Solid state drives (SSDs) are memory storage devices without moving parts, using flash technology to erase and write data. SSDs are faster, more robust, and consume less energy than traditional hard drives. While more expensive, SSDs are ideal for portable devices and are predicted to replace platter drives in many applications by 2009. SSDs have a limited life based on erase cycles, but newer technologies extend their life by monitoring cell usage.
A solid state drive (SSD) is a memory storage device with no moving parts that can be used in place of a traditional hard drive. There are several advantages to a solid state drive and only one real disadvantage: cost. However, as costs continue to fall, experts predict solid-state drives will replace platter drives in many applications by 2009.
A solid state drive consists of memory chips and is both flash-based and non-volatile. Flash-based means that it uses flash technology to erase blocks of memory before writing to them. Therefore, solid state drives are also called flash drives. Non-volatile means that the disk requires no power to hold its contents. In other words, data is not lost when power is cut off.
There are many benefits to a solid state drive. It is much faster than a traditional hard disk, more robust, can withstand greater changes in temperature in the environment, does not overheat, is totally silent, is lighter and consumes very little energy. All of these features combine to make the solid state drive ideal for portable thumb drives or memory sticks, cell phones, PDAs, and other small devices.
As manufacturing costs go down, the solid state drive is set to become the drive of choice for laptops as well. Solid-state laptops would be faster and lighter, resulting in a significant increase in battery life. These larger solid-state drives are sometimes called NAND (Not And) drives, as opposed to the smaller NOR (Not Or) drives used in cell phones, PDAs, and other devices. NAND and NOR specify different architectures related to how disks erase, read, and write.
Solid state drives have a limited life based on erase cycles. Early devices had about a million erase cycles before failing. Some later technologies introduced built-in routines that extend life by monitoring cell usage to map data to less used cells. This allows the device to see a full life cycle by wearing it evenly. Otherwise, repeatedly writing data to the same cells can lead to premature failure.
While the solid state drive is more expensive than a traditional hard drive, it is also highly portable and much more flexible. Keydrives, digital cameras and camcorders, MP3 players, cell phones, PDAs and a host of other digital devices have revolutionized personal electronics with the help of the solid state drive.
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