Solid State Disks FLOPPYFlash floppy drive emulator

Solid State Disks’ FLOPPYFlash floppy drive emulator provides a solid-state replacement for obsolete, electromechanical floppy disk drives in legacy computer-based systems and equipment as a direct drop-in replacement. The product uses removable standard industrial CompactFlash solid-state card technology to replace the floppy disk media.

The product’s configurable firmware is field upgradeable via an integral USB port. It facilitates a match to any host computer system or equipment, eliminating the need for any host hardware or software changes. TCP/IP networking via RJ45 Ethernet connection is also supported, allowing the product to be connected to any existing local area network for remote configuration, control, diagnostics, backup and restore.

With a 3.5″ footprint and a 34-pin floppy disk drive connection, the product can be used to replace obsolete 3.5″ and any larger 5.25″ and 8″ floppy disk drives using a suitable adaptor. It also supports 26-pin/34-pin slim and Shugart floppy connections.

The product requires a 5 V 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 and 500 Kbps, 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 also delivers good media life, improved environmental efficiency with lower power consumption, noise and heat generation, and a reduction in unplanned downtime.