SSD HDD Capacities

[ZeonOtaku]

So, I'm just doing a search for small SATA SSD's (smaller than 32GB), as I'm trying to make a really small "embedded" device. This got me thinking... Do SSD devices follow the same path that RAM does? That is to say the capacities double? 2, 4, 6, 8, etc? (RAM went 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024 (Gig), etc, etc). Or is it for some reason easier for manufacturers to do it in doubles? I remember 10, 20, 40, 80, 110GB "traditional" HDD's. Some of them aren't doubles. Now I know that traditional HDD sizes are dependent upon their number of cylinders, heads, and sectors. It just kind of struck me as funny that while SSD drives and such, and for that matter RAM. Have followed a logical number pattern of doubling, yet traditional HDD drives haven't...

Well, enough pseudo-nerd philosophy for me, back to work!

[xenopeek]

No. SSDs use non-volatile memory chips, and SSDs can carry a varying number of these chips (and these chips also come in different capacities). In addition, the manufacturer usually reserves a portion of the SSD as a spare area (not included in the advertised capacity)--to use as a replacement if one of the chips malfunctions or has exhausted its write cycle capacity.

[ZeonOtaku]

I didn't know about the spare space bit. That's interesting to know. As for RAM vs SSD chips, I know they're different kinds of chips. When I meant do SSD's follow the same path a RAM, is was referring strictly to size - i.e. a 128MB RAM chip might be made up of four smaller 32MB chips - and that the available sizes of RAM appear to be in doubles (2^n) much like SSD storage devices.

[bigj231]

I seem to recall seeing an 80GB SSD somewhere, but I cant recall where. If you're looking for a cheap way to have removable storage, CF cards and SD cards are cheap, and the faster CF cards are pretty quick. If you're in the USA, TigerDirect has/had a sale on OCZ Vertex 4 SSD's. they were about $80 for a 120GB drive. Not a bad deal IMO.

[ZeonOtaku]

I seem to recall seeing an 80GB SSD somewhere, but I cant recall where. If you're looking for a cheap way to have removable storage, CF cards and SD cards are cheap, and the faster CF cards are pretty quick. If you're in the USA, TigerDirect has/had a sale on OCZ Vertex 4 SSD's. they were about $80 for a 120GB drive. Not a bad deal IMO.

Not really looking seriously at this point. Nor will I *hopefully* need anything bigger than 4GB. Basically, in the middle of trying to find a Linux distro that will do just a Adobe-flash enabled browser with webcam support. Basically trying to make an video-calling kiosk like PC.

I just thought it was amusing when I was browsing ssd harddrives that they appeared to double in size.

[bigj231]

I just remembered about Raspberry Pi http://www.raspberrypi.org/. Might be just what you're looking for. It supports an SD card for storage and runs ARCH or Debian. And only $25

And back on topic, I think the reason for that is the same reason you stated earlier. They just use different capacities and make up whatever they want. The 80GB is probably just 10 8GB flash chips (approximately).