There have been a few blog posts here on the new second generation Intel Solid-State drives (post category search) lately.
A while back, we put together a box for a client that included an EVGA nVidia based motherboard (EVGA category search). We have had quite the odyssey with this particular system.
The Raptors have consistently broken the RAID 10 array we created via the onboard RAID setup. There has been no rhyme or reason to the array breaking. We even replaced the entire drive set with brand new drives hoping that it would be fixed. No joy there.
Each time the box visited the shop we made sure to update the BIOS on the motherboard and we were still hit with broken arrays.
So, we removed three of the four Raptors leaving the one behind for storage.
We installed a single Intel X25-M 160GB second generation SSD.
We then installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64 retail in 12 minutes using our OCZ ATV Turbo as the source.
Both the SSD and Windows 7 Ultimate retail were provided to our client at no cost along with the labour to install all of their needed applications. We needed to make sure that we made things right.
The scary thing is that the single Intel SSD boots the entire Windows 7 Ultimate OS from start to finish in about 15 seconds! 15 Seconds!!!
We define a completed boot as having the ability to click on the Start Button and open any program in the recent list or pinned there.
Even a set of four VelociRaptors configured in a RAID 10 array can’t touch that and they are fast too!
Since installing an Intel 80GB SSD in the Netbook, and soon the Tecra will be getting a 160GB version, bumping out the spindle for an SSD has been an easy sell to our clients.
They can see the visible excitement in me when I am demonstrating a full OS boot in 20 seconds on a Netbook with Windows 7 Pro and an SSD for a drive. Then the application performance for opening them as well as flipping around between open windows and more is pretty impressive on a Netbook.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.
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