Mushkin Catalyst Cache SSD makes your slow hard drive go fast

Nick Mertes 23 Jul, 2012 at 11:08pm ET Article published in Tech

Mushkin, manufacturer of RAM, SSDs, and many other memory products, has joined the ranks of the hard drive cachers. The Mushkin Catalyst Cache SSD is a simple add-on upgrade to your system with an existing hard drive that produces accelerated boot times, application launches, and generally improved system performance.

When partnered with the Dataplex cache software, the Mushkin Catalyst Cache SSDs cache frequenly accessed programs and data to the SSD, making program and data load times significantly faster than a hard drive alone, while less frequently used data remains on the hard drive. We reviewed Dataplex cache software in our OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid review.

The Mushkin Catalyst Cache SSD comes in two flavors: 100GB and 50GB. Both SSDs are powered by SandForce controllers and are capable of maxing out a SATA 6Gb/s connection at 550MB/s read and 515MB/s write.

They are now available at authorized Mushkin retailers. Newegg’s pricing for the 100GB version is $109.99, while the 50GB version remains a product unseen in the wild.

Comments

24 Jul 2012 ~ 2:54am GHoosdum Is there an advantage to using a caching SSD with an existing HDD instead of just using a regular SSD to install the OS and frequently used software?
24 Jul 2012 ~ 8:15am mertesn Yes. If you have an existing Windows install on a hard drive, the cache SSD can just be dropped in. Once the Dataplex software is installed, that drive's contents will be cached as the software sees fit. It works pretty well, and it's the same software that is included with the OCZ Synapse (cache SSDs) and OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid.
24 Jul 2012 ~ 8:18am shwaip Software is also better than you at determining what files are accessed the most, and therefore you can use a smaller drive to cache, rather than installing everything to the ssd.
24 Jul 2012 ~ 9:39am BuddyJ Says these are assembled in the USA. I always figured these were made overseas. Who does the assembly?
24 Jul 2012 ~ 10:51am mertesn I know one of their offices is in the Denver Tech Center. It's quite possible this is one assembly location. I've asked the PR rep and will hopefully have a definitive answer soon.
24 Jul 2012 ~ 11:31am mertesn It's assembled in a facility just outside of Austin, TX.
24 Jul 2012 ~ 12:08pm BuddyJ Very cool. Thanks for the info.
25 Jul 2012 ~ 6:45pm RyanMM Would you consider the Dataplex software to be stable enough to deploy for server systems or is it too new/untested/beta?
25 Jul 2012 ~ 6:47pm mertesn I haven't had any issues with it. I do not know the levels to which DataPlex has been certified, but their web site indicates the software is suitable.
25 Jul 2012 ~ 8:39pm RyanMM Well, I know in the past, people couldn't install Dataplex on Server 2008. So I wasn't sure if that was a limitation of the version OCZ put out or if it's a limitation of Dataplex in general.

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?98808-Installing-Dataplex-on-Windows-Server-2008-R2
25 Jul 2012 ~ 8:53pm mertesn Everyone gets the same version of Dataplex. NVELO is the developer, and once they have a new version available it gets sent to everyone that produces hardware that works with the software. I have no idea if they've added compatibility for any particular version.

Your question does bring up a point though: all of these devices are targeted at the end user, which is why compatibility with Windows 7 is listed, but server versions are not. If you want a caching device in a server, you're probably best off looking for an enterprise solution or an SSD that doesn't require caching software.
25 Jul 2012 ~ 10:40pm shwaip
Everyone gets the same version of Dataplex. NVELO is the developer, and once they have a new version available it gets sent to everyone that produces hardware that works with the software. I have no idea if they've added compatibility for any particular version.

Your question does bring up a point though: all of these devices are targeted at the end user, which is why compatibility with Windows 7 is listed, but server versions are not. If you want a caching device in a server, you're probably best off looking for an enterprise solution or an SSD that doesn't require caching software.
or ZFS.
25 Jul 2012 ~ 11:00pm Thrax Mmmm, ZFS.
23 Aug 2012 ~ 11:24pm timuchan Anyone know a place that sells these? Newegg is out of stock. :/
23 Aug 2012 ~ 11:55pm Straight_Man Well, no, but here is something at Amazon that uses Dataplex software to cache a slower HD also:

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Adrenaline-Solution-2-5-Inch-CT050M4SSC2BDA/dp/B007C1EH3G/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1345780085&sr=1-3&keywords=cache+ssd