SanDisk reveals the world’s thinnest 1TB SSD

SanDisk today announced at CES the availability of the new SanDisk X400 SSD, what it is calling the world’s thinnest 1TB M.2 form factor solid state drive (SSD).

“It is the first single-sided 1TB SATA M.2 form factor with a mere 1.5mm height,” the company said in a statement.

SanDisk

The previous M.2 form factor SSD from SanDisk — the X300 — was 2.23mm thick.

The X400 SSD has sequential read/write speeds of up to 545MB/s and 520MB/s, respectively. It has random read/write speeds of up to 95,000 I/Os per second (IOPS) and 75,000 IOPS, respectively.

The SSD can also endure up to 320TB worth of writes over its lifetime, SanDisk said in its specification sheet.

The X400 uses 2.5 watts of power during reads and 3.9 watts during writes.

The new SSD is based on SanDisk’s sixth generation X3 Technology, a 3D flash memory that stores three bits per cell (triple level cell, or TLC) for greater density.

Like the previous X300 SSD, the new X400 SSD uses the company’s nCache 2.0 technology, which generates higher performance through the use of single level cell (SLC) flash cache and host write analysis algorithms.

Along with a 1TB M.2 version, the new X400 SSD comes in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacities. It also available in 2.5-in (laptop drive) form factor.

SanDisk

Because the SSD is being targeted for use by computer manufacturers and other product suppliers, SanDisk did not release pricing on the X400.

The X400 SSD offers data protection through AES 256-bit compliant encryption and TCG Opal 2.0 compatibility, and is targeted at users in the healthcare, financial services and education sectors who need to comply with industry regulations.

In testing, a 256GB X400 SSD was rated to operate for more than five years with a workload of approximately 40GB per day.

“This performance makes the X400 SSD an optimal solution for enterprise or other [product manufacturer] customers who need a highly reliable solution for systems that are broadly deployed in the field, such as digital signage, networking gear, point of sale (POS), and commercial PCs,” SanDisk said.