JEDEC, the association that sets standard for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and some other integrated circuits, has announced that it would work to standardize solid state drives (SSDs) as well. The move outlines importance of SSDs going forward and will allow the market of flash-based storage solutions to evolve quicker.

“JEDEC has initiated standardization for the solid state drive (SSD) segment of the computer industry. This nascent market is poised for explosive growth as the price gap between rotating media hard disks and non-volatile alternatives such as flash drives decreases,” a statement by JEDEC reads.

Since solid state drives use only chips and no moving mechanisms, flash-based SSDs are considerably faster and more reliable compared to traditional hard disk drives that use rotating media, moving heads and so on. Unfortunately, nowadays solid state drives are tangibly more expensive in terms of cost per gigabyte compared to HDDs.

The JEDEC effort will focus on broad based standardization of interfaces between the host system and the SSD, something which will ease development and manufacturing of solid state drives going forward. Realizing that there are a number of companies considering a variety of SSD technologies, JEDEC said it encourages them to contact the JEDEC office to coordinate efforts and accelerate user adoption of the technology.

It is interesting to note that from now on the organization calls itself JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, whereas earlier it was known as the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council.