Under the new RealSSD brand, Micron unveiled 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch solid-state drives for notebooks and desktops. The drives are offered with 32Gbytes and 64Gbytes of storage. Micron is sampling both devices, and plans to start mass production in the first quarter of next year.

In addition, Micron introduced SSDs for embedding in blade server systems and other industrial PC environments. The drives are used to boot operating systems faster, or as reserves for often-accessed files. Samples of those products are also available, with mass production set by the end of the year.

SSDs use solid-state memory to store persistent data. The drives emulate conventional hard-disk drives, and can replace the latter in any application. SSDs have no moving parts, making them quieter and faster than HDDs. SSDs are also less apt to fail and use less power.

SSDs, however, also have their limitations. HDDs are available with far more storage capacity, and they are also a lot cheaper.

Micron's SSDs for notebooks and desktops use a SATA II interface, which is also used by HDDs. The Micron products offer "native" support, which mean they don't require a SATA bridge chip like other products. The new drives use less than 2 watts of power while active, and have a lightweight plastic casing that's lighter than the casings used for similar density HDDs, the company said. Component weight is important in some devices, such as ultra-mobile PCs.