ACARD ANS-9010: RAM Disk with a twist

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The ANS-9010 is a solid state disk which uses dram (ddr2 ECC and Non-ECC) memory modules, with a maximum capacity of 64GB. This translates into higher transfer rates and lower access times than traditional hard and flash drives. Therefore the ANS is suitable for using in various latency sensitive and transfer-rate intensive applications such as database servers and graphic design applications (cache). Unlike any of its predecessors the ANS is equipped with a CF (compact Flash) card slot which provides the user the ability to backup the data on the drive either automatically or manually. In doing so , the ram disk can even be used as a regular drive on which the operating system can be installed. Furthermore one of its more attractive features is its Dual mode operation , which splits the disk in half and with the use of 2 sata connections allows the creation of a striped array. Thus effectively doubling the transfer rate of the disk. Features • Supports up to 64GB amount of memory • Supports ECC/Non-ECC DDR2 400/533/667/800 • Automatic data backup/restore between DDR2 memory and CF card • Built-in Lithium Battery • LED indicators for battery capacity, power status, SATA ports activity, backup status • Driver less: need no driver on host side Specifications • Two SATA 3.0Gbps Interface ports • 240-pin DDR2 DIMM module slots x 8 • One CF socket in front panel • Lithium Battery of 7.4V 2400mAh, enough to finish the backup • Data transfer rate up to 400MB/sec • IOPS 130,000 per SATA port • Dimension: 42(H) x 145(W) x 214 (D) mm Packing • ANS-9010 x1 • User Install Guide x1 • Internal SATA Cable 50cm x2 • 15pin SATA Power Cable x1 • Screw x4 • Lithium Battery x1 • Product does not include DDR2 RAM Module In the benchmarks to follow the ANS-9010 is pitted against the following storage solutions: • Patriot Warp v2 SATA SSD x2 σε RAID 0 • Patriot Warp v2 SATA SSD • WDC-WD6400-AAKS The controller used was the ICH9R on a DFI-LT-X38. The rest of the system was comprised of : Q6600@3,8Ghz. 4Giga RAM. 4870x2.

Read Benchmarks HDtach as well as HdTune give a clear cut picture of the sequential read speed of the ANS-9010. The results are identical and crown the 9010 king of the hill with an average read above 350 MB/s. The difference in access times between Solid State based disk (0-0,2ms) and conventional mechanical disks (12ms) is quite obvious. HdTune’s Read Random Access test measures a disk’s ability to read files (ranging in size from 512b to 1MB) from random spots on the disks surface. The 9010 (in single mode) manages to keep the random access time below 6ms even when reading 1MB files with an average read speed in excess of 150 MB/s. The number of IOPS when dealing with small files (4kb) is simply astronomical. CrystalDiskMark as well as CrystalMark execute both read and write tests. The 9010’s write speed is approximately 20% below its read speed , this is one the top read/write speed percentages available in the SSD market today. Write Benchmarks The 9010 boasts very impressive write benchmark results. Especially its ability to perform a high number of IOPS (145) even with 1MB large files with an average write speed of 145 MB/s. Rather disappointing are the results from the Patriot SSDs since they present a write time of a quarter of a second. This is attributed to their inadequate controller JMicron JMF602. The results from IOMETER (4 KB, 100% access, 67% read, 100% Random) agree with those from HdTune. The IOPS increase dramatically (double) as the number of queues increases from 1 to 8. This is where the 9010 really shines, proving that it is suitable to be used in scenarios where writing a large amount of small files is crucial. Last but not least results from PCMark05’s HD suite simulate a disk’s usage in average everyday applications. Again the 9010 comes out on top with quite a big margin, proving that it can be used successfully on a PC and not only in server-side applications. In the last decade or so, hard disks have imposed quite a bottleneck on the usage of the personal computer. The mechanical design seems to have reached its limitations. The 9010 combines low access times , high transfer rates and massive IOPS both in reading and writing data, ie has all the characteristics that storage devices have been lacking . This makes it quite a desirable upgrade and has given my system the boost in everyday usage that not even a quad core cpu or 8GB of RAM could. The extra features (cf backup slot, dual-mode etc) the 9010 has brought to the ram disk market are a well overdue and welcome addition. Even though the performance is impressive , I couldn’t help thinking that there is still room for improvement. There are single disks on the market today that achieve read and write speeds up to 250MB/s. Since the numbers the 9010 achieves are nowhere near the theoretical maximum speed the sata interface can provide one can only hope that a newer revision/model from Acard will be able to saturate the sata interface utilizing it to its fullest.

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