Storage News - Page 128

SSDs are based on flash memory chip technology and have no moving parts. Hard-disk drives, in contrast, use read-write heads that hover over spinning platters to access and record data. With no moving parts, SSDs avoid both the risk of mechanical failure and the mechanical delays of HDDs. Therefore, SSDs are generally faster and more reliable. The catch is the cost: SSDs are currently much more expensive than HDDs. Intel is expected to make an announcement during the second quarter.

"I played the part of Guinea Pig and had one of our pre-production solid state drives installed in my IT laptop...I was unprepared for the powerful instant high it gave my system," he wrote in a blog. There was a "dramatic difference in how my system responded," he said.

San Jose, California - March 26, 2008 -- Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today launched the world's slimmest 256GB solid state drive (SSD).

The FSD56GC25H uses an industry standard 2.5-inch hard drive form factor and uses an industry standard SATA-I interface, making it 100% interchangeable with conventional 2.5-inch SATA hard drives. This SSD implements Super Talent's patented stacking technology to pack an enormous amount of solid state storage into an exceptionally small and slim case, measuring a mere 12.5mm thick - 40% thinner than any other 256GB SSD available. The signature black case is made from a durable lightweight aluminum alloy.

"Sunnyvale, CA-March 12, 2008-OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled ultra-fast OCZ SATA II 2.5" Solid State Drives, a lightweight and efficient alternative to conventional hard disc drives. The OCZ SATA II drive is designed to stay abreast of the performance features of high-end notebooks, and is ideal for energy-efficient mobile computing. With blazing access times combined with excellent reliability, the OCZ SATA II 2.5" SSD is the answer for enthusiasts demanding the most advanced storage for their notebooks and systems.

"There are many benefits of solid state drive technology over traditional disk drives including superior speed, reliability, and power savings," commented Alex Mei, Executive VP and CMO, OCZ Technology Group. "Our newest SATA II drives are designed to further extend the advantages of this technology offering enhanced performance for high-end mobile solutions."

Tokyo, February 25, 2008 - Fujitsu Limited today announced the release of its new series of MHZ2 BT 2.5" hard disk drives with world-class capacity of up to 500 GB(1). Sales of the new series will begin at the end of May 2008.

The new series responds to the growing need for hard drives in the 2.5" form factor that can handle high-volume storage for such products as digital video recorders and external hard drives.

The MHZ2 BT series requires only 1.8 W of power for read and write operations, ranking it among the most power-efficient drives in its class. The series is one of many new products announced as part of Fujitsu's Green Policy Innovation program, unveiled in December 2007 to promote energy-efficient products and services as a way to help customers lower their ecological footprint.

Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO), the consortium dedicated to sustaining the quality, integrity and dissemination of SATA technology, today announced its Power Over eSATA initiative. SATA-IO has begun work on a new specification that will provide power to external SATA (eSATA) devices without the need for a separate power connection. Led by the organization?s Cable and Connector group, the specification is targeted for completion in the second half of 2008.

Today, eSATA devices require an external power adapter to supply the necessary voltage for operation. The new SATA-IO specification will eliminate this requirement by providing power for a single drive directly from the host system using the Power Over eSATA cable. Key benefits will be to maintain compatibility with the existing eSATA connector form factor and retain high Performance at the current maximum interface transfer rate of 3Gb/s (gigabits per second). External SATA offers the only 3Gb/s bus optimized for storage performance.

On the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, at a time when most of the technology world is asking "what's the next big thing?", Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) has answered that question quite literally by introducing the world's highest capacity 2.5-inch mobile hard drive. Setting a new industry benchmark for capacity, the half-terabyte (500GB) Travelstar 5K500 is poised to usher in a new era of "slim" desktops, full-featured notebooks, gaming consoles and other advanced applications for consumers on-the-go.