Toshiba unveils 400GB enterprise SSD

Toshiba has unveiled a 2.5in enterprise-class Solid State Drive (eSSD), combining the large storage capacity of a traditional hard disk drive with a small form factor to give enterprises cost and energy efficient storage options.

The MK4001GRZB has been optimised for use with servers running multimedia applications, as direct-attached storage or network-attached storage, Toshiba said.

Key features include the 32 nanometer(nm) enterprise grade single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash memory. The eSSD has a 6Gbit/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface, with sustained read throughput of 510MB/s and a write throughput of 230MB/s.

The drive will help enterprises keep on top of ever-growing data volumes and is fully compatible with current small form factor hard disk drive configured systems to aid transition, the firm added.

The eSSD will be offered in three levels of capacity: 100, 200 and 400GB models. These are scheduled to be made available in Q1 2011, but pricing has yet to be confirmed.

Toshiba has also announced two 3.5in 7,200rpm HDDs, with 24/7 functionality.

The MK2001TRKB will be available in a 6Gbit/s SAS model and the MK2002TSKB as a 3Gbit/sec Serial ATA (SATA) model. Toshiba will offer 1TB or 2TB storage capacities, and the units are scheduled to go into production early next year.

Toshiba will also be shipping self-encrypting hard drives that offer government-grade protection for businesses deploying laptops and PCs next year, as it aims to fulfill all enterprise storage requirements.