From magnetic to solid state, spin-free: What a long, strange storage trip it's turning out to be

摘要

Flash-memory-based solid-state drives have recently 'stirred up the staid storage industry, and their initial success stories foretell a potentially stellar future. Consider, for example, how rapidly they've taken over the formerly robust market for 1.8-in. hard-disk drives. Also consider their significant influence on smaller-form-factor hard-disk drives' lackluster initial unveilings. A notable percentage of netbook, tablet, and other alternative mobile computers, especiallyrnthose running Linux operating-system variants, contain solid-state drives instead of hard-disk drives. Thin and light conventional notebook PCs running Windows and OS X are also well along the conversion path.