PCIe SSD - Global Strategic Business Report

This report analyzes the worldwide markets for PCIe SSD in Thousand Units. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of World. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2010 through 2018. The report profiles 41 companies including many key and niche players such as BiTMICRO Networks, Inc., Dell Inc., EMC Corporation, Fusion-io, Inc., Fujitsu Technology Solutions, Foremay, Inc., Intel Corporation, IBM Corporation, LSI Corporation, Micron Technology, Inc., Marvell Technology Group Ltd., OCZ Technology Group, Inc., RUNCORE Innovation Technology CO, LTD., SanDisk Corporation, SMART Modular Technologies, STEC, Inc., Violin Memory, Inc., and Virident Systems Inc. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based on public domain information including company URLs.

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PCIe SSD

A GLOBAL STRATEGIC BUSINESS REPORT

CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & PRODUCT DEFINITIONS

Study Reliability and Reporting Limitations I-1
Disclaimers I-2
Data Interpretation & Reporting Level I-2
Quantitative Techniques & Analytics I-3
Product Definitions and Scope of Study I-3

II. Executive Summary

1. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW II-1
A Prelude II-1
Key Market Trends, Drivers & Challenges II-2
Big Data Drives up Storage Needs Opening up a New Growth
Avenue for PCIe SSD II-2
Opportunity Indicator II-3
Table 1: World Big Data Market (2013E & 2018F): Breakdown
of Big Data Generated in Exabytes (includes corresponding
Graph/Chart) II-3
Growing Number of Datacenters Spurs Demand for PCIe SSD II-3
Higher IOPS Fuels Growth for PCIe SSD II-4
Table 2: Random Read IOPS for PCIe SSD, SAS SSD and 15K HDD
Drives: A Comparison II-5

Table 3: Approximate Cost Per IOPS (In US$) for PCIe SSD,
SAS SSD, 15K HDD Drives: A Comparison (includes
corresponding Graph/Chart) II-5
Rise in Cloud Computing Infrastructures Benefits the Market II-5
Bridged PCIe SSD: Uncut Diamond or Fool's Gold II-6
Interface Limitations of SATA: A Business Case for PCIe SSD II-6
NVMe Specification to Drive Growth in PCIe SSD Market II-7
New 2.5inch PCIe SSD Form Factor to Boost Adoption II-8
Data Tiering Storage Architecture Boosts Adoption of SSD &
PCIe SSD Drives II-8
PCIe SSD Performance Advantage to Drive Efficiency in
Enterprise Storage Segment II-9
Tech Savvy Users to Drive Demand in Consumer Market II-9
Digital Media Industry Provides Business Opportunities for
Growth II-9
OLTP Transactions Boosts Prospects for PCIE SSD Drives II-10
Lack of Adequate Standardization Inhibits Growth II-10
Premium Cost Prevents Mass Market Adoption II-11
Developments in Rival SSD Technologies Dilute PCIE SSD
Advantage II-11
Market Outlook II-11
Decline in IT Spending in Europe to Dampen Growth in 2013 II-11
World Market Outlook II-12

2. DATA STORAGE & SSDS: A COMPLIMENTARY REVIEW II-13
Data Storage: A Critical Organizational Requirement II-13
Solid-State Storage Media: The Next Generation of Storage II-13
Solid-State Drives (SSD) Grow in Popularity II-14
Table 4: Global Enterprise SSD Interface Market (2010, 2012 &
2015): Percentage Breakdown of SSD Interface Revenue by
Product Segment (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) II-15

Table 5: Global Market for Enterprise Grade Server SSD
(2013): Percentage Share Breakdown of Unit Sales by Interface
Technology (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) II-15

