Active Media Products SATA DOM Flash Drives Debut

When thinking of flash drives, end-users' minds usually drift to those very small 'sticks' that provide an amount of flash storage inside a plastic or metal casing. However, there is a certain type of flash drive that does not see to the needs of consumers and, instead, is meant for embedded systems and servers. Such products are called DOM (Disk-on-module) flash drives and Active media products just unleashed new models dubbed Type-1 through Type-5.

The Type series from AMP are at once compact and quite speedy. They come in capacities of 8GB, 16GB and 32GB and are based on MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips. The Type-1, Type-2 and Type-3 read at 100 MB/s and write and 42 MB/s, whereas the Type-4 and Type-5 have read and write speeds of 90 MBs and 50 MB/s, respectively. These transfer rates are possible through the 7-pin or 22-pin SATA 3.0 Gbps connectors.

"With the addition of the Type-4 and Type-5 modules we now have a complete selection of SATA DOMs in capacities from 8GB to 32GB, including vertical and low-profile mounting, 7-pin and 22-pin SATA headers, and right and left offsets to fit in virtually any server or embedded application," said Active Media Products VP of Sales, Jerry Thomson. "We accomplished this with just three PCB designs, as the Type-1 and 2 use the same PCB, just with different connector positioning that offsets the module in a different direction. We used a similar 2-in-1 design for the Type-4 and 5 DOMs, so we have less validation work and greater flexibility in responding to OEM requirements."

Samples of the 8GB, 16GB and 32GB DOM flash drives are already selling for $68, $88 and $166, respectively, and mass production is slated to begin later this month. Meanwhile, full information on the entire collection may be found on the official website.