Planning for the Solid-State Millennium

Abstract

The most common performance bottleneck in today's large-scale commercial computer systems is disk I/O. And the problem is worsening with each new generation of magnetic disk. This article identifies the trends that made this situation inevitable and explains why the next performance revolution will not be the introduction of faster CPUs or exotic new parallel architectures but the widespread use of technology that is already available – semiconductor-based mass storage.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gerald W. Houston

Is strategic marketing manager for Zitel Corp, Milpitas CA. Founded in 1979 as a supplier of custom-designed memory products, Zitel now manufactures and markets mass storage subsystems that are based on semiconductor technology. In 1983, Zitel acquired the mass memory products divisions of Intel and Motorola. Before joining Zitel, Houston was a founder of Gifford Computer Systems, which introduced solid-state disk emulation on microcomputers in 1980. Gifford was acquired by Zitel in 1984. Houston has also held various positions at Godbout Electronics and Morrow Designs. He studied English and French at the University of California, Berkeley and holds an electronics degree from Peralta College.