If the CPU is compared to the brain, the hard disk is the place where energy is stored. Nowadays, with the advancement of flash memory technology and the reduction of production costs, the popularity of solid-state drives (SSDs) has greatly increased. Whether it is a game enthusiast, online live broadcast, or video, more and more people have a strong demand for high-performance, high-capacity solid state SSDs.
What is a solid state drive?
Several years ago, solid-state drives were still a high-end buzzword, with mechanical hard drives dominating the market. Mechanical hard drives store data on internal disks, with files scattered across the disk's various sectors and data read and written using a magnetic head. As a result, mechanical hard drives rely heavily on mechanical movement, resulting in poor shock resistance, high power consumption, and loud noise, and wearing down over time, leading to computer lag.
In comparison, solid state drives SSDs have numerous advantages. solid state SSDs use flash memory chips instead of physical rotation, resulting in no vibration or noise, and both reading and writing are implemented through pure electronic circuits, with almost no delay. Consequently, SSDs read and write data ten times faster than mechanical hard disk drives. For example, YANSEN Yuancun's M.2 2280 (NVME) YSEX PRO can reach a maximum continuous read speed of 3600MB/s, which is 20 times faster than normal mechanical hard drives.
Understanding the internal structure of solid state SSDs
The internal structure of a solid state drive SSD mainly consists of a controller and storage chips (flash chips and DRAM chips). The specific functions of the controller include:
Reasonable data allocation so that all flash particles can work properly under a certain load.
Acting as the entire data relay, connecting storage chips and external interfaces.
Responsible for completing various internal instructions of the solid state SSD, such as trim, CG recycling, and wear balancing.
Storage chips are the foundation of SSDs, and flash memory is a crucial factor in the lifespan of an SSD. The storage chip's storage unit classification includes SLC (single-layer storage unit), MLC (multi-layer storage unit), TLC (triple-layer storage unit), QLC (quadruple-layer storage unit), and the soon-to-be-commercialized PLC (penta-layer storage unit). Generally, an SLC can be read and written more than 100,000 times and is mainly used in industries with strict requirements for data security and stability, such as military, aerospace, and base station industries, to reduce maintenance costs. MLC can be read and written approximately 5,000 to 10,000 times and is mainly used in high-end devices and data acquisition equipment. TLC typically has a read and write frequency of about 3,000 times and is currently the mainstream product in the consumer market. QLC can be read and written about 1,000 times and is mainly used for servers that require more read operations, such as video servers.
