It’s that time of year again, when Dell refreshes their server configurations with new components. This time around, the previous “Mainstream SSD” solid-state storage options have been replaced with new, vaguely-named “Value MLC” parts:

100GB Solid State Drive SATA Value MLC 3G 2.5in HotPlug Drive-Limited Warranty Only [$1,007.00]
200GB Solid State Drive SATA Value MLC 3G 2.5in HotPlug Drive-Limited Warranty Only [$1,870.00]

While there are few technical details to be found on Dell’s website, I was able to confirm the identity of the OEM drives: they are the new Samsung SM825 drives.

I haven’t had much time to test the new drives, but initial benchmarks using Oracle ORION are in line with the manufacturers’ specs:

For technical details and more than enough marketing double-speak, head to Samsung’s product page (warning: annoying auto-play video ahead).

Here’s my take on the changes:

Resist the knee-jerk reaction to be turned-off by the MLC designation: you’ll find the same eMLC NAND components in the class-leading Fusion-io ioDrives and IBM’s POWER7 servers. Samsung gives these drives the same MTBF rating as the previous-generation SS805 SLC drives — not that MTBF is terribly useful. Regardless, you’re still deploying these with some type of software or hardware redundancy, right?

This change beefs up the lowest of Dell’s three SSD tiers by doubling IOPS and capacity at the same price points:

• Light Speed: 100GB, 200GB Samsung SM825 2.5″ SATA SSDs
• Ridiculous Speed: 149GB Pliant Lightning LB 2.5″ SAS SSDs
• Ludicrous Speed: 320GB, 640GB and 1.28TB Fusion-io ioDrives

All three are excellent offerings, and I’ve seen many a customer nearly faint in disbelief at the real-world performance increases they’ve brought to their servers. They all have their own benefits and trade-offs (price, performance, manageability, etc.), and the best choice will be dictated by your specific workload — and wallet.