Computex 2011: Diskeeper ExpressCache Provides an Alternative to SSD Caching for OEMs
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 31, 2011 5:58 PM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
- SSDs
- Z68
- SanDisk
- Diskeeper
- Computex 2011
As we found out in our Z68 review, Intel's SRT (SSD Caching) is basically a software tool baked into Intel's RST driver - there's no real hardware requirement in the chipset, just an artificial one. Diskeeper provides OEMs with software that's designed to do the same thing, it's called ExpressCache.
The driver loads at boot and can apparently speed up boot time. Like Intel's SRT it will filter out some operations to avoid polluting the cache (e.g. sequential accesses). Unlike SRT you can manually pin applications to the cache. Ultimately how well it performs will be up to the algorithms Diskeeper implemented.
The company was present at SanDisk's booth showing a quick boot time demo with an 8GB SanDisk SSD used as an ExpressCache vs. a standard 5400 RPM HDD. Obviously the SSD enabled solution was faster.
OEMs are expected to start shipping SanDisk + ExpressCache systems this year.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
14 Comments
View All Comments
tipoo - Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - link
I wonder if there would be differences between this and SRT due to hardware vs software control, like with RAID cards?mfenn - Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - link
SRT doesn't have any "hardware control". It's pure software as well, just artificially tied to Z68.Sagath - Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - link
As stated in the article, even SRT is driver level, thus software based, so in theory there should be no difference between this and SRT. There is no 'hardware' based solution between the two in the article. They are both software driven.As to RAID cards, RAID is hardware based, and could potentially lead to larger benefits then the software based solutions mentioned previously.
hechacker1 - Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - link
I have been researching this subject since I have a X58 chipset, and really don't see a reason to upgrade my already powerful system.SSD caching would be nice, and since it is all software, I wonder how long before there are free implementations out there.
I found this free beta:
http://www.romexsoftware.com/en-us/fancy-cache/
So I now wonder how hard it would be to hack Intel's driver to force SSD caching on all systems. I have found a BIOS option ROM that has the Acceleration feature enabled on my X58 chipset. But alas, I don't have a SSD yet to test it.
ExpressCache also looks interesting, but it's only for OEMs.
chukked - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
very good oneThanks for sharing.
rahvin - Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - link
FYI, DiskKeeper is owned by a Scientoligist and former employees say most of the business profit goes to the church of Scientology. I know that stopped me from buying any of their products. That and the over aggressive marketing and yearly upgrade BS.softdrinkviking - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
i bought it years ago and i had to spend hours on the phone to cancel my "subscription" that wasn't even available when i first purchased it.they had retroactively enrolled me in their marketing scam and subsequently forced me to follow some heinous procedure in order to get it cancelled.
if i remember correctly, it was first an email which got me an online code that i then had to punch into their billing companies website, which was a different company and necessitated a new login account, and then i finally had to call their customer service and finish it off.
up yrs diskkeeper, i want my afternoon back.
Shadowmaster625 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Ignorance at its finest. You can trace almost every dollar back to a corrupt wall street zombie bank sucking the money out of america, a corrupt public union or environmental front sucking jobs out of america, or a couple dozen large multinational corporations all hellbent on replacing humanity with robots and AI, or the 30% of the economy that is built on war, death, destruction and all the machinery thereof. And to top it all off you have thousands of the richest people in the world practicing eugenics. But none of that is important as long as they are not scientoligists? The church of scientoligy is freakin Greepeace compared to most of the power systems out there almost literally running your every thought. Whatever research you did to determine that the church of Scientology is bad... you need to apply about 100 times more. There is a LOT of bad stuff going on.softdrinkviking - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
dude. i didn't say say anything about your? religion. i had a bad experience with this company.if anything, this site isn't the place for religious comments at all, yours included.
GTVic - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
He wasn't replying to you, read first...