Toshiba brings out business-card-size solid-state drives

Toshiba has unveiled solid-state drives based on the new mini-Sata interface standard, which lets manufacturers create very small drives for use in Netbooks and other portable or embedded devices.

The Japanese hardware maker introduced on Monday the two 32-nanometer-process SG2 SSD modules, each of which comes in two capacities. In a separate announcement the same day, the Sata-IO consortium said it is developing mini-Sata (mSata).

Toshiba's new solid-state drives

(Credit: Toshiba)

The new interface specification will provide a "high-performance, cost-effective storage solution for smaller devices like notebooks and Netbooks," said the Sata-IO consortium, which includes Toshiba.

One of Toshiba's SG2 modules uses an mSata interface, while the other uses a standard Sata II connector in a "Half-Slim" caseless format. The modules, which come in capacities of 30GB and 62GB, are each smaller than a business card, according to the manufacturer. The mSata module measures 30mm x 4.75mm x 50.95mm, while the Sata II module measures 54mm x 4mm x 39mm.

The company said that the 62GB version of the module is one-seventh the volume and one-eighth the weight of the standard 2.5-inch SSDs currently used in Netbooks.

"Our latest 32nm mSata and Half-Slim caseless modules enable hardware designers to add the performance and reliability advantages of a solid-state drive in a smaller, footprint for notebooks, portable electronics and other embedded storage applications," Toshiba memory chief Scott Nelson said in a statement.

The SG2 modules have interface speeds of up to 3Gbps, a maximum sequential read speed of 180MBps, and a maximum sequential write speed of 70MBps. The modules will go into volume production in October, Toshiba said.

Other manufacturers working on the mSata specification include Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Samsung, SanDisk, and STEC.

David Meyer of ZDNet UK reported from London.

[Maarek Stele]

The plug adapter is bigger than the drive itself. If they make it low powered, they should allow it to be be USB or even USB 3.0 compatible.

[Hunnter2k3]

You can always get those portable All-In-One drive port hubs for it.
Of course, you will probably need to wait till they get around to making mSATA compatible models. (and USB3.0 if you want it to be of any use)

[Hunnter2k3]

2 fantastic announcements!
Been waiting for a smaller drive connection for a while.

Wider one is probably more useful with your average layout of hardware inside portables.
But i prefer the look of the taller one.

Only bad part about this is the fact that it is smaller, every time things get smaller it gets harder to create your own interface for it. (DIY interface that is)
Eventually DIY stuff on any hardware is going to be pretty impossible for your average hobbyist.

[nrg.dude]

David, SATA is an acronym for Serial ATA and should always be capitalized. For more info on STAT and mSATA, go to the SATA-IO website (www.sata-io.org).

[mike.gw]

Very few mainstream users upgrade the internal storage of their laptops. Instead of making SSD a module to be inserted, manufacturers should just embed the chips on their logic boards, eliminating the need for SATA sockets, SSD daughterboards and additional circuitry. Enable such an equipped netbook to connect to a desktop computer as a USB drive, so if the netbook's OS is not bootable for some reason, you can still perform data recovery or virus removal on the netbook's internal SSD chips.

[Get_Bent]

The one major benefit to using a memory module: if the memory goes bad, you can easily replace it.

[Mergatroid Mania]

Imbedding the drive ICs on the motherboard would make it impossible to not only upgrade if desired, but to replace if the unit goes bad. I'd be pretty P.O.d if my drive died and I had to replace an entire motherboard (if they were even available). More likely you'd have to buy a new netbook.

[ikramerica--2008]

Embedding is a horrible idea.

[tech_crazy]

A good idea indeed. However, embedding the chips on the boards would take away the upgradeability. Another option is to do away with SATA altogether and have the drives connect via PCI-X directly. This would save costs and drastically improve performance. The interface conversions are a big bottleneck.

[knowles2]

good idea for most people.
However techs, which makes up this board would run a mile. Why replace an entire unit when with just a bit of thought a single component could be replace.

I am sure however that your idea will be implemented, the manufacturers will make more money in the long run if people have to replace an entire unit.

[Get_Bent]

This isn't much different from the current mini PCI Express SSD drives already being used in netbooks, other than the interface.

[ikramerica--2008]

Agreed, unless the speed is appreciably faster.

[Mergatroid Mania]

If these devices are made for netbooks, then they must be very inexpensive. Any idea how much they will cost? It would be nice to make a PCI card with room for eight drives (four on the back and four on the front), and configure it as a RAID. A PCI Plug-in RAID would be pretty cool.

[ikramerica--2008]

mini-PCI drives are really no cheaper than the 2.5" SSDs of the same performance. Chips is chips. The controllers are the controllers. The form factor is the only difference, and mini-SATA can't cost much more or less than normal SATA, and a metal or plastic enclosure or lack thereof is not a major factor in cost.