Fusion IODrive Benchmarks

[NeedMoMegaHurtZ]

Selling @ DVNation
http://www.dvnation.com/Fusion-IO-IODrive-SSD-Solid-State-Disk-Drive.html

Forum Thread
http://www.dvnation.com/vForum/showthread.php?t=89


The drive installs in any 64-BIT version of Windows as a mass storage controller. VERY EASY TO INSTALL.
Note: AGAIN, it will only work in 64-bit Windows such as XP- 64 and Vista 64 AND Linux
Note: The IO Drive is NOT YET BOOTABLE, but WILL be in Q4 with a firmware upgrade. Details in the review.
Note: These are PCI Express cards, not SATA, IDE, etc
80GB and 160GB Models in stock or available on <2 week lead time.

[Stanley Pain]

Nice benchies, but $2600 and $4800 :eek:

[OutSider]

i suppose their price will go down after some time :) just like all technology gadgets

[Mechromancer]

When we can pick up a 64GB card for $300 then I may consider it. Right now price/performance/capacity ratio = CRAP. Why oh why can't we get performance like this in a consumer product.

[alfaunits]

Too late, though... this was supposed to be available months ago with bootability.

[D749]

I'll take a 160GB card for my gaming PC. :D

[m^2]

Way lower than expected...
How is IBM supposed to get 1M IOPS with 13 of them when a single card delivers 50K (instead of promised 120K) ?
And dvnation says:
"Tested at 800MB/S read, 680MB/S write":rolleyes:
EDIT: I just noticed that ATTO actually shows 800/680. Just HDTach is so low.

[Biker]

W A N T :slobber:

[Gogeta]

For the price, I'm very unimpressed. If you're going to pay that much, a large RAID5 array with quality SSDs will give you ~2-4ms access times and higher read/write with much more capacity and greater fault tolerance. The only attractive aspect of this product is the fact it resides on a single PCI-e card and doesn't require the real estate for 8+ disks. This kills fault tolerance, though.

[Biker]

Nice benchies, but $2600 and $4800 :eek:

Their target price was always $30/GB so this is slightly higher at $32.50 (for the 80GB).

This target cost per GB was set months ago well before the current crop of SSD's exploded onto the market so, in the current climate, the cost of the Fusion IO is very uncompetitive.

This cost will definitely drop :)

[m^2]

For the price, I'm very unimpressed. If you're going to pay that much, a large RAID5 array with quality SSDs will give you ~2-4ms access times and higher read/write with much more capacity and greater fault tolerance. The only attractive aspect of this product is the fact it resides on a single PCI-e card and doesn't require the real estate for 8+ disks. This kills fault tolerance, though.

It's RAIDed internally, so you meant the same fault tolerance. And can you post example stats that are faster and cheaper at the same time? With drives that don't stutter, please.

[3NZ0]

That is :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:in' fast! I wonder how many Bungholiomarks it gets.

[DFI pit bull]

Nice benchies, but $2600 and $4800 :eek:

Anybody want to buy my wife? she's worth at least $10000, then i'll be able to have a nice raid setup:D

[m^2]

Anybody want to buy my wife? she's worth at least $10000, then i'll be able to have a nice raid setup:D

I'm looking for one currently. 10000$ isn't that much, I spent twice as much just on testing various models last year. Pics? Specs?

[@@@@]

from what I recall they're supposed to have a bootable Fusion IO drive in Q4 2008 then was move to Q1 2009 then the hardware and software raid has also been move at a later date

[MaxxxRacer]

I saw these like 2 years ago. I've been waiting for benches ever since.. looking sweet...

[One_Hertz]

For the price, I'm very unimpressed. If you're going to pay that much, a large RAID5 array with quality SSDs will give you ~2-4ms access times and higher read/write with much more capacity and greater fault tolerance. The only attractive aspect of this product is the fact it resides on a single PCI-e card and doesn't require the real estate for 8+ disks. This kills fault tolerance, though.

There is no such controller that will make your raid SSD setup quicker than this card... You will lose horribly in access times and random reads/writes. Throughput means flat out zero when you get past like 300mb/s. For a single user anyways.

[Speederlander]

There is no such controller that will make your raid SSD setup quicker than this card... You will lose horribly in access times and random reads/writes. Throughput means flat out zero when you get past like 300mb/s. For a single user anyways.

