Samsung Electronics ha dato inizio alla produzione in massa dei suoi drive a stato solido o SSD (solid state drive) da 2.5-inch caratterizzati da una capacità di memorizzazione di 256GB. I nuovi prodotti completano per il momento la linea di SSD di Samsung Electronics, che già include varianti da 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB e 128GB.

I nuovi SSD sono realizzati in tecnologia Flash Nand 40nm in MLC (multi-level cell) ed offrono prestazioni molto elevate sia in lettura (in quella sequenziale il data rate è pari a 220MB/s) che in scrittura (in quella sequenziale il data rate è pari a 200MB/s). Il gap tra le fasi di read e write si è ridotto al 10% rispetto ai modelli precedenti mentre, in assoluto, gli SSD da 256MB di Samsung sono 10 volte più veloci dei dischi rigidi da 7200RPM con cui i notebook sono equipaggiati.

Samsung non ha pubblicato nè la data di lancio nè il prezzo o MSRP di questi drive il cui target è rappresentato dai sistemi notebook e desktop progettati per offrire elevate prestazioni.

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SEOUL, South Korea, Nov 19, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, announced today that it has begun mass producing 256 gigabyte (GB) solid state drives for use in notebooks and desktop PCs. With the addition of the high-speed 256GB drive, Samsung now offers the most extensive line of SSDs in the industry with 8, 16, and 32GB SSDs for low-density designs and 64, 128 and 256GB alternatives for the higher densities.

The new 256GB SSD more than doubles the performance rates of Samsung 64GB and 128GB SSDs to become the SSD with the highest overall performance in the personal computer industry, combining sequential read rates of 220MB/s (megabytes per second) with sequential write rates of 200MB/s. This sharply narrows the performance gap between read and write operations to only 10 percent, compared to a read-write speed difference of between 20 and 70 percent for other SSDs. In addition, erase cycles are a rapid 100GBs per minute, allowing the entire drive to be re-written much faster, when needed.

"While SSD's have always been touted for their performance, Samsung is turning the storage industry upside down now with an SSD that delivers truly disruptive performance," said Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. "Getting our exceptionally high performing 256GB SSD in a notebook is analogous to having a 15,000rpm drive, without all of its size, noise, power and heating drawbacks."

The Samsung 256GB SSD expedites data transfer when large multimedia files are simultaneously read and stored. It can store 25 high-definition movies* in just 21 minutes, a significant advancement over a 7200rpm hard disk drive (HDD), which takes about 70 minutes. Furthermore, the 256GB SSD launches applications 10 times faster than the fastest 7200rpm notebook HDD.

The 256GB SSD's advanced performance can be attributed to a new, optimized, single platform design consisting of a chip controller, NAND flash and special drive firmware all developed by Samsung. This single platform is designed to easily adapt to Samsung's 40nm class NAND flash memory. Also offering a high degree of energy efficiency, the new drive consumes 1.1 watts of power versus two or more watts for a comparable HDD, while delivering outstanding reliability and durability. The high operating speed of the 256GB SSD translates into longer periods in either stand-by or idle mode resulting in up to 40 minutes of extended operation on a single battery charge.

Similar in weight to a 128GB SSD (81 grams), the 2.5-inch multi-level cell (MLC) 256GB SSD retains the standard 9.5 millimeter (mm) drive thickness. Samsung's 256GB SSD is also available with optional proprietary encryption programming that provides full disk encryption, a key feature for many corporate users.

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