ACARD RAM Disk 9010 series

[JasonACARD]

Thanks guys, a lot of good questions here!! Though I might not be able to answer them all, I will definitely come back with answers.

1) Does Windows "see" this device as a hard drive?

2) Is this bootable?

3) Estimates on power consumption? What kind of connector is used?

Consider the RAM Disk as a hard drive, OS sees it as a hard drive; you have to allocate it, format it, use it, love it... etc.

It is bootable.

I have to get back to you on power consumption.
My list of "getting back to..." is getting bigger. This is exciting.

I follow and agree. Sequential 20K IOPS @ 4K would be 80MB/s - that's rubbish, and probably is more. @16K, it would make sense to max out @ 20K, because it would oversaturate the SATA2 bus So seq. must be >80K IOPS @4KB block to make it useful.
For RAM, 20K Random is also too low. (depends on buffer size, of course, but I presume we're talking 4K/512b, not 16K for random )

I think benchmark and screenshots should explain a lot.

About 6G SATA, let’s just say we’re aware of it. Thanks for bringing it up

[NeedMoMegaHurtZ]

I downloaded the manual from the Acard website, it looks like capacity is 1/2 for when each port is used (which makes sense if it's going to work in Windows)

Open: Single mode (default)
Through the SATA port0, we can access the total capacity of DDR2 SDRAM DIMM.
SATA port1 will be disabled.
Short: Dual mode
Each SATA ports can be accessed to one disk with half capacity of total DDR2 SDRAM
DIMM. With this mode enabled, we can double the data transfer rate by configure them
as a RAID0 (stripping) logical disk if the SATA host supports RAID function.

It looks like 1 sata power cable powers it

Jason - can you also please check on noise level and confirm if any fans come with this model? or is it passively cooled? I ask because a similar looking DDR1 drive, the Hyperdrive4 is quite loud with it's fans

[MadHacker]

also wondering what is the load times from the CF card.
would make a nice boot drive to switch OS's easily...

[tiro_uspsss]

I follow and agree. Sequential 20K IOPS @ 4K would be 80MB/s - that's rubbish, and probably is more. @16K, it would make sense to max out @ 20K, because it would oversaturate the SATA2 bus So seq. must be >80K IOPS @4KB block to make it useful.
For RAM, 20K Random is also too low. (depends on buffer size, of course, but I presume we're talking 4K/512b, not 16K for random )

thank goodness someone understands my mad ramblings!



@ JasonACARD: u sir are doing one helluva good with providing us with info!

[Polizei]

@ JasonACARD: u sir are doing one helluva good with providing us with info!

More companies need to do this.

[JasonACARD]

You're very welcome guys.

How fast is the CF card? (i.e. how fast will the RAM be backed up?)

Alfaunits, it depends on the speed of CF cards.

It looks like 1 sata power cable powers it

Jason - can you also please check on noise level and confirm if any fans come with this model? or is it passively cooled? I ask because a similar looking DDR1 drive, the Hyperdrive4 is quite loud with it's fans

*Opens up the chassis. Nope, no fans

also wondering what is the load times from the CF card.
would make a nice boot drive to switch OS's easily...

The main purpose of CF card is for data security, but that's a great idea.

thank goodness someone understands my mad ramblings!



@ JasonACARD: u sir are doing one helluva good with providing us with info!

Same goes to you all Great feedbacks!
Below are some pictures of the last engineering sample I have on hand. Very close to mass production. IO meter is from a RAID 0 setup. I do not have data on IO meter setup however, a more comprehensive benchmark and test report is being prepared.

[tiro_uspsss]

read & write IOPs = me has wet pants

[Polizei]

Me too.

Looks sleek too... not flashy. I like it.

[alfaunits]

QL IOPS!!! You were right, tiro
/me goes looking for lots of 4GB sticks...

[tiro_uspsss]

QL IOPS!!! You were right, tiro
/me goes looking for lots of 4GB sticks...

I so badly needs to get a job so I can get $$$ to buy
*sigh*

so what u thinking - ECC ram or not? ECC 4GB dimms are hell expensive

non-ECC 4GB dimms are far more affordable..

if I were cashed up i'd get 2 units, & a 2GB ECC dimm in each slot for a total of 32GB (spread over 4 SATA ports)

[[XC] gomeler]

Oh wow.. I imagine it's limited by the SATA2 interface, is SATA3 the same connector but a different protocol? Would love to know if SATA3 will simply be a firmware update, that would make these amazing file manipulation(ZIP/RAR anyone?) drives. Glad to have an ACARD rep here

[One_Hertz]

that benchie is just one unit (with two SATA cables)???

