September 1, 2016. Solid State Disks Ltd, the advanced storage systems design, development and integration specialist, has launched FLOPPYFlash, a floppy drive emulator providing a solid state replacement for obsolete, electro-mechanical floppy disk drives in legacy industrial process control systems and equipment as a direct, drop-in replacement. FLOPPYFlash uses removable standard industrial CompactFlash solid state card technology to replace the floppy disk media.
Offering a field replacement, FLOPPYFlash’s configurable firmware, which is field upgradeable via an integral USB port, facilitates a match to any host computer system or equipment, eliminating the need for any host hardware or software changes. TCP/IP networking via standard RJ45 Ethernet connection is also supported, allowing FLOPPYFlash to be connected to any existing local area network for remote configuration, control, diagnostics, backup and restore.
With a small 3.5-inch footprint and using a standard 34 pin floppy disk drive connection, FLOPPYFlash can be used to replace obsolete 3.5-inch and any larger 5.25-inch and 8-inch floppy disk drives using a suitable adaptor. It also supports 26 pin / 34 pin slim & Shugart floppy connections.
FLOPPYFlash requires a 5V power supply and will also fit into a standard floppy disk drive slot using the same fixings. Data transfer rates can be set between 125 Kb/s and 500 Kb/s depending on whether the matching encoding method is FM, MFM or MMFM. Similarly, the emulated track configuration is programmable. The use of solid state technology is designed to deliver increased reliability (MTBF) and media life, improved environmental efficiency with lower power consumption, noise and heat generation, and a reduction in unplanned downtime.
