The first SSDs were introduced to the market in the 1990s, but their widespread adoption among ordinary users only began in the first decade of the 21st century. Thanks to advancements in NAND flash memory technology and improvements in manufacturing processes, SSDs have become an attractive alternative to traditional hard drives (HDD) in a range of applications, particularly for laptops and home computers.
SSDs store data in NAND flash memory chips, whose basic units are memory cells. However, memory cells are not used individually. They are grouped into pages. A page is the smallest unit to which data is written and read. Due to the data erasure technology, individual pages cannot be erased/reset. Data erasure can be performed at the block level, which are formed by a certain number of pages. Blocks further form planes and planes are arranged in dies. This is a simplified expression of the NAND chip structure.
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Advanced SSD features such as Remapping, Overprovisioning, Wear Leveling, Garbage Collection, Trimming, ECC, Bad Block Management, S.M.A.R.T. and DevSleep optimize device performance and lifespan.
Remapping: If an error occurs during writing or reading, the SSD automatically moves the data to another block and marks the faulty block as unreliable.
Overprovisioning: The SSD contains more NAND flash memory than is stated in its capacity. This excess memory is used to optimize performance and extend device life.
Wear Leveling: This feature distributes data writing and erasing evenly across the entire disk, reducing wear on individual blocks and extending the SSD's life.
Garbage Collection: This process is responsible for freeing blocks that no longer contain valid data. Garbage collection runs in the background and ensures that the SSD has enough free blocks for new data writes.
Trimming: This function informs the SSD which blocks contain deleted data and can be erased. This improves SSD performance and lifespan.
Error Correction Code (ECC): ECC is a method for detecting and correcting errors that may occur during data writing, reading, or storage. ECC helps maintain overall data integrity and reliability on the SSD.
Bad Block Management: Faulty blocks may appear during the SSD's lifespan. Bad block management identifies these blocks and moves valid data to other blocks, while faulty blocks are marked and removed from use.
S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology): This technology allows monitoring and analyzing the SSD's status, helping to predict potential problems and failures. S.M.A.R.T. provides users with information on disk health and lifespan.
Cache: Some SSDs use cache memory to speed up data writing and reading. Cache can be implemented using faster memory types, such as DRAM.
DevSleep: This mode allows the SSD to enter a low power consumption state when not actively in use, extending the laptop battery life.
Modern SSDs have moved away from the SATA interface and communicate using NVMe or AHCI protocols, which enable much higher speeds compared to older SATA.
SSD and data recovery
Data recovery from SSDs can be complex and often unrealizable without specialized hardware and software. Data recovery from SSDs is covered in a separate section of our website, where you will find all the necessary information. If you need to recover data from an SSD urgently, do not hesitate to contact us.
