Solid State Storage
Computer Science: Edexcel IGCSE, topic 4.2.11
How Solid State Storage Works
Solid state storage is an increasingly popular alternative to other storage media. It is often also referred to as flash storage or flash memory.
Storing a bit
- Solid state drives are made of flash memory.
- Flash memory stores the value of each bit in a semi-conductor chip.
Accessing data
- Data can be accessed randomly. This means that any piece of data can be accessed in a constant amount of time.
- This is achievable because there are no moving parts.
Reliability
- Solid state drives (SSDs) are robust. They have no moving parts, so they are not easily damaged by shocks.
- SSDs have a limited number of read/write cycles. After a certain number of re-writes they will stop working.