OCZ Z-Drive R4 CM88 (1.6TB PCIe SSD) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 27, 2011 2:02 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
- SSDs
- OCZ
- Z-Drive R4
- PCIe SSD
Final Words
Without competing cards to compare to it's difficult to quantify the Z-Drive R4's performance other than to say that it is obviously very fast. With SandForce based SSDs however my concern is rarely about performance and more about reliability. I've often heard that in the enterprise world SSDs just aren't used unless the data is on a live mechanical disk backup somewhere. Players in the enterprise space just don't seem to have the confidence in SSDs yet. Given the teething problems we've seen on the desktop, I don't blame these customers at all.
Ultimately that's my biggest concern with the Z-Drive R4: it seems to be a very solid performer, but it has an absolutely unknown reliability track record. It's possible that by using an on-board SAS controller the Z-Drive R4 will be less prone to random system incompatibilities and a more reliable solution since it is effectively a closed box at that point. That's purely speculation however.
I am curious how OCZ will approach enterprise customers and attempt to win over their trust with the Z-Drive R4. You obviously won't see any Newegg reviews of the product, so OCZ will have to get testimonials from some pretty influential customers to gain traction in this space.
Seriously entering the enterprise market is a huge move for OCZ. Three years ago I couldn't have predicted OCZ would get this far, I wonder what will happen over the next three. One thing is for sure: OCZ will need more than enterprise products to adequately address this market. Hopefully any investments in testing and validation for enterprise customers will help improve the consumer side of the business as well.
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geddarkstorm - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
^ Thiscervantesmx - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
I agree 100%GTRagnarok - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
"We have a preproduction board that has a number of stability & compatibility OCZ tells us will be addressed..."I think a word is missing here.
icrf - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
Also, you missed the protocol on the last link on the first page (the one to ssd bench) and it 404's nowAnand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
Fixed both! Thank you!Take care,
Anand
FATCamaro - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
OOH OOH Let me guess!!!Never??
As in :
"We have a preproduction board that has a number of stability & compatibility OCZ tells us will NEVER be addressed..."
vodkapls - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
Isn't it the fact that the revodrive 3 x2 use asynchronous memory that makes it so much slower than the r4 ?Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
Great catch! I hadn't even thought of that but it's definitely a possibility :)Take care,
Anand
jebo - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
I just can't take OCZ seriously from a reliability standpoint. I would love to know what the failure rate is like on OCZ's desktop offerings. I personally am in the process of my 3rd RMA of an OCZ SSD during the past 2 years.I think Intel, Crucial (or, judging by the last review, Samsung) will make my next SSD. I can only rebuild windows and piece together backups so many times before I say enough is enough.
dilidolo - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
What's the point to develop enterprise product if no enterprise is going to buy?I don't think any enterprise will trust OCZ.