Orange Systems introduces modular PCI Express SSDs

With the Angelbird Wings, Orange Systems has introduced a series of modular solid state drives based on PCI Express plug-in cards. The SSD modules can also be used as standalone SSDs in a 2.5″ housing.

The pci-express card of the Wings series is available in three variants, whereby the Lite or most simple variant has to do without onboard storage capacity. The two other versions have 16 and 32 GB SSDs on board respectively. All three versions are equipped with an x4 interface that has four SSD slots. The power comes from the PCI Express slot.

The plug-in cards used to fill the PCI-express cards consist of stripped-down SSDs with a capacity of 60, 115 or 240GB. A SandForce SF1220 controller powers the drives’ MLC nand memory. The individual SSDs can also be placed in external enclosures. The SSDs are then given the name Crest SSDs and can be used as a regular drive.

When the SSDs are used in pairs in the plug-in cards, they are controlled in raid 0. As a separate SSD, the Crests have a SATA-300 interface. The cheapest pci-express card costs about 255 euros, while the 32GB version costs about 375 euros. The SSDs cost 180 to 650 euros.