Fusion-io has developed a new engineering technique for managing multi-level cell (MLC) flash technology that combines the enterprise reliability of single-level cell (SLC) technology with the price of consumer-grade MLC flash.

The technology called single mode level cell (SMLC) features bandwidth equal to SLC, with comparable endurance and write performance levels, at a cost that is substantially lower than traditional SLC solutions. Fusion-io products utilizing SMLC build on all of the innovation and reliability of the company's existing enterprise-class solid-state solutions, including its PCI Express-based form factor, chip-level redundancy and RAIDing, global wear leveling, advanced error correction and many other features beyond just performance.

“A viable MLC solution for enterprise organizations has up-to-now been limited by technical barriers associated with the medium's write performance, endurance and reliability. Our SMLC solution overcomes these roadblocks and provides organizations with another avenue for migrating to solid state performance and reliability, while helping mitigate concerns over cost to deploy," said David Flynn, chief technology officer of of Fusion-io.

SMLC will be available in both ioDrive and ioDrive Duo product lines supporting 160GB and 320GB, respectively. Other SMLC-based products will follow. SMLC-based products from Fusion-io will be available starting this quarter.

It is unclear who of NAND flash manufacturers will produce SMLC memory for Fusion-io.

Tags: Fusion-io, SSD, Flash