These SSDs are for use in servers for applications such as video on demand, streaming media content delivery, internet data centers, virtualization and on-line transaction processing.

The new drive can process to the extent that 100 times the number of IOPS per watt as a 15K rpm 2.5-inch SAS HDD in appliances where higher performance and lower power consumption are both needed.

“We have created a very reliable drive for data centers with high-performance, high-endurance and sharply reduced power consumption requirements, plus tremendous long-term value when the total cost of ownership is analyzed,” said Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. “Our new enterprise SSD offers CIOs and IT managers the ability to greatly improve storage reliability and capacity while avoiding costly power and AC infrastructure upgrades in data centers at or near capacity.”

The new drive is designed to remove the system performance bottleneck in enterprise storage applications. It reads data sequentially at 230 megabytes per second (MB/s) and writes sequentially at 180 MB/s.

The 100GB SSD’s advanced performance is attributed to a sophisticated 8-channel controller, improved NAND flash and special drive firmware, all developed by Samsung. A single Samsung 100GB SSD can replace multiple hard drives in high performance applications and comes complete with full data encryption.

The most environmentally friendly drive for data centers, Samsung’s enterprise SSDs use 1.9 watts of power in active mode and 0.6 watts in idle mode, minimizing power and heat loads. These “green” ratings tower over typical 15K HDDs, which consume between 8 to 15 watts in active mode and 1 to 2 watts in idle mode. Servers with high-rpm hard-drive solutions lead to increased power bills and larger carbon footprints, while posing greater difficulties when expanding a data center.

The SS805 drive also offers a key enterprise storage function that allows all data in the process of being stored within the SSD to be preserved in the event of a power outage.

The 2.5-inch single-level cell (SLC) 100GB SSD that will be available in the first quarter of 2009, is consistent in height, width and thickness.