Intel Revealing mSATA SSD for Ultrabook and Embedded Applications

Intel Corporation announced the Intel SSD 525 Series in a small mSATA form factor with 6Gb/s performance.

It gives OEM customers, channel and tech enthusiasts a portable, low-power storage solution in one-eighth the space of a traditional 2.5-inch HDD to drive ultrabook, tablet and embedded applications.

The Intel SSD 525 is the latest entry to the Intel 500 Series SSD family aimed at performance solutions. Measuring 3.7mm x 50.8mm x 29.85mm and weighing 10 grams, the mSATA with PCIe mini-connector delivers the performance of the SSD 520 Series client drive. This makes it suitable for all-in-one desktops, notebooks, ultrabooks and workstation upgrades, as well as automotive, digital signage, embedded video and retail solutions.

With random read performance of up to 50,000 IOPS and sequential read performance up to 550MB/s, systems using the Intel SSD 525 Series will receive a performance boost for the most demanding applications and intense multi-tasking needs. This is coupled with random write performance of up to 80,000 IOPS and sequential writes of 520 MB/s to deliver a top-performing mSATA SSD.

"The Intel SSD 525 Series is Intel’s latest 6Gb/s mSATA product, which brings high performance to an ultra-portable form factor targeted for ultrabooks and a myriad of embedded solutions," said James Slattery, product line manager for Intel Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group Client SSDs. "Intel SSDs reduce the risk of data loss due to shock, vibration or jarring. With these new performance thresholds available in a small form factor package, and backed by Intel quality and reliability, the Intel SSD 525 opens the door to an unlimited number of creative embedded solutions such as in-flight entertainment, mobile workstations, microservers and IP phone storage."

The Intel SSD 525 Series will be available in 30GB, 60GB, 90GB, 120GB, 180GB and 240GB capacities. The company has begun shipping the 120GB and 180GB options, with additional capacities and volume shipments to follow this quarter.

The series features Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption capabilities for data protection should a device be stolen or lost. It uses Intel 25-nm MLC NAND flash memory and is backed by a 5-year limited warranty.

Also available is the Intel SSD Toolbox with Intel SSD Optimizer, a free utility that provides Windows users with a set of management, information and diagnostic tools to help maintain the health and out-of-box performance of the drive. Available in 11 languages, it is also Windows 8-compatible. To help ease the installation process, all Intel SSD users can download the free Intel Data Migration Software to help clone the entire content of a previous storage drive (SSD or HDD) to any Intel SSD.