Table 6: Global Market for Enterprise Grade Storage SSD
(2013): Percentage Share Breakdown of Unit Sales by Interface
Technology (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) II-16
Competition in the SSD Market II-16
Table 7: Global SSD Market (2012): Percentage Market Share
Breakdown of Leading Players (includes corresponding
Graph/Chart) II-17
Flash-based SSDs: The Most Popular Type of SSDs II-17
HDD V/S SSD Drives: A Comparative Analysis II-17
Power Draw / Battery Life II-18
Operating System Boot Times II-18
Noise II-18
Vibration II-18
Heat Generation II-18
Failure Rate II-18
File Copy/ Write Speed II-18
File Opening Speed II-19
Magnetism II-19
Capacity II-19
Cost II-19
Conclusion II-19
SSDs: Will They Replace HDDs? II-19

3. PRODUCT OVERVIEW II-21
PCIe SSD: Definition& Overview II-21
PCIe Solid State Cards (SSC) II-21
PCIe Solid State Drives (SSD) II-22
Single Level Cell (SLC) II-22
Multi Level Cell (MLC) II-23
Enterprise MLC (eMLC) II-23
Advantages II-23
Least Latency II-23
Enhanced Efficiency II-23
Low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) II-24
Scalability II-24
Demerits II-24
PCIe SSD - A Regressive Trend II-24
Cost II-24
Degradation of Performance II-24
Complicated Management II-25
Application Use Cases II-25

4. PRODUCT LAUNCHES II-26
STEC Introduces 2TB PCIe and SAS Solid-State Drives II-26
OCZ Technology Group to Introduce Vector SSD Series for PCIe
Interfaces II-27
Intel Unveils Intel® Solid-State Drive 525 Series II-27
ASUS TeK Computer Unveils ROG RAIDR Express Solid-state
Storage Device II-28
Marvell Technology Group Launches Marvell® DragonFlyTM NVDRIVE II-28
Apricorn Unveils Velocity Solo X2 II-29
Biwin to Introduce PCI Express-Based Solid State Drive II-29
Micron Technology Launches PCIe-Based Solid State Drive II-29
Marvell and OCZ Technology Introduce Z-Drive R5 PCI Express
Storage Solution II-30
NexGen Expands NexGen n5 Storage Systems Line II-30
LSI Unveils NytroMegaRAID Range of PCI Express Solid-state
Drive Cards II-31
RunCore Innovation Technology Launches RunCore Kylin III PCIe
Solid-state Drive II-31
Marvell Technology Group Introduces DragonFly Platform II-31
SanDisk Rolls Out Lightning® PCI Express Solid State
Accelerator Cards II-32
Other World Computing Unveils OWC Mercury Accelsior II-33
Intel Launches 910 Series PCIe Solid State Drive II-33
OCZ Technology Group Rolls Out Z-Drive R4 CloudServ PCI
Express Flash Storage Solution II-34
Virident Systems Launches FlashMAX II PCIe Solid-State Drive II-35
Marvell Technology Group Introduces DragonFly Platform II-35
Virident Systems Introduces tachIOn™ PCIe Solid State Drive II-36
Netlist Unveils 32GB Mini PCIe SSD II-36
Micron Technology Introduces RealSSDTM P320h Solid-State Drive
Series II-37
STEC Introduces PCIe-Based Solid-State Drive II-37
OCZ Technology Group Introduces VeloDrive PCI-Express Solid
State Drive II-38
SANRAD Unveils Front Loadable PCIe SSD Accelerators Options in
V-Switch Storage Devices II-38
OCZ Technology Group Introduces Z-Drive Revision 4 PCIe
Storage Solutions II-38
Super Talent Introduces Range of PCIe SSDs II-39
Virident Systems Unveils Virident FlashMAX™ MLC Storage Class
Memory Solution II-39

