Samsung Announce 256GB SATA II SSD

Samsung have hammered another nail into platter-based hard-drives with the arrival of its latest solid-state storage.  A 2.5-inch drive, the new SSD has a massive 256GB storage and uses the SATA II interface, boasting transfer speeds up to 2.4 times faster than the equivalent traditional drive.  In fact, data access rates reach a sequential read speed of 200MB/s and sequential write speed of 160MB/s.

Even during use, power consumption is just 0.9W, and they're quoting a mean time between failures (MTBF) of one million hours.  At just 9.5mm thick, Samsung are calling their new flagship "the thinnest drive with the largest capacity to be offered with a SATA II interface"; rival Super Talent, who announced their own 256GB SSD back in March, used a SATA I interface and only managed a drive 12.5mm thick.  Samsung are also describing it as the tipping point where notebooks and other mobile devices turn to SSD for thinner, more productive designs.  Intel are already believed to be including SSDs in their upcoming Centrino 2 platform.

Large-scale production of the drive will have begun by the end of the year, sampling to manufacturers in September.  A smaller, 1.8-inch version of the 256GB SSD is also expected in Q4 2008.  No pricing yet, but expect a significant premium over comparable HDDs.

Press Release

Samsung Develops World's Fastest and Largest Capacity 2.5-inch, MLC-based (256GB) SSD with SATA II Interface

TAIPEI, Taiwan –(Business Wire)– May. 25, 2008 Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has developed the world's fastest, 2.5-inch, 256 Gigabyte (GB) multi-level cell (MLC) based solid state drive (SSD) using a SATA II interface, at the fifth annual Samsung Mobile Solution Forum held here today. Samsung's new 256GB SSD is also the thinnest drive with the largest capacity to be offered with a SATA II interface.

With a sequential read speed of 200 megabytes per second (MB/s) and sequential write speed of 160MB/s, Samsung's MLC-based 2.5-inch 256GB SSD is about 2.4 times faster than a typical HDD. Furthermore, the new 256 GB SSD is only 9.5 millimeters (mm) thick, and measures 100.3x69.85 mm.

Once introduced, the Samsung's 256GB SSD will mark the largest capacity SSD from the global market leader in SSD sales, effectively eliminating density as a barrier to SSD adoption in the consumer space.

"With development of the 256GB SSD, the notebook PC is on the brink of a second stage of evolution. This change is comparable to the evolution from the Sony Walkman to NAND memory-based MP3 players, representing an initial step in the shift to thinner, smaller SSD-based notebooks with significantly improved performance and more than ample storage," said Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.

Through major advancements in proprietary controller technology, Samsung's new MLC 256GB SSD, besides being comparable in speed to an SLC-based SSD, also boasts reliability equal to that of SLC SSDs, with a mean time between failures (MTBF) of one million hours, while costing considerably less. Power consumption is also exceptionally low at 0.9 watts in active mode.

In addition, the drive offers a sophisticated data encryption process that prevents data stored on the SSD from being accessed in an unauthorized manner, even after the SSD is removed from the PC.

Overall, the number of computing units in which SSDs are being offered is expected to increase dramatically once Samsung's previously announced 128GB SSD and the new 256GB SSD are launched. At present, Samsung is actively involved in high-capacity SSD design-in activities for all of the top PC and server manufacturers from the U.S., Asia, and Europe.

Samsung is expected to begin mass producing the 2.5-inch, 256GB SSD by year end, with customer samples available in September. A 1.8-inch version of the 256GB SSD is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2008.

According to a Q1 2008 report by the semiconductor market research firm iSuppli, the SSD market will grow at an annualized average of 124 percent during the four-year period from 2008 until 2012. iSuppli now projects SSD sales to increase by an additional 35 percent in 2009 over what it projected last year, 51 percent more in 2010, and 89 percent more in 2011, and continue to show dramatic increases in subsequent years.

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2007 consolidated sales of US$103.4 billion. Employing approximately 150,000 people in 134 offices in 62 countries, the company consists of four main business units: Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business, and Telecommunication Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit http://www.samsung.com.