News

posted on 23 April 2008 09:26

Flash memory solid state drive (SSD) supplier STEC has announced the smallest, fastest and most reliable SSD in the industry.

The MACH4 1-inch SSD is said to have throughput speeds greater than 90MB/sec because it has four channels. It supports parallel and serial ATA interfaces, also AES encryption.

Patrick Wilkison, STEC's VP for marketing and business development, said: "The MACH4 ... drive's unique blend of attributes makes it an ideal solution for applications ranging from blade servers to ultra-mobile PCs to various other small format devices which require the highest throughput in the smallest package.'

Suggested applications include GPS/navigation products, automotive entertainment systems, interactive kiosks, and ultra-portable notebooks. STEC's idea is that it can replace 1-inch hard disk drives currently used which are capacity-limited as HDD manufacturers focus on their 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch products. 

The MACH4 SSD is expected to be available in mass production at the end of April in capacities up to 32GB. Projected OEM pricing for the 8GB capacity point is $45.

STEC is EMC's supplier for SSD storage in its DMX4 arrays. STEC is also being sued by Seagate for patent infringement.

^{[Paul Roberts, news editor.]}