What is SSD? Solid-State Drive

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.

Components of an HDD and SSD

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.

Magician showing the SSD status

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.

SATA connectors of SSD

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.

980 PRO NVMe SSD 1 TB

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.

NVME SSD to PCIe 4.0 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).

Total SSD Market share

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.

Jasmin Kahriman
About author:

IT professional with more than ten years of experience and 20 technical certifications. He has provided over 50 training courses, developed over 10 training programs, and authored four books. With his extensive knowledge and dedication to sharing it with others, Jasmin is a highly respected figure in the tech industry.

David Green
About reviewer:

Engineer with a passion for solving complex problems and keeping up with the latest technology trends. With years of experience in the industry, he has become an expert in data recovery, using state-of-the-art tools and techniques to recover data from damaged or corrupted devices.