Well, only the 2.5-inch drives are black, the others are M.2 models

May 13, 2014 15:01 GMT  ·  By

Encrypted storage devices are part of the lifeblood of corporations and governmental institutions, so SanDisk will probably have some nice demand for the X300s SSDs even if the prices turn out to be less than flattering.

And they very well might, because they not only come in the standard 2.5-inch, 7mm size, but also in M.2 form factor (M.2 2280 single-sided design).

The 2.5-inch X300s SSDs have 64 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB capacities, while the M.2 ones top at 512 GB.

All the drives benefit from the AES 256-bit FIPS 197 certified hardware crypto engine, which encrypts everything on the disk (well, in the NAND chips).

Software-encryption could have been used, but it can be hacked, and really slows down performance too.

TCG Opal 2.0 and Microsoft Encrypted Hard Drive specifications are complied with as well, and the list continued with IEEE 1667 and other industry-standard security specifications.

All this, in a sleek black form factor. Well, for the 2.5-inch series anyway. The M.2 don't have cases at all, just the bare PCB and chips on them. Sales haven't begun yet, but they should start next month, June 2014. The prices will probably come out after Computex, where the things will be on display (June 3 - 7, 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan).