Table of contents
SSD (Solid-State Drive) is a non-volatile storage device that uses flash memory to store data. They do not have spinning disks or movable read-and-write heads like traditional HDDs (hard disk drives). Because of that, they consume less energy to operate and generate less heat. Additionally, SSDs run silently and are shock-resistant.
SSD is the most popular storage device today. You can find it in computers, laptops, servers, NAS (Network-Attached Storage), and other devices. Solid-state drives are 15-20 times faster than hard disk drives.
Title: Main components of an HDD and SSD
Evolution of SSDs
The origins of SSDs date back to the 1950s. In 1991, SanDisk implemented the first solid-state drive in an IBM computer. The first SSD had a capacity of 20 MB. Since their introduction, SSDs have become increasingly popular. Today you can purchase consumer SSD with a capacity of 8TB and the largest enterprise edition SSD is 100TB.
Lifespan of solid-state drive
Solid-state drive has a limited lifetime number of writes. Lifespan depends on the frequency of data writing. On average, an SSD can last up to 8 years. You can check the solid-state drive lifecycle and health state by using the application provided by the SSD manufacturer (if the manufacturer doesn’t have one, try third-party applications). For example, you can use Samsung Magician Software to check the health state of the SSD. As shown below, you can see how much data you have written on a solid-state drive. In addition, to that, you can also have a look at the transfer rates.
Title: Samsung Magician showing the SSD status
Solid-state drive types
Solid-state drives can come in two different types: internal and external. Connecting an external SSD is very easy, just through USB, but internal drives have multiple interfaces and need to be connected directly to the motherboard.
SATA SSD
If you are running an older computer or laptop, or other devices, you can connect an SSD drive to a SATA interface located on the motherboard. The SATA interfaces are also used for connecting SATA HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) and SATA CD/DVD Drives. There are three versions available: SATA I, SATA II, and SATA III.
They support different speeds/transfer rates. The first generation supports 1.5 Gb/s transfer rates, the second generation supports 3 Gb/s, and the latest one supports 6 Gb/s transfer. SATA drive has two SATA connectors. One is used for communication with the motherboard and data transfer, and another is for power supply. For example, you could go with Samsung 870 EVO, a SATA SSD that supports up to 2 TB of drive space.
Title: (Left) The backside and SATA connectors of SSD Samsung 870 EVO and SATA cables (Right)
PCIe M2 SSD
As SATA was limited to 6 Gb/s transfers, the drive manufacturer decided to create an SSD that could connect to and use PCIe speeds. In fact, PCIe interface provides minimal latency, high bandwidth, and high performance. The interface is optimized for NAND flash and next-generation SSDs and can deliver four times the performance of SATA 6 Gb/s. This sounds impressive, isn’t it? There are different form factors of PCIe drives such as M.2 NVMe, M.2 SATA, mSATA, and others.
Title: Samsung 980 PRO NVMe SSD 1 TB
PCI SSD
If you would like to replace your existing HDD or SATA SSD with a new SSD M.2 drive, your motherboard must support the PCIe M.2 interface. If it doesn’t, you can purchase NVME SSD to PCIe 4.0 Adapter Card you install in the PCIe port. With this card, you can add an NVME SSD to your motherboard without M.2 slot. In most cases, it is plug and play PCIe adapter card.
Title: NVME SSD to PCIe 4.0 Adapter Card
SSD market share statistics
There are different factors you need to consider when purchasing an solid-state drive. If you are interested in knowing, we have created a separate article about which SSD is the most reliable. All in all, these are the capacity, read and write speed, performance, and vendor support. And the purpose is also an important metric. For instance, if you are looking for solid-state drive for gaming, you need to buy a more powerful SSD. There are different vendors that make SSDs including. In summary, according to the market share from Q2 2021: „Samsung currently has a 24.4 percent market share in SSDs. Western Digital is second with 18.8% and Kioxia is third with 12.6%. In terms of storage capacity, Samsung leads with 34.9%, followed by Western Digital (16.6%), Intel (10.3%), and Kioxia (9.1 percent ). Seagate only excelled in overall unit sales (0.3%) and storage capacity (0.1%). (0.7 percent).“
Title: Total SSD Market share
What to do if you can’t access SSD?
This could happen to anyone. You or someone else might accidentally delete data from your solid-state drive. Or it could happen that your solid-state drive is not operational anymore, and you can’t access your private or business data. As the recovery procedure is very much complicated due to the fact that you might experience hardware (controller chip failure, electronic component failure, etc.) and logical problems (accidental deletion of data, firmware corruption, software errors, etc). Our team can support you in regards to recovering lost data from health or failed solid-state drives. We are looking forward to addressing all of your SSD data recovery services-related queries. You can request a free diagnostic and evaluation.