Samsung Electronics has designed a new system based on flash memory chips that will replace current hard disk mechanisms. According to the company, mass production for these drives will start in August.

The solid state disk (SDD) storing solutions are based on memory chips and compared to classic solutions they require less power and ensure better transfer rates.

Samsung will fit these drives with the Advanced Technology Attachment parallel interface. The SDD system, which will be included first in a 16GB drive, is based on a 2.5 inch structure with 16 NAND Flash memory modules with capacities of 4 or 8 GB of memory. At the end of this year, Samsung will also propose a SDD solution of 1.8 inch which will offer the same storing capacity.

By replacing current mechanical mechanisms with SDD, the drives will have: a five times lower power consumption rate, half the weight, reading and writing speeds of 57MBps, respectively 32 MBps (representing a 150% increase) and better stability and data protection. Other advantages are: less heating and no noise.

However, for now, these SDD solutions are aimed at mobile systems used in industrial and military domains, Samsung announces. In the near future, cheaper solutions aimed at home-users will also be available.