14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung plans to revitalize the storage market with the release of its new 256GB Solid State Drive. Simply dubbed the 256GB FlashSSD, this new product is built on a Serial ATA interface and is said to read in-order data at 200MB per second. This is double the rate of Samsung's earlier 128GB drive. The drive is also expected to boost hard drive read speeds.
According to Samsung, the real news is the product's manufacturing process. Earlier models were based on flash memory using the single-level cell storage technique, including the case of the 128GB model. These drives provided users with a quick and reliable storage solution, but weren't able to store more than one bit of data in each cell. The technique was financially ineffective, making manufacturers reach a high cost per unit. The single-level cell drives brought the upgrade cost of MacBook Air and other systems as high as $1,000.
The new multi-level cell storage technology is said to bring more availability to the 256GB drives. It allows data to be better packed, while the new drive controller gives the same speed as single level storage. While offering higher longevity to the drives, the new technology also allows manufacturers to considerably lower their costs, although Samsung didn't provide the exact numbers for that. To further sweeten the offer, Samsung also plans to provide its hard drives with a sophisticated data encryption process, designed to protect the data stored SSD from being accessed by unauthorized users.
Samsung's new product lineup is expected to be available before the end of this year. It is also likely that the drives will be featured on Apple's MacBook Air or any other system manufacturer.
Samsung's upcoming FlashSSDs will probably be an alternative to Intel's recently announced SSD storage solution, which is said to bring new high performance levels.