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Lasher · 12-21-2008, 10:03 AM

Has anyone had any experience with running a mud on SSDs yet? Our biggest bottleneck is disk i/o so quite excited by the potential in these, but have heard various anecdotes about reliability and how long the data can actually be retained on an SSD.

Kylotan · 12-26-2008, 08:58 AM

Never tried it myself, but EVE Online seems to do ok by any account.

the_logos · 12-27-2008, 10:44 PM

I'm no SSD expert, so take what I write with a grain of salt, but....

There are multiple types of SSDs, but they kind of boil down to Flash-based vs. RAM-based. Flash-based SSDs:
RAM-based SSDS:

RAM-based SSDs are basically superior in every way for performance. Flash SSDs are becoming pretty reasonable price-wise though. My latest laptop has a 64 gig Flash SSD drive in it, for instance, and I think it only cost $400 extra or something. (And man does Windows start up quickly with it!).

A quick google search isn't showing me any reliable pricing for RAM-based SSDs, but when we looked at using SSDs for Iron Realms I remember that they were at least 25x more expensive per byte stored than Flash SSDs (which are themselves considerably more expensive per byte stored than conventional HDs). That was a couple of years ago though, and I don't know how the market has changed (I know that Flash-based SSDs have been dropping quickly in price but have no idea what has been happening to RAM-based.)

--matt

the_logos · 12-27-2008, 10:53 PM

Found some pricing from 2007. The RamSan 400 (RAM-based SSD), with a 128 gig capacity, was running about $90,000 for a base unit.

Ouch.

--matt

Lasher · 12-28-2008, 11:15 PM

Ouch! Thanks for the info.

Sounds like a RAM based SSD won't be a viable mainstream option for some time yet.

Oh well, back to trusty old zlib.

prof1515 · 12-29-2008, 07:25 AM

Peanuts!

Oh wait, that was a comma and not a decimal point?

Damn.

Threshold · 10-14-2009, 07:11 PM

It has been almost a year since we looked at this.

How much have prices come down?

12-21-2008, 10:03 AM	#1
Lasher Administrator Join Date: May 2005 Name: Derek Location: Orlando Posts: 357	Solid State Drives. Has anyone had any experience with running a mud on SSDs yet? Our biggest bottleneck is disk i/o so quite excited by the potential in these, but have heard various anecdotes about reliability and how long the data can actually be retained on an SSD.

12-26-2008, 08:58 AM	#2
Kylotan Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Nottingham, UK Home MUD: Abattoir (Smaug) Home MUD: ex-Jellybean (Smaug) Home MUD: ex-Dark Chambers (Merc) Posts: 174	Re: Solid State Drives. Never tried it myself, but EVE Online seems to do ok by any account.

12-27-2008, 10:44 PM	#3
the_logos Legend Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Mill Valley, California Posts: 2,305	Re: Solid State Drives. I'm no SSD expert, so take what I write with a grain of salt, but.... There are multiple types of SSDs, but they kind of boil down to Flash-based vs. RAM-based. Flash-based SSDs: RAM-based SSDS: RAM-based SSDs are basically superior in every way for performance. Flash SSDs are becoming pretty reasonable price-wise though. My latest laptop has a 64 gig Flash SSD drive in it, for instance, and I think it only cost $400 extra or something. (And man does Windows start up quickly with it!). A quick google search isn't showing me any reliable pricing for RAM-based SSDs, but when we looked at using SSDs for Iron Realms I remember that they were at least 25x more expensive per byte stored than Flash SSDs (which are themselves considerably more expensive per byte stored than conventional HDs). That was a couple of years ago though, and I don't know how the market has changed (I know that Flash-based SSDs have been dropping quickly in price but have no idea what has been happening to RAM-based.) --matt

12-27-2008, 10:53 PM	#4
the_logos Legend Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Mill Valley, California Posts: 2,305	Re: Solid State Drives. Found some pricing from 2007. The RamSan 400 (RAM-based SSD), with a 128 gig capacity, was running about $90,000 for a base unit. Ouch. --matt

12-28-2008, 11:15 PM	#5
Lasher Administrator Join Date: May 2005 Name: Derek Location: Orlando Posts: 357	Re: Solid State Drives. Ouch! Thanks for the info. Sounds like a RAM based SSD won't be a viable mainstream option for some time yet. Oh well, back to trusty old zlib.

12-29-2008, 07:25 AM	#6
prof1515 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Illinois Posts: 791	Re: Solid State Drives. Peanuts! Oh wait, that was a comma and not a decimal point? Damn.

10-14-2009, 07:11 PM	#7
Threshold Legend Join Date: Apr 2002 Home MUD: Threshold RPG Posts: 1,260	Re: Solid State Drives. It has been almost a year since we looked at this. How much have prices come down?

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Solid State Drives.