Rugged Cartridges for SATA SSDs With 100,000 Insertion Cycle Connector

Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions, a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls, has introduced a family of rugged housing units that ease the deployment of removable industry-standard high-density SATA SSDs into embedded systems for defense and aerospace applications.

Each Vortex Removable Memory Cartridge (RMC) holds a single industry-standard 2.5″ SATA drive and features a non-proprietary, long lifecycle 100,000 insertion cycle connector. It provides system designers with an open-standard, flexible approach to add secure removable high-density storage to their deployed compute platforms. Because Vortex RMCs are designed for use with standard SATA SSDs, they ease technology refresh and reduce the risk of obsolescence.

The Vortex RMC is available un-populated, already integrated with a SATA drive specified from Curtiss-Wright’s selection of ‘best-in-class’ offerings, or Curtiss-Wright can consult with the system designer to identify the specific SATA drive available in the market that meets their mix of density/encryption/sanitation/performance requirements. RMCs are also offered in integrated Curtiss-Wright data transport subsystems such as the Vortex Data Transport System (DTS) and VRD1 Video Management System.

“Our rugged RMC deliver a new level of flexibility to system designers seeking a solution for removable, rugged storage,” said Lynn Bamford, SVP and GM, Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions. “RMCs enable the use of standard SATA SSDs in the harshest and most demanding military environments, while enabling many years of safe removal.”

Available in memory densities up to 1TB (2TB density models are scheduled to be available in 2014), RMCs enable the system designer to select the drive type that best suits their lab development or rugged deployed requirements, including SLC NAND flash, eMLC NAND flash or MLC NAND flash SSDs. To ease removal of the compact, shirt-pocket sized RMCs during missions, the company provides the units with a handle specially designed for use with gloved hands (i.e, Nomex flight gloves). A dedicated SATA-to-USB download station, planned for 2014, will further speed and ease data transfer.