Robson is a mass storage system similar to a hybrid hard drive (HHD). Robson technology combines a conventional
hard drive with a flash memory card. The flash memory
handles the data most frequently written to or retrieved from storage and can also effectively increase the capacity of the drive. The principal difference between Robson and HHD technology is the fact that with Robson the flash memory is external to the drive but in an HHD the flash memory is contained in the drive housing.
Robson offers several advantages over conventional hard drives:
- Faster data storage and retrieval
- for applications such as word processors
- Faster boot-up and recovery from hibernation states
- Lower power consumption
- Decreased heat generation
- Extended hard drive life
- Extended battery life for notebook computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs)
- Reduced levels of operating noise
- Expandable effective drive capacity with the availability of multiple flash memory cards.
Limitations of Robson include:
- Longer seek time for data stored on the hard drive
- More frequent hard-drive spin-up and spin-down
- Impossibility of data recovery from failed flash memory chips
- Higher overall hardware cost for the system.
Robson is a code name originated by Intel, the corporation that conceived and developed the software that makes the external flash memory function smoothly with the drive. The flash memory chips themselves are manufactured by Toshiba, Samsung and others.
This was last updated in April 2007
Dig Deeper
-
A sneak peek at Storage magazine's August 2011 issue. Learn more about the state of backup deduplication, storage virtualization and new trends in data storage.
-
A sneak peek at Storage magazine's July 2011 issue. Learn more about backing up virtual servers, performance tips and how to turn your data center storage into a storage cloud.
-
Download Storage magazine's all-digital issue at no cost. This month: The benefits, functions, future outlook and buying considerations for automated tiered storage technologies.
-
People who read this also read...
-
Resources from around the Web