Line With More Capacities & Form FactorsJust a month after we reviewed the Limited Edition 750GB model, Crucial is now announcing the release of more capacity options for the MX300 family. It is now available in 275GB, 525GB, the original 750GB, and 1TB.
Kingston SSDNow UV400 SSD Review (480GB)Today we are going to look into the performance of yet another entry level SSD. This trend, to offer entry level products, is very strong now and since TLC NAND is readily available, almost every manufacturer out has one of these cost effect drives in their portfolio.
Samsung 850 EVO SSD Review (4TB) – Bigger than Ever!!!Samsung is a force to be reckoned with in the SSD market. With such a large share, they are the biggest player there is. This allows them to push the boundaries of what products they can deliver and when. In today’s case, Samsung has just released another update to their 850 EVO line, this time it is huge.
Micron 9100 MAX Enterprise NVMe SSD Review (2.4TB)It has been quite some time since Micron has released a new PCIe SSD into its product portfolio. With the many new NVMe products being released in the market, it was about time Micron caught up, and not only did they catch up, their latest drives look to be some of the best out.
Samsung EVO Plus microSDXC UHS-I Card Review (256GB) – So Much V-NAND!Released earlier last year, the Samsung EVO Plus line of microSD cards has been quite a success. In light of this, Samsung has decided to continue the momentum and push boundaries by expanding the capacity availability.
Toshiba HK4R Enterprise SSD Review (1920GB)SATA SSDs are all the rage in data centers. Unlike their PCIe bothers, these SATA SSDs don’t often need to have high endurance figures and lightning fast IOPS performance. Instead, they typically just need to be cheap, reliable, and what is becoming more important lately, high capacity.
SSD of the Week – PNY CS2211 XLR8With summer comes more time to play games for many and today we wanted to bring back to light a high quality SATA SSD for our readers who want that extra edge when playing. The CS2211 is manufactured by PNY and is part of their XLR8 line, aka, their top performing gamer/enthusiast class products.
Mushkin Triactor SSD Review (480GB) – Another Barebones TLC OptionBack in 2014 we took a good look at the Mushkin Reactor. At the time, it was the best value 1TB SSD you could buy. You could even argue that it was THE SSD which made high value, high capacity SSDs the norm. Now, Mushkin is trying to take value a step farther by introducing a cheaper alternative into the market.
Mangstor Introduces P2P capabilities and 5.4TB model to MX-Series NVMe SSDsMangstor Inc., a leading developer of high performance next generation non-volatile memory storage solutions, today announced that its MX-Series family of NVMe-based PCIe SSDs now features higher capacity 5.4TB models as well as Peer-to-Peer (P2P) capabilities.
Crucial MX300 SSD Review (750GB)For what seemed like an eternity Samsung has been the leader in manufacturing 3D NAND. Starting with the release of the Samsung 850 Pro two years ago, they have paved the way for innovation. 3D NAND brings greater capacity, power efficiency, and lower cost to the consumers.
SanDisk X400 SSD Review (512GB)Targeted towards read-intensive workloads, boot, and logging applications in both servers and mobile computing, the X400 is SanDisk’s top-tier client SATA SSD available in both M.2 and 2.5″ form factors. Based on the marketing material it seems that SanDisk has put a lot of value into this drive, not only with its feature set, but performance and efficiency.
Techman SSD XC100 Series NVMe SSD Review (3.2TB)High capacity and high-performance SSDs are starting to pop up every which way in the enterprise segment and competition is getting heated. Thanks to PMC with their latest Flashtec NVMe controllers, third party SSD vendors are able to develop these high capacity, high performance devices faster than ever with features catered to their target buyers.
Micron Announces Next-Gen NVMe 3D NAND 1100 & 2100 Series Client SSDs – Computex 2016 UpdateToday Micron Technology, Inc. introduced the Micron 1100 SATA and Micron 2100 PCIe NVMe. These are two new solid state drive (SSD) product lines designed to tackle client computing workloads from web browsing and email, to video editing and auto CAD design.
OCZ RD400 NVMe SSD Review (256GB/512GB/1TB)More MB/s, more IOPS, and lower latencies are what storage enthusiasts dream of. CPUs, RAM, and GPUs are all pushing faster speeds than ever, but storage has typically been a bottleneck for enthusiasts, even after the introduction of SSDs.
Intel 540s SSD Review (480GB) – SMI Controller With SK Hynix MemoryAs the SSD industry continues to grow, manufacturers try to maintain their consumer presence with more value-oriented consumer products. Such is the case with Intel’s latest step into the TLC segment by introducing their newest 540s SATA 3 SSD a few weeks back.
Micron Simplifies Path to Next-Generation All-Flash Data Center with Introduction of Micron Accelerated SolutionsOn Tuesday Micron Technology, Inc. introduced to us new NVMe SSDs for the enterprise market, however, that was just one of many announcements. They also announced the creation of Micron Accelerated Solutions, a set of purpose-built, scale-out solutions for open source and software-defined data centers.
Micron Accelerates Data Center Storage with New NVMe PCIe SSD PortfolioMicron announces a new PCIe solid state drives that leverage the high-performance NVMe protocol. The new Micron 9100 and 7100 PCIe SSDs provide data center customers with purpose-built storage products for implementing an agile, scale-out IT infrastructure.