That is really nice... ATTO benchmark please!

Hmm this is looking to be better than the iodrive for gamers. Need more benchies and info about future SATA 3 implementation!

Technically 32GB isnt TOO bad hmmm lol. Windows XP (not vista, it is too big lol) and a few games.

[Levish]

very excited about this device, just need a way to source limitless quantities of 4GB DDR2-800 sticks

[MadHacker]

Cheapest ram I can find at new egg is 2x 4GB @ $189.99
link

I got wondering of the timing or voltage on the ram can get tweaked inside the ram-disk.

it would suck if the ram-disk was set for 1 specific voltage, and the ram needed different voltage...

[One_Hertz]

The timings/speed of the ram doesnt matter AT ALL... Even the cheapest sticks are many MANY times faster than what the device offers. They are not the bottleneck.

[G.Foyle]

Technically 32GB isnt TOO bad hmmm lol. Windows XP (not vista, it is too big lol) and a few games.

In fact 32 GB is perfectly enough for Vista x64 + Program Files + 4GB of swap file.

[MadHacker]

unfortuatly not for me...
After vista64 is installed, Visual studio, Office, Photoshop, and a bunch of needed SDKs, and a few other apps
it eats up 46 GB.

I suppose i could run it on a compressed drive and it would fit...
but that would be taking away from the speed of the ram drive...

edit:
Turning off system restore Dropped me down to 35GB
moving my 4.5GB page file to another drive would make it small enough

[p8ntslinger676]

only one question, does it come in a matte black bezel for those of us with matte black cases

[Polizei]

In fact 32 GB is perfectly enough for Vista x64 + Program Files + 4GB of swap file.

I've got a 30GB boot RAID0 slice for Vista Ultimate x64... after MS Office, Firefox, Adobe suite and other misc programs like Pidgin and itunes, I have 1.5GB free. No games installed.

Vista Ultimate x64 eats like 22GB off the start.

[WangChung]

I've got a 30GB boot RAID0 slice for Vista Ultimate x64... after MS Office, Firefox, Adobe suite and other misc programs like Pidgin and itunes, I have 1.5GB free. No games installed.

Vista Ultimate x64 eats like 22GB off the start.

Your OS takes 22GB for install???

Glad I'm still on XP x64. No I'm not trying to turn this into a XP/Vista bash fest either.

[coo-coo-clocker]

This is very intriguing...
Hmmm so many ways to use it:

• o/s boot
• o/s swap file
• browser cache
• low-power headless F@H cruncher

So Jason,
you said the device is bootable. Does this mean it has a bios or some type of bootstrap code whereby it can load from CF on startup? How does this work?

[JasonACARD]

Thank you for the inputs
I have some media test results from my colleagues in Taiwan. I'll start a new post on the test results tomorrow when I put them together.

This is very intriguing...
Hmmm so many ways to use it:

• o/s boot
• o/s swap file
• browser cache
• low-power headless F@H cruncher

…Does this mean it has a bios or some type of bootstrap code whereby it can load from CF on startup? How does this work?

Also, for virtual machines, video editing, or index servers, there are countless bottlenecks out there that RAM Disk can help.

System can be bootup from the RAM Disk itself, not the CF

only one question, does it come in a matte black bezel for those of us with matte black cases

That’s a good idea
We have no plan in place to modify the outlook yet, however.

….so what u thinking - ECC ram or not? ECC 4GB dimms are hell expensive

non-ECC 4GB dimms are far more affordable…

A little hint on the type of memory to use, performance wise, ECC and non-ECC are on par. Speed of DDRII RAM may not make a big difference. The clock speed of DDRII RAM needed to saturate SATA port is not that high.

[MadHacker]

This is very intriguing...
Hmmm so many ways to use it:

• o/s boot
• o/s swap file
• browser cache
• low-power headless F@H cruncher

So Jason,
you said the device is bootable. Does this mean it has a bios or some type of bootstrap code whereby it can load from CF on startup? How does this work?

a harddrive doesn't have bios code...
it just reads partion table and loads an executes the first files it comes across.

[Eternalightwith]

I would think it would depend on what CF card you put in there. Obviously you would need the capacity to be the same.

also wondering what is the load times from the CF card.
would make a nice boot drive to switch OS's easily...

[alfaunits]

If the pricing sticks @ 500$, then it will be worth buying 4GB sticks and a single unit. Seriosly, at that price, it should have 32 slots

if I were cashed up i'd get 2 units, & a 2GB ECC dimm in each slot for a total of 32GB (spread over 4 SATA ports)