sTec, Inc., a leading global provider of solid-state storage solutions, today announced it has expanded its s800 family of Serial Attached Storage (SAS) solid-state drives (SSDs) with the introduction of the industry's first generally available Micro SAS SSDs. Additionally, sTec announced that the new small-form-factor (1.8-inch) Micro SAS SSDs are available with stringent 256-bit AES-XTS encryption, enabling hardware-level security in cloud computing, data centers and web-based applications, as well as in government and defense environments where data protection is crucial. The new sTec Micro SAS drives are available directly from sTec and through its distribution channel.

Uniquely designed for blade servers, caching and high-density computing environments, the new Micro SAS drives provide storage-system developers with the smallest enterprise-class SAS SSD form factor yet. They meet the demanding performance, footprint and power requirements of today's enterprise-storage applications."Our new Micro SAS SSDs are ideal for applications that demand a smaller footprint and power usage," said Zack Mihalis, vice president product marketing and management, sTec. "And through the 256-bit encryption option, our SAS drives can provide the performance, endurance and reliability of sTec solid-state storage with significant data protection, helping counter the vulnerability of the rapidly growing amount of data in cloud, data center and web-based applications."

In addition to their corporate enterprise system applications, the new Micro SAS SSDs and encryption address the rigorous demands of the federal sector. Government agencies face increasingly tighter requirements on computing and storage systems' size and energy usage - concerns addressed by the Micro SAS drives' small form factor and power draw that's 20 percent less than standard 2.5-inch SAS SSDs. Additionally, mobile/remote defense computing and storage systems call for high levels of encryption in the field, so that data is inaccessible should equipment fall into the wrong hands.

"Size, weight, and power have always been important at the tactical level, as has environmental resiliency," said Mike Schneider, vice president of federal programs and business development at Themis Computer, a supplier of high-performance board- and system-level products for mission-critical commercial and military applications. "With the dramatic cost decreases for high-endurance, flash-based storage, and the availability of critical data-protection features like encryption and the ability to thoroughly purge a drive's data, IT support for on-the-move operations is now feasible and affordable."

The new sTec Micro SAS drives are available in 200 GB and 400 GB capacities. Contact sTec for volume pricing. The AES-XTS encryption is also available on sTec s800 2.5-inch SAS drives, with capacities up to two terabytes.