Will “Robson” Hybrid NAND/Flash Technology Be The “Next Big Thing” For Apple ‘Books?
by Charles W. Moore
It’s always an interesting exercise trying to figure out what Apple might do to make the next generation of Mac notebooks better. More speed is always part of the quest, and probably highest on my wish list of priorities would be finding a way to make the critters run cooler.
Intel’s “Robson” Hybrid NAND/flash hard drive technology, rumored as being on the slate for Apple’s next generation of MacBook Pros, would positively address both of those issues.
“Robson,” which Intel first previewed in October, 2005, is the development code name for an integrated module that incorporates NAND flash memory as a ‘smart storage’ buffer between system RAM and the hard drive. The Robson memory storage subsystem plugs the performance gap between processor and HDD by acting as new layer of cache in the system memory/storage hierarchy. One might analogize it as a level 2 cache on steroids, and the performance boost Robson promises to offer could be as dramatic as the one when Motorola and IBM added a big L2 cache to what was basically a Power PC 603 chip back in 1997 and created the G3.
However, in Robson’s case, the flash memory chip could be used to provide non-volatile storage for system boot files and other frequently-accessed system files, which could be read and written or rewritten when appropriate substantially faster than from the fastest notebook hard drives. This would facilitate, among other things, speedier bootup, shutdown, wake from sleep, potentially livelier application performance, extended battery life, and taa-daa! - less heat generation. Hybrid hard drives technology can of course be used in desktop computers as well, but its most profound advantages will be experienced in notebooks, where the hard drive could theoretically be kept spun down most of the time, resulting in decreased power consumption (Robson itself reportedly draws a minuscule 0.1 watt), less heat being generated, and a faster boot process.
Rick Coulson of Intel’s Storage Technology Group is quoted saying that “Robson dramatically reduces the impact of mechanical hard disk drive (HDD) latency by allowing the majority of application workloads to be written and read from cache instead of slower HDDs..”
Back in the mid-’90s, before we had Internet access in this neck of the woods, I used to run my PowerBook 5300 most of the time booted off a RAM disk, which proved a great method of speeding up the 5300’s lackluster performance somewhat, and with a minimal install of MS Word 5.1 and my GlobalFax software installed on the RAM disk, I could literally go all day working in blessed near-silence with the hard drive spun down. Apple laptops haven’t supported booting from RAM disks since the introduction of the PowerBook G3 Lombard in 1999 - the first Apple ‘Book with “New World ROM.” which stored some of the system ROM on the hard drive with the system rather than having it contained in the hardware ROM on the logic board. That was a disappointment for those of us who had discovered that working in volatile memory offered substantial performance advantages.
According to Intel, Robson technology will be available on Intel’s forthcoming “Santa Rosa” CPU - the company’s next-generation mobile chip, and that pre-production lab testing improves (running MS Vista) multitasking performance with 2x improvement in application load and run time as well as a 2x improvement in resume time from hibernation over systems without Robson, as well as extending battery life by an estimated 20 minutes in lab testing, and Intel expects these factors to improve as software and hardware are tuned for production release.
I would expect that there is no way Apple will not be using this technology in the MacBook Pro and probably eventually the MacBook as well, although Santa Rosa won’t require that Robson be piggy-backed, so there is a probable likelihood that MacBooks could get the unenhanced Santa Rosa chips with Robson only available on the MacBook Pros, at least initially.
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Robson modules are expected to be available initially in 256MB, 512MB, 1GB and 2GB configurations, and possibly later in up to 4 GB capacities.
It was reported last week that Apple has passed on adopting Samsung’s new flash-enhanced hybrid hard drive solution, which differs from Robson in that it integrates the flash memory into the hard disk itself rather than on the logic board. Hard drive maker Seagate is also reportedly developing flash-hybrid drives for introduction in 2007.
A major advantage of keeping the flash module separate and distinct from the hard drive is that the hard drive can then be upgraded to a larger capacity or faster drive of any brand and still retain the benefits of the flash technology. Apple might also provide a socket on the logic board so that machines that did not include Robson as OEM equipment could be later upgraded. Robson apparently will work with any SATA hard drive.
In summary, the principal benefits of “Robson” should be:
• Lower Power Consumption extending the battery runtime for notebook computers, in which hard drives are one of the greediest energy hogs.
• Diminished Heat Generation - hard drives generate a lot of heat, so the facility to keep them spun down most of the time should help significantly in this area.
• Decreased Noise Levels - this appeals to me greatly. Without the hard drive spinning all the time, and with less heat being generated thus reducing the need for fan-forces cooling, a return to silent running with Apple laptops could be at hand.
• Enhanced Reliability: a hard drive that isn’t spinning isn’t wearing out nearly as fast, and the risk of damage from head crashes due to sudden shock will be diminished (even more than they already have been with Apple’s Sudden Motion Sensor technology).
• Enhanced Performance thanks to the speedy flash memory buffer being accessed rather than the sluggish hard drive most of the time
• Almost Instant Bootup, at least if the boot data for an entire operating system can be completely loaded into the flash buffer. It is estimated that flash hybrids may be may be able to boot from cold in as little as 10 seconds or even less.
On the downside:
• Seek time for data not stored in the flash memory cache will be considerably longer as you wait for the sleeping hard drive to spin up.
• Flash memory has a finite number of write cycles before it fails, although this will be a less important issue with Intel’s Robson system with its discrete flash memory modules than with the hybrid hard drive systems of Samsung and Seagate, since the module will be separately and much more cheaply replaceable.
Systems with Santa Rosa and Robson technology are expected to launch in the first half of 2007, although I’m very doubtful that Apple will be among the first adopters, and my guess is that late April or May would be the earliest a Robson-equipped MacBook Pro will be rolled out.
Whenever, I find the prospect of silent, cooler-running computing more than a little exciting.
For further reading, see:
http://www.intel.com/technology/magazine/computing/robson-1206.htm
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-5897993.html
http://apcmag.com/4867/apple_says_no_to_flash_enhanced_hybrid_hard_drives
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