Micron Technology offers consumer SSD storage solutions of up to 256GB. Image. Micron.
Semi-conductor and storage company Micron Technology Inc. has whipped the covers off its RealSSD range, a line of “next-generation” product entrants built on the increased performance, reliability and efficiency that NAND Flash solid state drives have become synonymous with.
Designed specifically for use with enterprise computing and notebook applications, Micron’s new enterprise-class RealSSD P200 and client-focused RealSSD C200 are being positioned by the Biose, Idaho outfit to deliver dramatic application improvements when it comes to storage capacity, power and performance.
“We are seeing SSD interest in a variety of applications where historically hard disk drives have reigned,” commented Dean Klein, vice president of Memory System Development at Micron. “For many, the most logical place is in notebook computers, but there is [also] incredible value for SSDs in enterprise server systems.”
The 2.5-inch RealSSD enterprise-specific P200 drives are set to arrive in storage capacities ranging from 16GB through to 128GB and will include Micron’s “high-performa single-level cell (SLC) NAND technology.” According to Micron, the P200 will emerge as “the industry’s fastest 3Gb/s SATA-based sequential read and write” drive, boasting speeds of up to 250 megabytes per second and providing access to transactional data some 10 times quicker than a typical enterprise HDD.
In terms of energy efficiency, Micron claims the P200 requires only one-tenth of the power drained by a typical data centre HDD, operating at just 2.5 watts when active and below 0.3 watts when idle. Performance and efficiency are bolstered by a mean time between failure (MTBF) rate of approximately 2 million hours, which far outclasses the 300,000 to 500,000 usually attributed to HDD drives.
Arriving alongside the P200, Micron offers up its 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch RealSSD C200 drives to address the growing demands of the consumer market. Delivering storage hardware equipped with multi-level cell (MLC) technology and an impressive total capacity of 256GB (2.5-inch models only), the C200 functions on a 3Gb/s SATA interface and offers read speeds of up to 250 megabytes per second and write speeds of up to 100 megabytes per second.
C200 models in the 1.8-inch category will be available in capacities ranging from 32GBs to 128GBs.
The emergence of Micron’s SSD line is far from surprising, with the technology industry now running at a fairly convincing speed with regard to the obvious usage advantages associated with solid state (SSD) drives.
SSD offers greater performance and reliability thanks to having no moving parts, while more conventional HDDs (or hard disk drives) are slower, more prone to breakage, and are also less energy efficient.
Micron is already sampling its RealSSD P200 and C200 drives ahead of full mass production, which is expected to be green lit before the close of 2008. The new RealSSD drives will be showcased by Micron at the upcoming Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, CA. The summit will take place from August 12 to August 14.
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