SMART Storage Systems Announces the Optimus(TM) Ultra SAS SSD

NEWARK, CA--(Marketwire - Feb 22, 2012) - SMART Storage Systems today announced the Optimus Ultra Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) solid-state drive (SSD). An industry-leading combination of performance, capacity, reliability and endurance, the Optimus Ultra is designed to meet enterprise storage application needs, facilitating broad SSD adoption in enterprise environments.

Designed for the enterprise environment, the Optimus Ultra SAS SSD delivers read/write performance of 100K/60K IOPS and a sustained transfer rate of 1GB/s in wide port operation, while achieving 25 full random drive writes per day for a period of five years with consumer-grade multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash. This powerful combination of performance and endurance addresses the storage requirements of even the most demanding enterprise customers. The Optimus Ultra SSD is available in useable capacities ranging from 150GB to 1.2TB, meaning enterprise organizations and OEMs no longer need to sacrifice capacity to realize the performance gains of solid-state storage.

"Enterprise organizations and IT shops are flocking to solid-state storage because of the quantum leap in system performance that this technology engenders," said Arun Taneja, Founder & Consulting Analyst, Taneja Group. "Vendors that can deliver SLC-like performance and endurance at MLC-like prices will clearly command a lot of respect as system designers try to make SSD-based storage pervasive."

The new Optimus Ultra SSD leverages the Guardian Technology Platform to provide the endurance and feature set required for enterprise environments. A comprehensive suite of proprietary features, the Guardian Technology Platform is comprised of FlashGuard™, EverGuard™, and DataGuard™ technologies. FlashGuard, an innovative combination of Aggregated Flash Management and Advanced Signal Processing technologies, enables commercial MLC flash to achieve higher endurance levels, making it suitable for the enterprise environment. DataGuard and EverGuard technologies ensure data integrity and drive reliability are never compromised, satisfying the demanding reliability requirements of Tier-1 enterprise storage applications.

"Enterprise organizations see the value in SSD technology; however, drive endurance outweighs the performance gains for many companies evaluating SSD solutions," said Joseph Unsworth, Research Director, NAND Flash and SSD, Gartner. "A product that achieves the performance, capacity, reliability and endurance balance required by enterprise organizations would fundamentally alter the storage landscape and spur significant enterprise adoption."

"The Optimus Ultra takes SSD technology to new heights," said John Scaramuzzo, president at SMART Storage Systems. "By taking cost-effective MLC flash and optimizing endurance at the cell level with our Guardian Technology Platform, Optimus Ultra SSDs deliver the endurance, performance, reliability and capacity enterprise organizations and Tier-1 OEMs require at a more attractive price point. The Optimus Ultra makes solid-state storage a viable option at the most critical storage tiers."

The Optimus Ultra will begin sampling with select customers in Q2 2012. For more information about Optimus Ultra or SMART Storage Systems, please visit the company's website at http://www.smartstoragesys.com, the company's blog at http://www.smartstorageblog.com, or find us on Twitter at @SMARTSSD.

About SMART Storage Systems

SMART Storage Systems is a technology leader in the design, development and deployment of current and next-generation enterprise solid-state storage products. Combining leading-edge, enterprise-class design, and proven world-class support, SMART Storage Systems leverages its deep expertise in flash and enterprise storage technology. SMART Storage Systems delivers high-quality, high-reliability solutions to a broad customer base, including tier one storage and server OEMs. In support of these designs, SMART Storage Systems provides award-winning innovations in solid-state storage technology, such as NAND high-endurance Guardian™ technology, to a variety of customers in the enterprise storage, enterprise server, data center, defense and industrial markets. SMART Storage Systems is part of the SMART Holdings family of global companies. See www.smartstoragesys.com for more information.

About SMART Worldwide Holdings

The SMART family of companies are leading designers, manufacturers and suppliers of electronic subsystems for the most demanding OEMs around the world. The SMART companies have led the way over the past 23 years providing standard and custom products to today's leading global OEMs crossing all major electronic industries. These industries include PC, enterprise and industrial servers, networking, telecom, defense, aerospace, gaming and embedded application markets. Taking innovations from the design stage through manufacturing and delivery, SMART Modular Technologies has developed a comprehensive memory product line that includes DRAM, SRAM and Flash memory in various form factors. SMART Storage Systems offers high-performance, high-capacity SSDs for enterprise, defense, aerospace, industrial automation, medical and transportation markets. SMART's presence in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America enables it to provide its customers with proven expertise in international logistics, asset management and supply-chain management worldwide. See www.smartm.com for more information.