INTRODUCTION

    SATA III based solid state drives (SSDs) may have reached the maximum supported read & write numbers most enthusiasts and gamers look for when out in the market for one but durability and sustained performance are the two most important aspects for professionals and enterprise users (probably even more important than maximum read & write speeds). Unfortunately ever since we made the SNIA IOMeter tests part of our testing methodology we've seen that not many models can produce good sustained performance numbers and so this might just be the next thing for them to focus on. However OCZ with their ARC 100 SSD model which we tested a few months back proved that they've already started to focus on that area (most likely thanks to their merge with Toshiba) and today we're taking their top of the line SATA III SSD model the Vector 180 480GB for a spin to see just how better it is compared to the ARC 100 and of course it's immediate competition.

   OCZ Storage Solutions – a Toshiba Group Company is a leading provider of high performance client and enterprise solid-state storage products and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation. Offering a complete spectrum of solid-state drives (SSDs), OCZ Storage Solutions leverages proprietary technology to provide SSDs in a variety of form factors and interfaces to address a wide range of applications. Having internally developed firmware and controllers, virtualization, cache and acceleration software, and endurance extending and data reliability technologies, the Company delivers vertically integrated solutions enabling transformational approaches to how digital data is captured, stored, accessed, analyzed and leveraged by customers.

   The Vector 180 SSD (currently available in 120GB, 240GB, 480GB and 960GB capacities) is based on the latest Barefoot 3 NAND flash controller by OCZ (runs at 397MHz as opposed to the 352MHz of the one found in the ARC 100) paired with A19nm MLC NAND flash modules by Toshiba a combo which produces excellent read/write performance numbers (550MB/s & 530MB/s respectively), superior endurance (has a MTBF rating of 2.3 million hours and an write endurance rate of up to 50GB per day) and finally offers SMART/NCQ support and AES-256bit encryption. Of course OCZ fully covers their flagship model with their 5-year ShieldPlus warranty which basically simplifies swapping a defective drive for a new one since all you need is provide the S/N of your drive and OCZ will then send you a new one in advance along with a prepaid return label (which you can then use to return the defective drive to them). However what really makes the Vector 180 unique is the addition of OCZ's Power Failure Management Plus (PFM+) technology which unlike enterprise grade models provides users with a partial yet sufficient power loss protection (in case of a power loss it only "protects" data already stored in the NAND). All the above sound very interesting but the time has come for us to check and see what the Vector 180 is really capable of.