SanDisk Releases Low-Cost Z400s SSD

SanDisk has taken yet another swing at making traditional hard drives obsolete this week, announcing a low-cost solid-state drive (SSD) available in capacities from 32GB to 256GB.

The SanDisk Z400s claims to outperform traditional hard drive speeds by up to 20 times, all with higher reliability and lower power consumption.

A SanDisk marketing head said that the Z400s represents a “feat of engineering”, with the “cost effective” SSD designed to replace hard-disk drives in computing platforms and embedded applications.

Displacing HDDs

“With a single architecture, SanDisk is able to provide OEMs with an affordable solution for displacing HDDs in today’s cutting edge consumer devices, and help embedded application designers avoid overpaying for un-needed space,” said Rizwan Ahmed, senior director of product marketing, SanDisk. “All while delivering the peak performance and high-reliability that only SSDs can supply.”

The SanDisk Z400s is sampling with customers immediately in mSATA, 2.5” SATA and M.2 (2242 and 2280) form factors, in capacities of 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB.

SanDisk highlighted a number of use cases for the Z400s. The firm reckons the SSD will be particularly useful in POS for shops, restaurants, and other industries that rely on a high level of customer experience. Another use could be in security surveillance.

“The Z400s is extremely beneficial at the point of image capture, where ruggedness, durability and performance are critical, but storage requirements are relatively short-term,” said SanDisk.

“This includes digital cameras where images are cleared more frequently, but still operate 24/7 in order to reduce risk, such as in courtrooms or government buildings, healthcare facilities and shopping malls.”

Unfortunately, SanDisk did not disclose prices for the SSD, but did say that it will be comparable to hard disk drives.

“Intelligent Systems continue to play a critical role in disrupting traditional industries as connectivity, flash and sensor technology allows us to drive more value for applications and data,” said Mario Morales, vice president of IDC’s Enabling Technologies and Semiconductors research group.

“The value chain for the embedded market is broad and fragmented across a large set of industries that span decades of development and commercialisation.

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