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Samsung mass-producing 128GB flash drives

posted on 09 July 2008 10:57

Multi-level cell technology

Samsung is now mass-producing 128GB flash memory solid state dives (SSDs) using mylri-level cell technology in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch form factors. Mass production of its 64GB SSDs has also begun.

Samsung says power consumption for the Samsung SSD is exceptionally low in standby mode at approximately 0.2 watts and in active mode at 0.5 watts. This helps counter the adverse perception of SSD power use through a recent hardware review.

The Samsung MLC-based SSD has a write speed of 70MB/sec and a read speed of 90MB/sec - performance levels that approach those of single-level-cell (SLC)-based SSDs now in mass production. The company says that its new 128GB SSD will last approximately 20 times longer than the generally accepted 4-5 year life span of a notebook PC hard drive.

Featuring a 3.0Gbit/s SATA interface, the device is constructed from 64 x 16GBit NAND flash chips, optimized single-chip controller technology and flash-management firmware technology. It is enclosed in a brushed metallic casing, measuring 100mm x 69.8mm by 9.5mm thick.

Samsung is aggressively expanding its SSD market offerings. It introduced a 64GB SSD in the second half of 2007, and plans to begin producing a 256GB at the end of this year. The company is the leading producer of SSDs in the world.

EMC SSD supplier STEC is a purchaser of Samsung flash chips for its SSD offering.

Samsung expects sales of SSD units to increase 800 percent between now and 2010, keeping SSDs on pace to be the largest growth segment in the NAND flash market over the next few years.