5. STRATEGIC CORPORATE DEVELOPMENTS II-41
BiTMICRO® Selects RunCore for BiTMICRO OnBoardTM Program II-41
Seagate Technology Enters into Partnership with Virident Systems II-41
Sonnet Technologies Upgrades TempoTM SSD and Tempo SSD Pro
PCIe SSD Cards for Booting Support in Mac Pro® Computers II-42
NVM Express Work Group Introduces NVMe 1.1 Specification II-42
EMC to Integrate WarpDrive PCIe SSDs Range of LSI II-43
Virident Systems and Colfax International Partner to Offer
Server Solutions II-43
OCZ Technology Group Inks Distribution Agreement with SED
International II-43
Proximal Data Collaborates with Micron Technology II-44
Nippon Rad Selects Z-Drive R4 PCIe SSD of OCZ Technology Group
for Pedicss PC Platform II-44
BiTMICRO® Develops maxIOPCIe SSD II-45
IBM Acquires Texas Memory Systems II-45
SanDisk Takes Over FlashSoft II-46
Micron Technology Acquires VirtenSys II-46
OCZ Technology Group Takes Over SANRAD II-47
LSI Acquires SandForce II-48
Dell Deploys Micron Technologys 2.5-Inch Enterprise PCIe SSD II-48
Avnet Embedded Announces Expanded Distribution Agreement with
OCZ Technology Group II-49
LSI Announces Collaboration with Cisco and EMC II-49
Texas Memory Systems and NEVEX Virtual Technologies Enter into
Partnership II-49
Cisco Enters into Partnership with Fusion-io II-50
SanDisk Collaborates with Virident Systems to Offer Integrated
Storage Solution II-50
Teledyne Technologies Acquires LeCroy II-51
SanDisk Takes Over Pliant Technology II-51
OCZ Technology Group Acquires Indilinx II-51
Ciara Technologies Selects RevoDrive 3 X2 PCIe Solid State
Drive of OCZ Technology Group II-52
Integrated Device Technology and Micron Technology Co-develop
Single-chip Flash Controller with Native PCIe® II-52
Virident Deploys Virident tachIOn™ SSDs in MySQL Environments II-53
Texas Memory Systems to Demonstrate Performance of RamSan-70
PCIe Card II-53
BiTMICRO Networks Sets Up Subsidiary in India II-53

6. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS II-54
BiTMICRO Networks, Inc. (USA) II-54
Dell Inc. (USA) II-54
EMC Corporation (USA) II-54
Fusion-io, Inc.(USA) II-55
Fujitsu Technology Solutions (Germany) II-55
Foremay, Inc. (USA) II-55
Intel Corporation (USA) II-56
IBM Corporation (USA) II-56
LSI Corporation (USA) II-56
Micron Technology, Inc. (USA) II-57
Marvell Technology Group Ltd (USA) II-57
OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (USA) II-58
RUNCORE Innovation Technology CO, LTD. (China) II-58
SanDisk Corporation (USA) II-58
SMART Modular Technologies (USA) II-59
STEC, Inc. (USA) II-59
Violin Memory, Inc. (USA) II-59
Virident Systems Inc. (USA) II-60

7. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE II-61
Table 8: World Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for PCIe
SSD Market by Geographic Region/Country - USA, Canada, Japan,
Europe, China and Rest of World Markets Independently Analyzed
with Annual Shipments in Thousand Units for Years 2010 through
2018 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) II-61

Table 9: World 9-Year Perspective for PCIe SSD Market by
Geographic Region/Country - Percentage Breakdown of Annual
Shipments for USA, Canada, Japan, Europe, China and Rest of
World Markets for Years 2010, 2012, and 2018 (includes
corresponding Graph/Chart) II-62

III. MARKET

1. UNITED STATES III-1
A.Market Analysis III-1
Current & Future Analysis III-1
Product Launches III-1
Strategic Corporate Developments III-12
Key Regional Players III-23
B.Market Analytics III-29
Table 10: US Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for PCIe
SSD Market Analyzed with Annual Shipments in Thousand Units
for Years 2010 through 2018 (includes corresponding
Graph/Chart) III-29

