Log-structured file systems: There's one in every SSD

The problem is that once something becomes a standard, it's very hard to change it. It usually requires the major players to hold long meetings in standards organizations. A lot of horse trading can go on in these meetings. Sometimes companies even try to sabotage the process because they don't think that the proposed standard would help them.

For example, Intel is feeling good about NAND-over-SATA right now because they have one of the most advanced block emulation layers. They have a competitive advantage and they want to make the most of it. I would be surprised if they made any moves at all towards exposing raw flash to the operating system. It would not be in their best interest.

The big sticking point with any raw-flash interface is Windows support. Pretty much all Windows users use NTFS, which works on traditional block devices. Any company hoping to replace NAND-over-SATA would have to supply a filesystem for Windows to use with their product of equivalent quality. Filesystems can take years to become truly stable. In the meantime all those angry users will be banging on *your* door.

Microsoft might create a log-structured filesystem for Windows UltraVista Aquamarine Edition (or whatever their next release will be called), but I doubt it. I just don't see what's in it for them. It's more likely that we'll see another one of those awkward compromises that the PC industry is famous for. Probably the next version of SATA will include some improvements to make NAND-over-SATA more bearable. And filesystem developers will just have to learn to live with having another layer of abstraction between them and the real hardware. Perhaps we'll finally get bigger blocks (512 is way too small for flash).

C.