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| Fast Purge
flash SSDs - when "Rugged SSDs" won't do the job |
The need for fast data
erase - in which vital parts of a flash SSD are destroyed in seconds - has
always been a requirement in military projects.
That's because if a
disk falls into enemy hands the data protection offered by encryption is not
safe enough. Encryption can be defeated by brute force methods and also by
master keys being stolen. These are unacceptable risks in war time - which is
why various methods of fast purge have been developed in the past decade -
including blowing critical datapaths using elevated currents (fuse sputtering
technology) and destroying parts of a chip using elevated voltage. This is done
by special destructive programming circuits which are designed into the SSD
silicon. The so-called "erase" which is intrinsic to flash write
operations is not a useful mechanism for this purpose because flash memory cells
have
remanence -
which means their previous contents can be read under certain test conditions.
Vendors
don't like to talk much about the implementation details for obvious reasons.
But the fast purge options offered typically fall into 2 categories:- fastest
operation, or lowest power.
Another fast erase / purge option available
to designers is the option to render the SSD unusable (destroying key operating
parts of the SSD) versus the option to reuse the SSD in another application.
Although
many SSD vendors are offering their products with extended rugged operating
environment capabilities - it's the availability of fast purge which
differentiates "true military" SSDs which can be deployed in
defense applications.
Many readers have asked for a separate directory of such products to
simplify their search process. Fast purge SSDs are the antithesis of ideal
consumer / enterprise SSDs - because they are designed to defeat
data recovery. The
problem for military SSD designers is that as recovery techniques get better and
raw computing power increases - the demands on the purge systems are increased.
The
history of this subject and state of the art can be gleaned from the various
articles linked to at the top of this page. |
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| There
are
hundreds
of articles about SSDs on StorageSearch.com |
Here, below, are some
examples.
- RAM Cache
Ratios in flash SSDs - it's important to know the underlying RAM cache
architecture - even if you're happy with the R/W and IOPS performance.
- 2010 - 1st Fizz
in the SSD Bubble? - even the dogs in the street know this is going to be a
multibillion dollar market. Greed will play as big a part as technology in
shaping the
SSD year ahead.
- the pros and cons of
using SSD ASAPs - auto tuning SSD appliances are a new category of SSD
which entered the market in the 2nd half of 2009 to accelerate servers without
needing human tune-ups. How can you tell if they are right for you? And how
well do they work?
- the Problem
with Write IOPS - in flash SSDs - long established as a useful performance
modeling metric - this article explains why some specs are exaggerated when
applied to flash SSDs - or predict the wrong results for many common
applications.
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Megabyte knew how to destroy data
fast
even with a flat battery. |
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