Updated on May 24, 2018
Recently, as PC performance and the requirements for all related parts have increased embedded system architects have had a goal of minimizing current and future design risks, lowering product life-cycle cost through module scalability, interchangeability and planning smooth transition from legacy to legacy-free interfaces while allowing room for growth.
Compatibility concern
To deal with this issue manufacturers have added SATA on the board as an option, but designers are not able to take advantage of the SATA technology at this level due to the lack of incompatible approaches and standards. The use of a single HDD could have a high chance of failure.
Four Logical Options
Compact Flash (CF)
| Pros | Cons |
| Standard factor | Bulky in size |
| Very Mature Product | Slow interface& Slow Boot Time |
| Widely used by consumer application | IDE form factor |
| Removable sockets | No component control for industrial applications |
| Industrial embedded Solid State Disk | Lots of variables, which cause reliability issues |
USB Flash Disk Module
| Pros | Cons |
| Consumer Interface | Needs to load driver before it can be used |
| Built-in wear leveling | Slow boot speed |
| Industry-standard package | Support issues |
| Universally standard computer interface | Restricted Bandwidth |
| Features cross-platform | Numerous USB expanders |
| Serial and parallel connections | Streamline effect |
| Hot swappable interface | |
| Removable and rewriteable | |
| No moving parts |
Disk On Chip
| Pros | Cons |
| Standard form factor | Bulky in size |
| Very mature product | Slow interface |
| Widely used by consumer applications | IDE form factor |
| Removable sockets | No component control for industrial applications |
| Industrial Embedded Solid-State Disk | Lots of variables, which cause reliability issues |
| Slow boot time | |
| Limited file opening systems (FAT files) | |
| Various drivers needed |
SATA Module
| Pros | Cons |
| Ease of adaptation | Needs to load driver before it can be used |
| JEDEC SODIMM socket | Slow boot speed |
| Fast boot time and access time | Support issues |
| Ideal for OS and needed capacity for onboard data storage | Cost based on DRAM price fluctuation |
| SATA interface speed: 2x to 4x IDE/CF,USB, or DOC flash speed | Above 2 GB density |
| DDR SODIMM or SATA module share same socket | Limited to 2 rank at this time |
| Eliminates space designed with consumer storage cards; CF,SD,USB, and the like | |
| Real estate for the existing onboard memory can be used for other board functions | |
| No changes to DDR SODIMM socket and pinouts design | |
| Available with DDR2 or DDR3 technology |