Define "horribly"?

[One_Hertz]

Define "horribly"?

9-10 times lower access than core series SSDs (MLC) and ~7-8 times faster at 4k reads/writes. If you raid 8 SLC drives it is going to cost you much more than 2600 (considering the raid card alone is going to be hundreds upon hundreds) and you will still most likely be beaten. Look at the 9x mtron benchmarks for example. This thing beats that and by a good margin. I cant even imagine the SSD setup you would have to create and the amount of money that would cost you to beat this thing. There is absolutely no reason for its price to drop until SSDs step up their game.

[Zaskar]

Wonder if they used a 1x or a 4x slot if it would still be faster then a raid array.

As awesome as this is, its gonna be a hard sell to enthusiasts if they have to give up a graphic card slot.

[Buckeye]

Wonder if they used a 1x or a 4x slot if it would still be faster then a raid array.

As awesome as this is, its gonna be a hard sell to enthusiasts if they have to give up a graphic card slot.

You are right with that, at least for me anyway. I use all 3 slots and there is no room for anything else.

So the only option for me is to give up a 9800GX2 and install one these on the slots that are opened up.

But the thing is, at least for my Raid, will going any faster be noticable, it's very hard to say as it's so fast as it is now. Plus my Raid is 256gb of SSD and I have only used 197gb of that with the mass of programs I have installed on it, I have a lot of space to grow still.

But if you had a SLI system and use the slot in the middle for a 160gb version when they become bootable you will have a smoking hot machine thats for sure. It will cost you thats for sure.

[largon]

We demand updates for mass storage benchmark apps! We need more digits for the access latency gauge.

[m^2]

from what I recall they're supposed to have a bootable Fusion IO drive in Q4 2008 then was move to Q1 2009 then the hardware and software raid has also been move at a later date

http://www.fusionio.com/PressDetails.aspx?id=20

They have 800MB/s => they are RAIDed.

Wonder if they used a 1x or a 4x slot if it would still be faster then a raid array.

As awesome as this is, its gonna be a hard sell to enthusiasts if they have to give up a graphic card slot.

Would you prefer fancier graphics over way better performance? I wouldn't, no doubt.
I guess it's not a problem to find enthusiasts who care a lot about their rigs' speed.

[BulldogPO]

I tought that these are going to be faster. But stil they seem to be fast enuff, only price hurts.

[One_Hertz]

ARRRG! This or new headphones :confused: this or new headphones :confused: hmmmm both are over 2 grand.

If it was bootable I'd pull the trigger right this second, but who knows... Their promises don't help too much unfortunately.

[safan80]

When we can pick up a 64GB card for $300 then I may consider it. Right now price/performance/capacity ratio = CRAP. Why oh why can't we get performance like this in a consumer product.

you can if you raid together a bunch of fast regular hard drives.

[Levish]

you aren't getting .1 or less access times with any conventional hard drive

[One_Hertz]

you can if you raid together a bunch of fast regular hard drives.

1000 of them? haha. It is so sad how many people still benchmark storage devices by the STR.

[@@@@]

http://www.fusionio.com/PressDetails.aspx?id=20

They have 800MB/s => they are RAIDed.


Sorry if you misunderstand my statement yes they are raided internally
but what i meant was Fusion IO PCI X4 + Fusion IO PCIX4 almost the same as Crossfire and SLI but through PCI Express

[xPliziT]

Lol when i saw the price i clicked on the window close button......

[tiro_uspsss]

Wonder if they used a 1x or a 4x slot...

well a X1 slot has max of 250MB/s, so... ;)

[makaka]

it is cheaper and faster to get a raid controller and to pack there 10 SATA disk with 500 GB each . u will get over 1000 MB/s read and write .and at almost the half of price with 5 TB capacity

[hollo]

random access: 0.0ms
that's just beautiful

[Entity_Razer]

1000 of them? haha. It is so sad how many people still benchmark storage devices by the STR.

It all depends what you need the storage solution for mate.

If you are going to be setting up a RAID for SWAP drive usage, then the STR/Acces times are key, if your going for data server you might want to see about top transfer rates etc etc etc

Its all about what your looking for in a product really.

