Foremay puts world's first SATA 2TB 2.5-inch SSDs on sale
updated 12:44 pm EST, Tue January 15, 2013
First high-capacity SSDs using SATA instead of PCIe
Manufacturer of industrial solid state drives Foremay has released what it claims to be the world's first two-terabyte (2TB) SSD drives with a standard 2.5-inch SATA connection. The two drives, the SC199 for industry and the TC166 for desktop computers, does away with the previous high-capacity SSD requirement of a PCI Express card-based interface, as seen in Super Talent drives in 2009.
Both drives measure 9.5mm (0.4 inches) thick and have flash management technologies such as SMART, advanced power management, and error checking algorithms. Optional features such as fast erasing, hardware-based encryption, conformal coating, and military secure erase methods. Though read and write speeds were not made available, others in the company's high-capacity 2.5-inch SSD range seem to have a maximum speed of 270MB per second, which could carry over to these newer drives.
The two drives appear to be only available to OEMs and companies requiring the drives for industrial equipment at present, though a consumer-grade version could still ship in the future. Pricing details have also not been released, though it is confirmed they are already in mass production.
Mac accessories dealer Other World Computing currently sells a 960GB SSD drive, approximately half the capacity of the Foremay models. The current price on the 960GB OWC drive is $1,120, suggesting that Foremay's drives may be out of range of most consumers when the pricetag is eventually revealed.
