OCZ to release 1TB SSD this month

Computerworld - OCZ Technology Group Inc. said today it will release its Colossus solid-state drive (SSD) in the next couple of weeks, delivering the first 3.5-inch form factor SSD with 1TB of capacity.

The drive is aimed at external storage and desktop computing applications, and should be particularly attractive to gamers because of its high capacity and impressive performance.

Like OCZ's midrange, consumer-grade 2.5-inch Vertex SSD, the Colossus uses an Indilinx controller. But unlike the Vertex, the new Colossus drive comes with two or four controllers depending on the capacity, and can be configured for internal RAID 0 for increased performance.

OCZ said that each controller in the Colossus will act as a virtual drive, working with the other controllers through a separate RAID controller from Silicon Image Inc.

Using ATTO Disk Benchmarking software, in 1TB, four-controller configuration the Colossus has a maximum sequential read rate of 261MB/sec and a maximum sequential write rate of the same, OCZ says. Using the IOMeter benchmarking tool, the drive turned in 223MB/sec sequential read rate and 224MB/sec sequential write rate.

"The initial results we have tested show that the Colossus really excels in the small file random reads/writes," an OCZ spokeswoman said.

Bottom line on performance: No matter how you look at the numbers, this drive purportedly screams.

The Colossus will be available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities for $300, $650, $1200 and $2200, respectively.

The 128GB through 512GB models will have dual controllers and the 1TB version will come with four controllers.

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