[mystikmedia]

I didn't realize they were not bootable until the mention here. I was actually considering it too. That's definitely a deal-breaker.

[RealTelstar]

It's RAIDed internally, so you meant the same fault tolerance. And can you post example stats that are faster and cheaper at the same time? With drives that don't stutter, please.

Yep.
4x intel x25-E SLC SSD will have about 600MB/s write and 900MB/s read speed.

With 32 gb models, total capacity is 128GB and price well competitive and very close to the 80gb fusionIO card. Price will likely be 400-500$, on top of that you need 500$+ for a proper raid controller.

And they are bootable.

I was all myself going to get a fusionIO asap, but te SSD caught up faster than they expected.

[RealTelstar]

When are they are gonna run IOmeter tests btw?

[Jonny5isalivetm]

If one was to raid 4x intel SSDs would the OS see it as 1 Drive ?

[One_Hertz]

Yep.
4x intel x25-E SLC SSD will have about 600MB/s write and 900MB/s read speed.

With 32 gb models, total capacity is 128GB and price well competitive and very close to the 80gb fusionIO card. Price will likely be 400-500$, on top of that you need 500$+ for a proper raid controller.

And they are bootable.

I was all myself going to get a fusionIO asap, but te SSD caught up faster than they expected.

Access times still 2-3x higher and a much higher chance of failure, not the mention the IOPS of such a setup would be nowhere near 100k... I think that once we see some real world benchmarks (once its bootable) the iodrive should spank basically any SSD setup.

It all depends what you need the storage solution for mate.

If you are going to be setting up a RAID for SWAP drive usage, then the STR/Acces times are key, if your going for data server you might want to see about top transfer rates etc etc etc

Its all about what your looking for in a product really.

We are talking about general use here... i.e. boot times, loading times, etc.

[m^2]

Yep.
4x intel x25-E SLC SSD will have about 600MB/s write and 900MB/s read speed.

With 32 gb models, total capacity is 128GB and price well competitive and very close to the 80gb fusionIO card. Price will likely be 400-500$, on top of that you need 500$+ for a proper raid controller.

And they are bootable.

I was all myself going to get a fusionIO asap, but te SSD caught up faster than they expected.

At launch it will be 600$ for drive if you buy 1000. So 4 SSDs will give you 200MB/s lower read STR, 470 MB/s lower write STR, higher latency. For 2400$ + reseller profit margin + 500$+ for a controller.
Leter IODrive price may drop too.

EDIT: Sorry, I read too quickly and just noticed that you mention SLC.

SLC won't be any cheaper than MLC, I guess they will set prices competitive against MTRONs 7500, which go for no less than about 670$. Competitive, of course, surely not bargain, which 670$ would be considering almost doubled performance.
I guess: 800+, likely 1000+.
With SLC you reduce the difference in write STR to 170 MB/s, but pay much more...

[RealTelstar]

Access times still 2-3x higher and a much higher chance of failure, not the mention the IOPS of such a setup would be nowhere near 100k... I think that once we see some real world benchmarks (once its bootable) the iodrive should spank basically any SSD setup.


Under 1ms I dont really see that 2-3x higher as having any serious performance impact. The IOPS will be less for sure. But how many of the xtreme folks needs skyhigh IOPS?

About the chance of failure, I'm not so sure. The FusionIO uses parallel chips, that is is raid on board.

Lastly, I fear that making it bootable can cause compatibility issues no less than we see already with pci-e raid controllers and chipsest/bioses.

I think it came too late.

[RealTelstar]

If one was to raid 4x intel SSDs would the OS see it as 1 Drive ?

If you create a raid array (raid0, striping was my suggestion here), yes, windows would see a single volume.

[RealTelstar]

SLC won't be any cheaper than MLC, I guess they will set prices competitive against MTRONs 7500, which go for no less than about 670$. Competitive, of course, surely not bargain, which 670$ would be considering almost doubled performance.
I guess: 800+, likely 1000+.
With SLC you reduce the difference in write STR to 170 MB/s, but pay much more...

No, I'm pretty sure about my figures.

The 32gb SLC units will be priced between 400 and 500$. There is already good SLC competition with prices way lower the mtron top models.

[Tonucci]

About the chance of failure, I'm not so sure. The FusionIO uses parallel chips, that is is raid on board.




