IBM tests 4 terabyte solid state drive technology

First Intel, now Big Blue is keen on SSDs. IBM said it is testing a 4-terabyte high-speed solid state drive array targeted at the enterprise, as the technology giant gives its imprimatur to flash memory-based storage.

For years, flash memory cards--the first mass-market SSDs--have been limited to digital cameras and music players like the iPod. But SSDs are now poised to hit technological critical mass in terms of storage capacity, speed, and availability as they find their way into everything ranging from tiny netbooks to massive enterprise storage arrays.

High-performance enterprise storage is where IBM comes in. Engineers and researchers at the IBM Hursley development lab in England and the Almaden Research Center in California have demonstrated performance results that outperform the world's fastest disk storage solution by more than 250 percent, according to IBM.