FYI:_____Quantum To Slash Solid-State Disk Prices_______ Quantum Corp. will slash prices of its solid-state disks by
60% this week, a move aimed at making the technology a cost- effective way to speed performance of Windows NT servers in database and Web applications.
Solid-state disks connect to servers like regular magnetic disk drives but store data on arrays of memory chips. Analysts say the disks are at least 10 times faster than magnetic storage--but until now, high cost has restricted the solid-state disks to niche markets in stock-trading applications and video streaming. With memory prices falling, Quantum is cutting the price of its Rushmore NTE drive from $50 per Mbyte to around $20 per Mbyte. The NTE, which stores 134 Mbytes to 950 Mbytes of data, now will start at less than $3,000. That's still much more expensive than magnetic disks, which start as low as 6 cents per megabyte--but it's cheap enough to open up new applications for the technology.
More users will buy solid-state disks to augment disk arrays that have reached their performance limits, says Dennis Waid, president of Peripheral Research, a storage market research firm in Santa Barbara, Calif. "Solid-state disks will arrive at NT sites," Waid says, "because that market is under pressure for higher performance."
Keith Steva, VP of IS at Digi-Key Corp., a $210 million direct marketer of electronic components in Thief River Falls, Minn., estimates that Quantum's solid-state disks cut response time for one Oracle application by 80%, to one- tenth of a second. That lets Digi-Key salespeople respond more quickly to customers during telephone calls. Steva feels the price cuts will broaden the technology's appeal: "This pricing could be a watershed for many applications," he says. --Martin J. Garvey
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