Toshiba's New innovation

I was just surfing the net,when i came accross Toshiba's new 512GB solid state drive.For those who don't know about SSD,Here's a simple guide for you.

A solid-state drive (SSD) is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store persistent data. A SSD emulates a hard disk drive interface, thus easily replacing it in most applications. An SSD using SRAM or DRAM (instead of flash memory) is often called a RAM-drive.

The original usage of the term solid-state (from solid-state physics) refers to the use of semiconductor devices rather than electron tubes, but has in this context been adopted to distinguish solid-state electronics from electromechanical devices as well. With no moving parts, solid-state drives are less fragile than hard disks and are also silent (unless a cooling fan is used); as there are no mechanical delays, they usually enjoy low access time and latency.

Some of them have links to wiki,for better understanding of terms used above.

 

The Japanese company announced that will offer 512GB solid-state drives (SSDs) soon. The first laptops and other devices using them could be available in the second quarter of 2009 or later.

Storage capacities of SSD are doubling every few months, but 512GB is so far the biggest capacity for laptops, at least for commercial computers. Most PC makers offer their new computers with 128GB SSD and recently, Samsung announced the mass production of  256GB SSD: they will be available in next months.

Solid-state drives store data on flash memory chips and usually, they are considered an alternative to hard drives. SSDs consume less energy and have no moving parts. This way, they are a good storage choice for laptops, instead of using hard drives, which storage information on magnetic platters. However, SSDs have smaller storage capacity and are more expensive than hard drives.

According to Toshiba, the new units will have a 2.5-inch form factor and they are targeted at laptops, desktop computers and home entertainment systems. They will have a  reading speed of 240 Mbps and a writing speed of 200 Mbps. It is projected that the first units will be available in the first quarter of 2009. After that, Toshiba will start a mass production stage in the second quarter.