How SSDs work
Following on from our post explaining how HDDs work, we
thought we’d follow it up with a piece on how SSDs – and all flash-based
storage media for that matter – works.
As we’ve stated previously, hard
drives store data by writing it onto a thin layer of magnetic material. The
data is translated into a series of ones and zeroes that is known as binary.
This is then translated back into the piece of data you stored whether an audio
file, word document or anything else when you open it. Flash-based media also
uses binary, but not magnets. As HDDs store a series of ones and zeroes by
magnetising or de-magnetising each small sector of a platter (a magnetised
sector represents a 1 and a non-magnetised sector a 0), this is a key
difference.
Rather than a platter, flash-based media instead uses cells
or transistors, each of which can be altered so that an electrical current can
or cannot flow through it. If a current can flow through a cell, this
represents a 1 whereas a 0 is read if it cannot flow through it. Like HDDs,
these 1s and 0s are used to reconstruct a stored file. Unlike HDDs, though,
they do not store the data in a linear fashion – each of the individual cells
that form a file can be found in any number of locations as opposed to next to
one another. As a flash-based drive’s cells can only be adjusted a limited
number of times before they cease to function, this is done to extend the
lifespan of SSDs and other flash-based storage.
Another key difference – and it’s one that has led to SSDs being
considered more reliable – is that flash media possesses no moving parts.
Whilst a HDD’s platters must be moved in order for the drive’s read head to
access the data stored on them, this is not the case with SSDs. This results in
significantly quicker loading times but the aforementioned perception of these
drives as more reliable is not entirely accurate. Flash-based media does not
suffer mechanical failure due to its lack of moving parts but it is also more
susceptible to data loss brought about by power surges which, ultimately,
offsets this benefit.
From a data recovery perspective, flash-based devices
initially required an almost bespoke approach for each individual recovery but
the increased proliferation of uniform technology and the endeavour of our
research and development team mean this is no longer the case.
Do you need an SSD Data Recovery Service?
Get in touch with Fields Data Recovery today.