Samsung Introduces NAND Flash Hybrid Hard Disk

It seems NAND flash memory is the new darling of the major storage companies. From memory cards to HDDs everyone seems to be jumping onto the NAND flash bandwagon. So it comes as no surprise when Samung unveiled what it claims to be the first commercial prototype of a hybrid hard disk, or HHD, a drive for notebooks and desktops that integrates NAND Flash memory with traditional rotating magnetic storage. The HHD will initially be available with two cache densities: 128MB and 256MB. The high densities of magnetic storage technology are preserved, but augmented by the low power, high reliability and fast read/write access of advanced NAND Flash technology. Samsung has claimed that the system boots or resumes twice as fast as with conventional hard disk drives, lasts 20 to 30 minutes longer when running on battery power and is up to five times more reliable. This is because the HHD eliminates the need for the hard disk to spin constantly whenever a computer is operating on frequently accessed data and is less susceptible to damage from jarring or being dropped since it is idle more often.