Samsung’s 256GB FlashSSD Announced

Samsung Electronics A few days ago, Samsung announced what is claimed to be the “world fastest and largest capacity 2.5” SSD” (SSD = Solid State Drive).

It is certainly fast – it can read at speeds of 200MBps as well as write as speeds of 160MBps (very fast). Samsung says that is about 2.4 times faster than typical harddrives. Even though it is a “Multi-Level Cell” (MLC) based drive, the speeds and reliability are claimed to be on par with SLC-based SSDs (SLC=Single Level Cell). In the past, SLC-based SSDs were faster and more reliable.

The 256GB FlashSSD has been designed to be a drop-in replacement for most 2.5-inch Serial ATA (SATA) I/II drives, with a thickness of 9.5mm.

If everything goes well, they should be in mass production by the end of this year, with samples for manufacturers starting in September. Samsung plans a 1.8-inch version of the drive in the fourth quarter of 2008 as well.

Read: Akihabara News