Toshiba Celebrates 25th Anniversary of NAND, Plans to Construct New NAND Plant in Japan

On the heels of the 25th anniversary of the invention of NAND flash memory, Reuters (News - Alert) is reporting that Toshiba is planning to build a new plant in Japan to construct NAND flash memory devices. The corporation has not commented on the report, but Reuters says that the plant will be operational in 2013 as part of a fifth NAND factory whose construction timetable has been buffeted by market conditions.

Developers are decreasing power consumption demands of NAND chips and making chips smaller so that the chips consistently have more applications in a variety of devices. According to Toshiba, NAND is currently shipping eight times more gigabytes than DRAM memory, allowing consumers to carry their videos, music, books and data with them wherever they go.

Toshiba (News - Alert) developed NAND flash memory in 1987. NAND does not require power to retain data, making it a non-volatile form of storage technology. NAND has the capacity to handle large files and is often used in applications that frequently upload and replace audio and video files. As smartphones become the primary media for viewing these large files, more and more smartphones have begun to use NAND technology.

“NAND flash has truly permeated our lives -- this technology has been a game changer, making the world a different place and making many of the products we use today possible,” noted Scott Nelson, vice president, Memory Business Unit, TAEC. “The cost/performance of NAND flash continues to stand the test of time. NAND flash is leading the way to thin and light hardware [and] has made the mobility of content possible.”

In addition to its mobile applications, NAND has also paved the way to greener data center storage. Flash-enabled servers can run up to 3,500 queries per second, theoretically cutting storage from 20 servers to 5 servers in a typical data center. Applications also show a 30 percent increase in average response time, which enhances engagement from end users.

“For years, as organizations have faced such significant challenges just keeping up with performance, they have adopted a mind-set of saving money,” says Gary Orenstein, VP of Products for Fusion-io (News - Alert). “Today, more and more companies are not only reclaiming budget, they are also looking at repurposing budgets to build new applications and serve new markets with flash-based solutions in ways previously not possible.”