For some time, Samsung and Microsoft have been working on a new type of HDD. But it seems that this dream will be presented at WinHEC 2006.

A working version of the HDD will be presented this year at WinHEC. The HDD combines flash NAND memory with the traditional platters. This way you can store the data that are frequently accessed on the flash memory (which is a non volatile one) and the rest on the platters.

The hybrid will have this way a bigger buffer, up to a few GB, buffer that will be able to keep the data even inf the HDD is stopped. Imagine if you would have the operating system on the NAND memory.

It seems that the ReadyDrive technology from Microsoft will be implemented into the HDD since the HDD will be presented at about the same time as Vista should. This will allow Vista to work more efficiently with the HDD.

Last April, in April 25, Samsung announced that they managed to implement their OneNAND flash memory into the HDD.

“Hybrid drive architecture is extremely important to the future design of mobile computers. It is an advancement that will improve the performance and reliability of any computer using the Windows “Longhorn” operating system. We are delighted with the performance in our initial testing of the Samsung hybrid hard drive prototype,” said Tom Phillips , General Manager of Windows Hardware Experience Group for Microsoft. “This is another example of where Microsoft is working with the industry to dramatically improve the overall Windows computing experience for our customers.”

The hybrid hard drive prototype uses 1 Gigabit OneNAND Flash as both the write buffer and boot buffer. In the hybrid write mode, the mechanical drive is spun down for the majority of the time, while data is written to the Flash write buffer. When the write buffer is filled, the rotating drive spins and the data from the write buffer is written to the hard drive.

While the cost of hybrid disk drives may slightly increase with the addition of OneNAND, any increase will be mitigated by several factors, including lower maintenance costs, 95 percent power savings when the disk is not spinning, faster boot time and substantially increased reliability. All of these changes are crucial to the ever increasing needs of today’s mobile customer, making it likely that hybrid hard drive technology will enjoy rapid market adoption.

Sounds good. All we can is to wait for Samsung and Microsoft to present their project.