SATA mini-card SSD aims at netbooks

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd is now sampling a SATA-interface mini-card solid state drive (SSD) with some of its customers for use in the netbook market.

The Samsung SATA mini-card SSD expands the use of SSDs from not only being a primary storage medium, but also as a complementary drive to boost the performance of PCs with dual drive capabilities.

Samsung's new mini-card form factor, with a highly robust interface, makes an already rugged SSD even less susceptible to damage from jarring, jostling and dropping.

Featuring a mini-PCIe form factor with a SATA 3.0Gbit/s interface, the mini-card SSD is nearly 80 percent smaller than the conventional 2.5-inch HDD, making it well-suited for the tighter constraints of most netbooks. In addition, it can be used in printers and various handheld terminals including ruggedized mobile devices.

The SATA mini-card SSD form factor can be used in a combination consisting of the SSD as main memory and HDD as supporting storage space. This new approach is expected to increase the adoption of SSDs in a broader range of applications, according to Samsung.

Samsung is working to standardize the new mechanical form factor and its pin layout specifications at JEDEC. With possible revisions by OEMs, standardization could be expected as early as Q4 09, the company said.

Available in 16Gbyte, 32Gbyte and 64Gbyte densities, the new SSD drive will be produced using 40nm-class process technology. The SATA mini-card SSD provides a sequential read rate of 200MBps and writes data sequentially at 100MBps.

Samsung's mini-card SSD is 30mm wide and 51mm high. The drive weighs up to 8.5g and measures up to 3.75mm thick. The new drive consumes 0.3W of power.

Samsung's new netbook-targeted SSD is available with optional full disk encryption to thwart theft or any unwanted access to a netbook or other device.

- Ismini Scouras
eeProductCenter