Delkin Blog

The invention of SSDs, or solid state drives, was a turning point in the embedded storage industry. SSDs quickly became the preferred storage format for engineers and designers, replacing the previously popular hard disk drive (HDD) format. The benefits of SSDs make them clearly superior to HDDs in many circumstances, for consumer, commercial, and industrial devices alike. SSDs offer greater speeds, increased reliability, and improved data security, to name just a few of the advantages.

There is one catch with SSDS, however: their size. Devices have become smaller than ever, and there is a constant push to continue to make them even smaller. Standard SSDs are simply too large to fit many applications. This is where M.2 SSD types enter the picture. M.2 SSDs are smaller than standard drives, allowing designers to get the best of all worlds. Thanks to M.2 SSDs, designers don’t have to make hard decisions between power, performance, and device size. Could M.2 SSD types be the right fit for your application? Here are the facts you need to know.

M.2 SSD Types 101

M.2, which is pronounced m-dot-2, is another name for the Next Generation Form Factor, or NGFF. M.2 drives work with the SATA 3 interface and are available in multiple different sizes. Because of their small, thin design, you will typically find them in small devices, like tablet computers.

M.2 SSDs satisfy similar needs as mSATA drives, and many designers consider both when creating their applications. However, M.2 SSD types offer more flexibility, since they support SATA 3, PCIe 3.0, NVMe, and USB 3.0 interfaces, while mSATA only works with SATA.

Types of M.2 SSDs

There are two different M.2 SSD physical form factors available from Delkin. One is M.2 2280 and the other is M.2 2242. With all M.2 SSDs, you can tell the size of the drive by the name. The first two numbers refer to the width of the drive and the last two refer to the length, with both measurements in millimeters. For example, M.2 2280 is 22mm wide and 80mm long. Typically, the longer the drive, the greater the storage capacity. Delkin’s M.2 SSDs are designed to optimize flash endurance and data retention.

Delkin’s industrial grade M.2 SSDs are Utility+ designs with industrial 3D flash memory. This design allows the SSD to offer high storage capacities in a very tight design. For Delkin M.2 2242 SSDs designed for use with the SATA interface, storage capacities range from 32GB to 512GB. Delkin M.2 2280 SSDs for use with SATA and for use with PCIe offer capacities from 128GB to 1TB. All Delkin M.2 SSDs come with a controlled BOM and lifecycle management, as you would expect from any rugged industrial storage product.

Choose Your Type of M.2 SSD

Finding the right embedded storage for your industrial device is challenging, but the customer applications team at Delkin is here to help at every step. If you’re considering M.2 SSDs as embedded storage, contact us today to discuss your device design and usage plan, and we’ll assist you in choosing the right drive and capacity for your needs.

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