OREANDA-NEWS. TDK Corporation announced the successful development of the SNG4A series of serial ATA II compatible industrial solid state drives. The new NAND flash memory modules enable storage capacities of up to 64 GB with SLC type NAND flash memory. Measuring only approx. 22 x 42 mm, the modules support use in M.2 slots and will be available from August 2014.

The new M.2 form factor is currently garnering a lot of attention and is expected to become the dominant standard for consumer applications. Furthermore, the adoption of M.2 for industrial applications will most likely also be promoted heavily. Motherboards for industrial use not only have to achieve good transfer speeds, but there is also a growing tendency to place more emphasis on reliability, since products often have to be operable for periods of ten years or more.

Taking advantage of the fact that TDK develops SSD controller chips in-house, and with a view towards the convenience of industrial customers who prefer being able to use the same form factor for a long time, TDK has taken an early lead and has realized an SSD lineup in the M.2 form factor, with both Key B and Key M support and the ability to process commands up to the Serial ATA Revision 2.6 Specification.

The SNG4A series employs the GBDriver RS4 developed by TDK. The GBDriver power interruption tolerance algorithm has won high acclaim especially among industrial users, making the new M.2 format SATA Flash Drives resistant against power supply problems, a highly desirable characteristic for demanding industrial applications.

Further advantages provided by the GBDriver RS4 include Enhanced ECC and other functions significantly bolstering data reliability, such as read retry, auto recovery, data randomizer, and auto refresh. Service life diagnosis software (TDK SMART) facilitates quantitative lifespan management of flash storage.

Data security has also been enhanced. In addition to the standard ATA security complement, AES*1 128-bit encryption and a TDK proprietary security function are also available. This makes it possible to store data in the NAND type flash memory in encrypted form, to guard against the risk of data leaks and tampering, resulting in highly robust storage security.

The TDK SNG4A series of industrial M.2 form factor SSDs are SATA flash memory drives ideally suited for use as replacements for hard disk drives or mSATA type SSDs in industrial equipment and embedded devices. They provide high-speed performance, data reliability, storage lifespan, and data security at the highest levels in the industry.

The products can be viewed at the TDK booth at the Embedded Systems Expo (ESEC) to be held from May 14 to 16.