SanDisk Shrinks Solid-State Drives

SanDisk on Wednesday announced what it called the first embedded solid-state drive (SSD), a device smaller than a postage stamp and with a capacity of up to 64GB.

The device, called the integrated SSD (iSSD), is aimed at emerging categories of devices using high-end operating systems in small form factors, such as tablets and ultra-thin notebooks, SanDisk said.

SanDisk claims the iSSD is the first flash memory-based SSD to support the industry-standard SATA storage interface in a package small enough to be soldered onto any motherboard and fast enough to use with standard PC-style operating systems such as Mac OS X or Windows.

New category

The iSSD features 160MBps sequential read and 100MBps sequential write speeds, measures 16mm by 20mm by 1.85mm and weighs less than one gram. It uses a Ball Grid Array (BGA) form factor and a SATA interface, SanDisk said.

“The new category of embedded SSDs should enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to produce tablets and notebooks with an unprecedented combination of thin, lightweight form factors and fast performance,” SanDisk said in a statement.

The device is currently available for sampling to manufacturers in capacities from 4GB to 64GB, with pricing dependent on the quantity ordered.

SSDs take off

Flash-based memory has taken off in recent years due to the popularity of small form-factor devices such as netbooks and smartphones. Toshiba’s Libretto W100 dual-screen device, for example, uses a 62GB SSD, while as of March, before the launch of the iPad, Apple alone was reported to be consuming as much as one-third of the supplies of NAND flash memory for iPhones and iPods.

SSDs have also been targeted at the enterprise, for instance with Nimbus Data Systems’ S1000 system, offering 10 TB of solid-state capacity per shelf.

Memory maker Kingston recently suggested the use of SSDs to extend the life of old PCs.