Monday, 14 July 2008

Samsung Starts Shipping 128GB SSDs

Lately, Samsung has begun production of 128GB solid-state drives(SSD) as it tries to overcome technical hurdles with larger-capacity drives.

The new drives are based on a technology called multi-level cell (MLC), the slower, less energy-efficient cousin of single-level cell (SLC) drives—but less expensive to make.

The new Samsung SSDs have a write speed of 70 megabytes per second and a read speed of 90MB per second. The 128GB SSD lasts about 20 times longer than the typical four- to five-year lifespan of a notebook hard drive, Samsung said. Power consumption for the Samsung SSD is approximately 0.2 watts, and in active mode 0.5 watts.

The full 128GB is available in both a 1.8-inch Serial ATA II format for ultraportable notebooks and handheld devices, and a larger 2.5-inch format for more common notebooks. A 64GB drive is also available for less expensive systems, while Samsung's promised 256GB model is due towards the end of this year.

The company expects sales of SSD units to increase 800 per cent between now and 2010. Mass production of the Samsung MLC-based 64GB SSDs also began this month, the company said.