Thats yet to be established, but at least its based on a tech used in some huge companies servers/clusters. Chances are its reliable enough.

[One_Hertz]

Under 1ms I dont really see that 2-3x higher as having any serious performance impact. The IOPS will be less for sure. But how many of the xtreme folks needs skyhigh IOPS?

If we talk like that then why have more than 2 raid0 drives to begin with? There won't be much difference. This is XS bud :P

[alfaunits]

If that's for 1000-unit quantities, it's unlikely to go under 700$ retail. And that's the current pricing for top 32GB stuff. It would cause lower prices for other SSDs though.

The 32gb SLC units will be priced between 400 and 500$. There is already good SLC competition with prices way lower the mtron top models.

[m^2]

No, I'm pretty sure about my figures.

The 32gb SLC units will be priced between 400 and 500$. There is already good SLC competition with prices way lower the mtron top models.
Link?

[Levish]

Under 1ms I dont really see that 2-3x higher as having any serious performance impact. The IOPS will be less for sure. But how many of the xtreme folks needs skyhigh IOPS?

About the chance of failure, I'm not so sure. The FusionIO uses parallel chips, that is is raid on board.

Lastly, I fear that making it bootable can cause compatibility issues no less than we see already with pci-e raid controllers and chipsest/bioses.

I think it came too late.

DB's apps can be IO starves and the lower latency translates directly into higher IOPs

[Jimmer411]

Yawn.




Ill stick with normal hdd untill ssd catches up. Sorry but bring on the hybrid hdd...

I'd $1/gb tops for any storage device period. Even that's pushing it.


With games taking 10gb+ now days, and IF bluray ever takes off and becomes more than a wet dream than we could potentially see games coming on 25gb and 50gb disks, taking 2-3x that much hdd space making ssd completely useless compared to the normal hdd. That's why we need hybrid hdd. Some of us do like having more than 1 game installed.

1tb 7200rpm hdd with 1gb+ of cache please :)


Maybe ill pickup a small one to use as a scratch disk for photoshop one day if prices ever become reasonable.

[RealTelstar]

If we talk like that then why have more than 2 raid0 drives to begin with? There won't be much difference. This is XS bud :P

I agree (that is why I said that extreme IOPS do not matter to us).

But, because hd tach cannot measure an access time so low, which is the REAL difference?

If somebody can measure fusionIO access time with SYSTEM SPEED TEST 4.78 that would help, but I dont think that a dos program can actually see the drive :(

[RealTelstar]

Link?

My educated guess, based on some rumors. They have the 64gb unit to market as well, which should be around $800-1000.

When intel will announce the official prices, you'll tell me that i was right :D

[Biker]

I was myself going to get a fusionIO asap, but SSD caught up faster than they expected.


Exactly.

That is why the Fusion IO cost will drop. If it does not then this interesting product will remain in obscurity; exclusively for high end enterprise, film and graphics... and the rich enthusiast.

ps. I bite @ $5/GB ;)

[Loque]

why on earth is that so expensive ? is it made of gold ? it would be cheaper if it was..

[Biker]

why on earth is that so expensive ? is it made of gold ? it would be cheaper if it was..


New tech always comes to market at a premium..... this is just a pretty Xtreme example of it ;)

[alfaunits]

This ain't new enough ;)
But, IMO, they won't be able to produce this enough to saturate their enterprise customers, so the pricing won't drop aby time soon.

P.S. for us Europeans, the price went up, considering the USD/EUR went up this month ^^

[@@@@]

the good thing about this is flash chips are getting cheaper so it is possible that it will be cheaper in the long run then with the PCI interface it has lower latency and higher bandwidth against sata II even with the coming sata III

[One_Hertz]

This ain't new enough ;)
But, IMO, they won't be able to produce this enough to saturate their enterprise customers, so the pricing won't drop aby time soon.

P.S. for us Europeans, the price went up, considering the USD/EUR went up this month ^^

Agreed. There is absolutely no point for the price of this to drop for quite a while. Omfg I think I am going to buy one. Must. not. waste. so. much. :banana::banana::banana::banana:ing. money.

[Biker]

Well I hope alfaunits is wrong.... I have a spare pci-e slot looking all empty and unloved :D

Either way time, as ever, will tell ;)