Kind of a wild idea: Flash card raid array for n810?
 

Ok, this is sort of a silly idea, but here goes. Right now SDHC has a limit of 32gb on any card that is used in an SDHC capable device. So anything that comes out in 64gb flavor will be SDXC. But with the n810's, if memory serves me right, SDXC support can be achieved with a simple patch, which means that once the standard is finalized, we should be able to, in theory, build ourselves a raid array and start doing some 128gb or larger drive arrays for our nits.

And it wouldn't be too hard. Using the metal cover that the SD mod guy developed, a simple raid controller, and likely an SD card controller, plus 4 SD slot holders, or up to (not saying we'll go this high, but it's possible) 16 microsd slot holders on a single card that could fit under that cover and provide a potentially HUGE storage potential to the device.

Now I know it's not possible to do right now. But it may be in the near future. Thus I figured to throw this out there and get everyone kicking it around in case everything does come together to allow us to do this. :)

Re: Kind of a wild idea: Flash card raid array for n810?
 

Well it can already be done using a usb hub and a thumb drive array.

http://www.bigbruin.com/reviews05/thumbraid_1

Don't know if any of that could be adapted to the tablets.

Re: Kind of a wild idea: Flash card raid array for n810?
 

Yeah, I knew about the thumb drive raid arrays, but I'm thinking of something smaller that could be used as a mod to the tablet to actually fit under a modified battery cover just like the SD mod does.

Re: Kind of a wild idea: Flash card raid array for n810?
 

I don't know the technical aspects of contiguously polling from several separate SDHC cards as opposed to just one (speed is usually the reason to use a RAID array, not space). But, if you're just looking for space, it seems like this could be feasible.

Tim

Re: Kind of a wild idea: Flash card raid array for n810?
 

The basic question is how will you interface your raid controller ? Just so it doesn't get more complicated than attaching, say, a slim 1.8" or 2.5" SSD drive which would beat anything in capacity (also talking about future, presuming the price of those things continue coming down as it is now).


If it's just for space, LVM is a potential option, too, less overhead than RAID and does the job probably in an even more flexible way.

Re: Kind of a wild idea: Flash card raid array for n810?
 

Well, right now I'm just throwing the idea out here to see what ideas we can come up with to make this work. As far as the technical side, I'm not a storage geek. However, I can easily see the benefits of having the ability to raid together numerous smaller flash cards to create one super huge flash card. Then again, as was said, it may not be as practical, or power friendly, as something that already exists. And that's part of the idea behind throwing this out here. If better ideas exist, let's talk about them. :) If not, let's see what we can do with this one.

Re: Kind of a wild idea: Flash card raid array for n810?
 

...and desireable, given the occasional issues with flash reliability...

Re: Kind of a wild idea: Flash card raid array for n810?
 

Hmm, good point Texrat. There's also the fact that a good raid solution would need to be chosen for rebuilding the raid should one of the cards die. A solution that doesn't kill the other cards in the process. >.<

Re: Kind of a wild idea: Flash card raid array for n810?
 

If you do have a raid controller, choosing the adequate raid level already takes care of this. The trouble is that by now, your raid controller + cards probably use more juice than the whole NIT.

Re: Kind of a wild idea: Flash card raid array for n810?
 

lol. Yeah, I had thought about that too. Well, another option, if raid doesn't work, is to look into some kind of SSD drive that could fit in there. Not sure if we could find one of the right size and power requirement, but it'd be interesting to see if we could. :)