Samsung 850 EVO SSD With 3rd Gen 48 Layer V-NAND Performance ComparisonOut with the old, in with the new is how the saying goes! Although, in this case, the old really isn’t that old and is still quite bleeding edge technology. This doesn’t stop Samsung though. Today we are going to take a look at the performance of Samsung’s 3rd generation 48-layer 256Gb TLC V-NAND.
SSD of the Week – 960GB MyDigitalSSD BP5e Slim 7 Just $190!Are you interested in getting a 1TB class SSD for dirt cheap? If so, today we stumbled across a great SSD of the Week deal for all our readers.
SSD of the Week – Adata Premier SP550It has been a while since our last SSD of the Week post, but after seeing the current prices of the Adata Premier SP550, we just had to bring it back. The Adata Premier SP550 is an entry-level SSD designed to meet the needs of those who want to upgrade to flash storage, but need to pinch pennies at the same time.
Zotac Premium Edition SSD Review (480GB)Zotac has been in the computer industry since 2006 and has made quite the name for itself in the gamer market. Better known for their graphics cards, motherboards, and Mini-PCs, Zotac isn’t typically a name one would associate with solid state drives, especially high-performance ones.
OCZ Trion 150 SSD Review (240GB/480GB/960GB)Entry-level SSDs have been a hot commodity for many companies as of late. In the past few months, we have seen many new TLC based options released into the market. Today, OCZ is back at it again with a new release, this time around it is an update to their entry-level SSD series, the OCZ Trion 150.
OWC Mercury Electra MAX 6G SSD Review (2TB)OWC has been around for quite a while and is usually on the ball when it comes to creating flash products for Mac systems. They have robust storage portfolio for any media creation workflow with products designed and manufactured in the USA.
HGST Ultrastar SN100 Enterprise NVMe SSD Review (3.2TB)With the introduction of the Samsung XS1715, back in 2014, we were able to review our first ever PCIe SSD in a 2.5″ form factor. Utilizing the NVMe interface, it provided from some jaw dropping performance. At the time Intel also had (and still has) multiple 2.5″ form factor PCIe SSDs within their Intel SSD Data Center family lineup.
PNY CS1311 SSD Review (120GB/480GB)Yet again, we see a new entrant to the ultra-cheap, entry level SSD market. Aimed at those who are looking for a nice step up from a HDD, but have to pinch pennies, PNY has released a TLC packed contender, the CS1311.- PNY CS2211 SSD Review (240GB/480GB)Just last week we announced PNY’s latest SSD products for the new year, the CS1311 and CS2211. It just so happens that today we have some in our hands for review. The CS1311 is your basic, entry level SSD jam packed with TLC NAND for those looking for a cheap SSD upgrade from an HDD.
Toshiba’s Client and Enterprise Lineup – CES 2016 UpdateToshiba’s show room was packed with NVMe goodness and a bit more. To start off, while Toshiba does not target the consumer retail market under their name they do target OEM and enterprise customers with their client and enterprise products.
OCZ Showcases RevoDrive 400 and Trion 150 – CES 2016 UpdateAfter a long delay to the convention center today we were finally able to make it to the OCZ showroom where one of their newest products caught us by surprise. Along with the Vector 180 and Trion 100, OCZ showcased their Trion 150.
Kingston Demos E1000 PCIe NVMe SSD Capable of 1.25 Million IOPS and More! – CES 2016 UpdateCES has been quite interesting so far, with many new consumer storage devices on the horizon. This year, however, Kingston hasn’t announced anything new on the SSD front, that is, for consumer storage. They did, however, show off some of their newest enterprise products including the E1000 PCIe NVMe AIC and announced a new client SATA SSD, the KC400.
LaCie Unleashes New 1TB External Chromé SSD and Porsche Design Desktop Drives – CES 2016 UpdateLaCie, the premium brand from Seagate Technology, has just unleashed the fastest USB storage solution on the market at CES 2016! Designed by Neil Poulton the LaCie Chromé is a sleek combination of style and performance. The polished aluminum enclosure attaches to a removable magnetized display stand and the back features magnetized cable management.
SanDisk Release World’s Thinnest 1TB M.2 SSD and Extreme 510 External SSDToday SanDisk unveiled a few products for 2016, among them are a new client SSD and a rugged waterproof external drive. Their client product, the X400, is the first single-sided 1TB SATA M.2 form factor SSD that measures in at a mere 1.5mm height.
Micron’s Future Without Mark Adams – Storage Visions 2016 UpdateOf course Storage visions is where we learn what the future will hold in terms of storage. Right now, who better to look at than Micron about this subject? Just yesterday Micron, one of the biggest players in both the DRAM and NAND, released a press statement entailing that their president Mark Adams has resigned due to personal health reasons.
Samsung to Release 750 EVO in US Market, 4TB Consumer SSDs and More – Storage Visions 2016 UpdateIn a quick meeting with Samsung today we learned some interesting things coming up in 2016. Other than the release of the Samsung Portable SSD T3 we’ve mentioned here, Samsung aims to expand the release of the 750 EVO to the United States.- MyDigitalSSD BP5e Slim 7 Series SSD Review (960GB) – Unequaled Value with TLCThe competition between value based SSDs is getting ever more fierce this holiday season. Comparing back to just a few weeks ago we see most manufacturers offering great prices to entice more sales before year’s end. Building upon this steam is MyDigitalSSD with their latest model, the BP5e Slim 7 Series.
From my author pages at Tom’s Hardware and The SSD Review, as of November 4, 2026. TechnologyX is offline, so its cards open the Internet Archive copies.
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