Past

According to Klein, now-defunct Storage Technology rolled out the world's first SSD in 1978. It was a DRAM-based storage device, which could hold 45-megabytes of capacity and sold for $8,800. ''They sold quite a few," Klein said in an interview. (In 2005, Sun Microsystems Inc. acquired Storage Technology.)

Present

Today, vendors are rolling out what could be considered the ''fourth generation'' of SSDs in the marketplace, he said. For example, Micron recently rolled out its next-generation SSDs for enterprise computing and notebook applications. The 2.5-inch SSDs range in density from 16 gigabytes (GBs) to 128-GBs, support multi-channel capabilities, and provides fast SATA-based sequential read and write speeds.

However, BiTMICRO Networks Inc. holds the current record for capacity. Its 3.5-inch SSD is said to hold up to 1.6 terabytes of capacity. But Klein believes that solution is too ''expensive'' for the current market.

In any case, Apple, Dell and other PC vendors are jumping on SSDs. "SSDs are not just for notebooks,'' he said during a keynote at the event. SSDs are also aimed for the ''enterprise server market.''

Future

Klein said SSDs won't replace all hard drives in systems, but the handwriting is on the wall for magnetic media or what he called ''rotation rust.''

In so-called fifth-generation SSDs, look for cheaper, lower power 320- and 460-GB products. They will support parallel NAND channels and reach the limits of SATA, he said.

SSDs are still expensive. The price parity between SSDs and hard drives is a moving target, but he sees the ''crossover'' price point for a 1.8-inch drive with 300-GB of capacity within the next five years.

Much of this depends on the pricing and die shrinks of NAND flash. NAND has already seen a major plunge in average selling prices (ASPs). In fact, there is a downturn in the NAND arena, which impacts ASPs.

''How low do you want us to go? We're almost giving it away now," he said during the keynote.