About Us

Overview

SandForce, Inc., is transforming data storage by pioneering the use of standard Flash memory in enterprise, client and industrial computing applications with its innovative SSD (Solid State Drive) Processors. By delivering unprecedented reliability, performance and energy efficiency, SSDs based on patent-pending SandForce DuraClass™ technology unleash the full potential for mass-market adoption of SSDs based on NAND Flash media. Founded in 2006, SandForce is funded by leading venture capital investors and first tier storage companies.

Industry Megatrends

The need for SandForce SSD Processors is fueled by the insatiable demand for ultra-reliable, high-performance and power efficient storage due to the requirement for instantaneous access to content-rich data. Multi-core processors have followed Moore’s Law in terms of rapid and continual performance increases, but this trend has only exacerbated the bottleneck to traditional HDD (hard disk drive) storage. In addition, the immediate need to protect the environment is forcing data centers to perform more work with less overall energy. Enter NAND Flash-based SSDs which open the storage bottleneck by delivering orders of magnitude increases in performance vs. HDDs at never-seen-before power efficiency. SSD deployments are driven by the affordability of Flash media due to massive consumer consumption. These trends are accelerating the need for SandForce SSD Processors that address the estimated 200M+ storage drives sold annually in enterprise and client computing applications.

SSD Advantages vs. HDDs

SSDs represent the first revolutionary advance in drive technology in the last 50 years. There are a number of significant advantages of SSDs over hard disk drives. SSDs have no moving parts and as a result have higher reliability and durability. They store data on Flash memory which has up to 100x better performance. SSDs use much less power for the work performed.

Flash Memory Limitations

NAND Flash memory has a limited life and as the technology advances in density and process geometry, its endurance and reliability degrade. Simple SSD controllers try to circumvent these limits with inadequate approaches. All of them work to increase the effective endurance, but it comes at a higher overall solution cost or reduced performance.

The SandForce Solution

SandForce has designed innovative and differentiated solutions for standard NAND Flash memory to reliably operate in enterprise storage environments. SandForce SSD Processors with DuraClass technology provide SSDs with best-in-class reliability, performance, and power efficiency.