eBoostr + ultra high speed expresscard = SSD alternative?

Wintec and Aluratec recently came out with expresscards boasting 115MB/s read and 65MB/s write capability.

http://www.wintecind.com/FileMate/index_solidgo.htm

It seems to me that eBoostr, with some modifications, could turn these devices into an alternative SSD for notebook users like myself.

Here would be the advantages:

1) Fits flush in the expresscard slot; no profile change or USB flash drives hanging off my laptop.

2) Huge cost savings.  I currently have a 320GB WD Scorpio Black HDD.  To buy an SSD capable of replacing that storage capacity would easily be $850 or more.  I can buy one of the high speed expresscard SSDs for just over $125.

3) Configuration flexibility from having a second hard drive.

4) Solves the stuttering and performance degradation problems that many SSDs experience.  Stuttering is eliminated because eBoostr directs writes to the hard drive, then periodically updates the expresscard in a background operation.  Performance degradation is likely eliminated or, if not, much easier to correct: simply reformat the SSD and rebuild the cache.

5) No longer need a memory cache, so I gain usable memory.

To take full advantage of the possibilities that these card offer, eBoostr would have to allow me to pin entire directories to the cache.  For instance, I’d like to place all of my program files on the cache, whether they are “frequently used files” or not.  Perhaps eBoostr already allows me to do this, but I’m not convinced that it does.  This is only an educated guess as to how the program works, but I suspect that if only caches “frequently used files” (what ever that means).  If my cache size is too small, then it allows me to assign priority to the frequently used files I cache.  But I don’t understand that it allows me to pin entire directories to the cache.

BTW, adding the appropriate capabilities to eBoostr could open whole new marketing channels for it.  I don’t see the cost of SSDs coming down significantly anytime soon.  eBoostr plus one of these devices could give laptop users 80% of the performance gain at a fraction of the cost of an SSD.

Thoughts?

v4 on AA1 A150 XP SP3 512mbRam

Appears to work fine with a 4gb SDHC card. Running Office 2007, Firefox 3.5 and Thunderbird 3b4 noticeably quicker with no issues – yet…

Cancelation Option Allocation Caching File

1. Configure button
2. Select on the left M2 miniCard Sandisk 526mb
3. Click Use this device for caching, pop up “Allocating cache file” window
is there any option cancel button while “Allocating cache file” rather than hide button only ?

then
says Failed to add the cache file.
Please check that the selected device is writeable and enough space is available.

Eboostr Beta 536
Windows XP SP 2

windows2000 can not shut sown

i install eboostr 4 on CPU :
pentium 4 1.8Ghz
RAM 384 Mb
Operating System Windows 2000 SP4 with update roll up1 and security updated.
build eboostr’s cache drive on USB flash dish KINGSTON 1 GB

i think this is kind of bug for eboostr 4 beta because after install and build cache i want to shut down my CPU, my windows can not shut down by itself as usually after notification banner from windows ‘windows is shutting down’ my computer still on. and then i remove eboostr’s cache drive , my computer can shut down noemally

Device Label Uppercasing

Please keep the device labels in their native case in Control Panel. I use mixed case for elegance and readability.

Cache File Location Selection Bug

Equipment:
Dell 8300
Disk 0: 30 Gig PATA (Drive Letters L and M)
Disk 1: 250 Gig SATA )Drive Letters C thru K)
Boots from the C: Drive

Problem:
Drive Letters L and M are not available in the DropDown List for the Cache File Location

On a Related Note:
Drive Letter M: on the PATA drive is listed on the left side of the Configuration Panel (as though it were a memory module). See image included.

I discovered this problem when I was unable to designate partition M: on the PATA drive for the Cache File Storage Location. I use the M: Partition on the second hard drive for my windows pagefile and Ramdisk storage file as well.

Build 536

We have just published new build 536.

It contains the following updates and fixes:

• Fixed freezes on unmanaged RAM check and cache load
• Windows 2000 speed check procedure corrected
• New settings.ini parameter to set cache rebuild behavior (see below)

Cache rebuild behavior

Once an hour eBoostr service checks if your computer is idle and updates the cache contents. We have added a new parameter “idletimebuild” which allows you to set the amount of time your computer is actually idle to start a cache rebuild. This value is given in seconds and is equal to 60 seconds by default.

Example: You often leave your computer idle for short periods of time (phone calls or college chats for example) and eBoostr automatically starts cache update. You get back to your desktop and cache rebuild is interrupted before finished leaving not fully filled cache or outdated file contents. Now you can set the value of actual idle time for the eBoostr to start cache update. Set it for example to 10-15 minutes and cache will be updated only during your lunch time or a long meeting.

Xp SP3 4g Memory

Installed eboostr 4 beta, ticked “enable use of hidden system memory”, it detected 1280mb of unmanaged memory so I set the cache size to 2048mb leaving 2048mb as normal. When I clicked apply the system froze, I had to uninstall in Safe Mode as that was the only way the system would boot. I then reinstalled & tried to uncheck the detect hidden memory option but the program had stored previous setting somewhere causing the system to freeze again.

Cached state in cache viewer

Cache viewer does not allow to order data for application by cached state, although name, weight and path fields are supported.

Cache is not recognized until the flash drive is accessed

Cache is not recognized until the flash drive is accessed

Already posted the issue on the thread above for eBoostr 3.0.and it still persists in v4.0.

On every boot of the computer, the eBoostr control panel shows that no cache drives are active until I launch My Computer for the first time. I am pretty sure that eBoostr is not functioning as I neither see the animated icon nor feel any speed boost before the drive is properly shown on the eBoostr control panel. It seems that for some reason I have to access the cache drive before eBoostr recognizes it because accessing the flash drive using any program’s file dialog seems to fix the problem.

I have narrowed down the problem to an incompatibility issue with NOD32’s egui.exe. If I disable the executable via msconfig, eBoostr correctly recognizes the cache drive. Otherwise, I need to launch My Computer each time the system reboots.

Same issue with NOD32 3.0.684.0 and 4.0.437.0 (tried putting both eBoostr’s path and the cache drive in the exclusion list but it didn’t help).

Running Windows XP SP3, all security patches are up-to-date