FORTASA BLOG

FAST SSD DATA ERASE | QUICK ERASE COMMAND

Oftentimes Industrial and Military equipment manufacturers are keenly focused on data protection and keeping stored information away from unauthorized users. They require a feature that can delete all the stored data on the SSD in the most quickest way. While conventional, off the shelf, HDDs only offer command set that is compliant with the ATA command standard, Industrial SSD have the flexibility to create any "vendor specific", unique command that can perform any custom task. 

There are multiple ways that this feature could be implemented.  One of the quickest SSD erase methods is by using a Quick Erase command. All physical memory blocks of the Flash Memory are categorized into either User Blocks, Spare Blocks or System Blocks. Most of the physical blocks are in the User Blocks category, where the host has read and write access and can store various types of files. Since it is extremely time-consuming to erase all the physical blocks, a Quick Erase function was developed for cases when there a quick drive erasure is required in a shortest amount of time. Fortasa Quick Erase command implementation overwrites the FAT table and the MBR (Master Boot Record). With the MBR and FAT table erased, the drive appears as uninitialized and mapping links between LBA and physical blocks are erased. In order to access the drive, full reinitialization and FAT table rebuild are necessary.

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Fake Industrial Grade Flash Storage Devices | SSDs, Flash Cards and Modules

Fake Industrial Grade Flash Storage  Devices - Beware of Impostors

On my many trips to different parts of Asia, I never failed to be accosted by strange salesmen trying to offer jeweled Swiss watches, name brand women's bags, designer perfumes and other luxury goods. These products look extremely genuine, high attention to detail, luxury boxes, glossy user manuals. Yet they are offered for a fraction of what the same item would cost in an American store. How is this done?

It is a common knowledge that Asia is full of brand name knock-offs, which are good looking copies of the expensive luxury goods built at a low quality Asian manufacturing facility using inferior component parts. So while the offered item might look and feel like a genuine part, it sure is NOT !

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Corruption Mechanism - Flash SSD Power Failure Corruption Prevention - Part 4

This is a continuation of the discussion of Flash SSD Power Failure Corruption Prevention, Recovery and Test 

Data Corruption Mechanism

During the typical drive operation, data is accessed by the host through either a read or write command to the memory system. The write command for Flash memory actually consists of two separate actions, an erase and subsequent program.

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Flash Controller Basics - Flash SSD Power Failure Corruption Prevention - Part 3

This is a continuation of the discussion of Flash SSD Power Failure Corruption Prevention, Recovery and Test 

Flash Controller Basics

To overcome the vulnerability of Flash memory to power glitches, memory system designers have utilized advanced memory management techniques. The most frequently used technique involves usage of Error Correction Code (ECC) to detect the failure and correct the data. The ECC algorithm calculates special code based on the user data and programs this code in the overhead space for each programmed page. When the data is read, the ECC algorithm verifies it against the calculated value. In case of discrepancy, the ECC algorithm can correct the read data (within certain statistical limitation) based on the stored special code. Depending on product specification, Fortasa Memory Systems solutions offer ECC correction capability substantially greater than is recommended by the Flash memory suppliers. This “safety measure” can correct upto 99% of data corruptions in a typical application.

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