2. CANADA III-30
A.Market Analysis III-30
Current & Future Analysis III-30
Strategic Corporate Developments III-30
B.Market Analytics III-31
Table 11: Canada Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for
PCIe SSD Market Analyzed with Annual Shipments in Thousand
Units for Years 2010 through 2018 (includes corresponding
Graph/Chart) III-31

3. JAPAN III-32
A.Market Analysis III-32
Current & Future Analysis III-32
Strategic Corporate Developments III-32
B.Market Analytics III-33
Table 12: Japan Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for
PCIe SSD Market Analyzed with Annual Shipments in Thousand
Units for Years 2010 through 2018 (includes corresponding
Graph/Chart) III-33

4. EUROPE III-34
A.Market Analysis III-34
Current & Future Analysis III-34
Strategic Corporate Developments III-34
Key Players III-34
B.Market Analytics III-35
Table 13: Europe Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for
PCIe SSD Market Analyzed with Annual Shipments in Thousand
Units for Years 2010 through 2018 (includes corresponding
Graph/Chart) III-35

5. CHINA III-36
A.Market Analysis III-36
Current & Future Analysis III-36
Product launches III-36
Strategic corporate developments III-36
Key Players III-37
B.Market Analytics III-38
Table 14: China Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for
PCIe SSD Market Analyzed with Annual Shipments in Thousand
Units for Years 2010 through 2018 (includes corresponding
Graph/Chart) III-38

6. REST OF THE WORLD III-39
A.Market Analysis III-39
Current & Future Analysis III-39
Product Launches III-39
Strategic Corporate Developments III-42
B.Market Analytics III-47
Table 15: Rest of World Recent Past, Current & Future
Analysis for PCIe SSD Market Analyzed with Annual Unit
Shipments in Thousand Units for Years 2010 through 2018
(includes corresponding Graph/Chart) III-47

IV. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Total Companies Profiled: 41 (including Divisions/Subsidiaries - 41)

The United States (27)
Europe (3)
- Germany (1)
- Rest of Europe (2)
Asia-Pacific (Excluding Japan) (11)

A key evolutionary development in the storage industry is the convergence of PCIe, a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard, and Solid State Drives (SSDs). A key reason cited for the convergence of PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) and enterprise SSD is the growing native availability of PCIe interconnects on all CPU devices and the growing trend towards integrating SAS, SATA, and Fibre Channel (FC) with PCIe host interface. PCIe SSD is a technology where PCIe is engineered as the primary interface for SSD sub-systems and modules. The PCIe packet-based loss-less protocol significantly enhances the performance and capacity of SSDs, while simultaneously reducing system complexity and costs.

PCIe offers a unified backplane with a single IO interface that supports IPC, LAN and SAN connectivity. PCIe provides a powerful fabric for high-speed throughput and low latency performance, which translates into reduced instances of dropped packages, transmission errors, and automatic re-transmission of packet data in the remote event of transmission error. This advantage provides the technology a competitive edge in the storage space where data corruption and loss can have a debilitating impact on enterprise processes. Conventional storage interfaces like SATA SSDs typically have limited bus capacity for data transfer from the SSD to the processor. High-speed PCIe bus interface, in this regard, is capable of delivering high throughput making it particularly attractive for storage networks that carry heavy content load. Also, the unified PCIe backplane is designed to transfer multiple data types to the processor. Therefore, increasing adoption of video based enterprise customer application is expected to bring in lucrative opportunities for the adoption of PCIe SSD.

The growing number of IOPS (Input/Output Operations per Second) led by improvements in physical CPU structure like increase in number of cores and the multiplier effect of virtualization, is benefiting the market for PCIe SSD. Server virtualization, virtual desktop infrastructures (VDI) and high performance databases create the need for higher storage I/O performance. PCIe SSD, in this regard, flaunts the ability to squeeze in additional performance in terms of IOPS. Ability to support the maximum number of IOPS without performance degradation is a key advantage of the PCIe SSD technology. Limited ability to support increasing IOPS is a major bottleneck in conventional storage technologies and therefore is now a critical factor in the deployment of storage solutions. The scenario is expected to benefit PCIe SSD which in addition to offering increased capability to handle higher IOPS at faster speeds also offers the lowest cost per IOPS as compared to other conventional technologies.

