If uncharged for a year, will SSD lose data?

Source:   Editor: ANDY PATRIZIO Update Time :2019-10-10

If uncharged for a year, will SSD lose data?

Many readers believe that if you want to store data for a long period of time, mechanical hard disk is more secure than SSD. This is because mechanical hard disk use magnetic disk to store data, the data can be stored for more than 10 years after power supply, while the SSD uses floating gate transistors and internal electrons to save data. Assuming that the solid-state hard disk is not powered for a long time, the internal data may be completely lost due to the attenuation of electrons in the floating gate, and it cannot be recovered, is that right?

SSDs will not lose data when run out of power.

The SSD uses NAND Flash as the storage medium, this can prevent SSD from losing data when it is not powered for a long time. Therefore, even if the SSD is not powered for a long time, data loss will not occur.

Is it safe to store our data in SSD?

With the decreasing cost of flash memory, the application of SSD is more and more extensive, and its speed is quite different from that of the mechanical hard disk. But is it really safe to store our data in it? Is  it as tough as the mechanical hard disk?


SSD life calculation formula

We know that the lifetime of NAND Flash units is determined by the number of erasing (P/E). Most of the current SSDs are composed of TLC particles. The general TLC has about 1000 erase and write lives, but not the one here. This SSD is scrapped after writes 1000 times. Its lifetime is related to many factors such as main control, capacity, OP space, etc.. According to many actual tests, the actual loading and writing amount of SSD is much larger than the nominal writing amount. So it is safe for us to store data in the SSD, you can rest assured.

Will loss of data occur?

NAND stores data by blocking electrons in Gate. When the temperature gets higher, the electrons become more active, which in turn causes electrons to be lost and causes data loss.


Electron and temperature diagram

The Solid-State Technology Association (JEDEC) has already made relevant regulations. It is no problem to store data in consumer SSDs for one year without power saving at 30 °C, but if the temperature is too high, the risk of losing data will increase dramatically.

Conclusion

When the SSD is used as a storage device, we don't need to worry about the service life. You only need to use it properly. Although it has many data protection mechanisms, I don't recommend long-term power-down placement. After all, SSD is bought for use.

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