Rise in cloud computing infrastructures is creating significant opportunities for PCIe SSD led by the numerous advantages offered by the PCIe interface. Increased adoption of cloud computing infrastructures translates into increased deployment of virtualized environments where the growing density of virtual machines creates large and complicated bottlenecks in storage I/O. I/O blender effect is a growing concern in both public and private cloud infrastructures where cost optimization issues are resulting in increased consolidation of more number of virtual machines on lesser hardware. PCIe SSD is expected to gain adoption among cloud computing architects largely because of the perfect antidote it offers to the I/O issues confronted.

The evolution of Bridged PCIe SSD solutions like PCIe based SAS, SCSI Over PCIe (SOP), PCIe based SATA and FPGA-based PCIe SSDs are creating a unique mixture of opportunities and challenges for native PCIe SSD solutions. Bridged PCIe SSD solutions currently have inherent architectural limitations that make these solutions less cost effective in the longer run. In addition, these solutions have the ability to handle only medium density IOPS. Higher power consumption is another major drawback associated with these solutions. In comparison, native PCIe SSD represents a new generation enterprise architecture solution that provides scalable I/O performance unrivalled by bridged PCIe SSD solutions. These solutions provide a direct interface required to leverage maximum advantage and performance from NAND flash. Although bridged PCIe SSD represents an adroit, disruptive technology makeover targeted at cost conscious storage customers, its potential to dilute market penetration of Native PCIe SSD is seen as fairly temporary.

As stated by the new market research report on PCIe SSD, the US represents the largest market worldwide. Europe represents the second largest market. Subdued growth in IT spending in Europe, especially the decline in spending in Western Europe, is weakening the outlook in the PCIe SSD market in the region. Government spending cuts represents a key reason for the decline in IT spending in the region, given the fact that public sector IT spends accounts for over 26% of the total IT spends in Western Europe. China is forecast to emerge as the fastest growing market with a projected CAGR of 92.3% over the analysis period.

Global Industry Analysts ©

- Angelbird Technologies GmbH (Austria)
- Apacer Technology Inc. (Taiwan)
- Apricorn, Inc. (USA)
- ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (Taiwan)
- BiTMICRO Networks, Inc. (USA)
- Biwin Semiconductor (HK) Company Limited (China)
- DDRdrive LLC (USA)
- Dell, Inc. (USA)
- Dolphin Interconnect Solutions AS (Norway)
- EMC Corporation (USA)
- Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. (USA)
- Foremay, Inc. (USA)
- Fujitsu Technology Solutions GmbH (Germany)
- Fusion-io, Inc. (USA)
- Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (USA)
- HGST a Western Digital Company (USA)
- Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. - Enterprise Business (China)
- IBM Corporation (USA)
- Intel Corporation (USA)
- KingSpec Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. (China)
- LSI Corporation (USA)
- Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (USA)
- MemoRight Corporation (Taiwan)
- Memory Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (Ramaxel) (China)
- Micron Technology, Inc. (USA)
- Netlist, Inc. (USA)
- OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (USA)
- Oracle Corporation (USA)
- Other World Computing (OWC) (USA)
- PHISON Electronics Corp. (Taiwan)
- PhotoFast Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)
- Renice Technology Co., Ltd. (China)
- RunCore Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. (China)
- SanDisk Corporation (USA)
- Seagate Technology LLC (USA)
- SMART Modular Technologies (USA)
- Sonnet Technologies, Inc. (USA)
- STEC, Inc. (USA)
- Super Talent Technology Corporation (USA)
- Violin Memory, Inc. (USA)
- Virident Systems Inc. (USA)