Editing Flash memory (section)

===Flash memory as a replacement for hard drives===
{{Main|Solid-state drive}}
[[File:Intel 525 mSATA SSD.jpg|thumb|An Intel mSATA SSD in 2020]]
One more recent application for flash memory is as a replacement for [[hard disk]]s. Flash memory does not have the mechanical limitations and latencies of hard drives, so a [[solid-state drive]] (SSD) is attractive in terms of speed, noise, power consumption, and reliability. Flash drives are gaining traction as mobile device secondary storage devices; they are also used as substitutes for hard drives in high-performance desktop computers and some servers with [[RAID]] and [[Storage area network|SAN]] architectures.

There remain some aspects of flash-based SSDs that make them unattractive. The cost per gigabyte of flash memory remains significantly higher than that of hard disks.<ref name="elitepcbuilding-20110317">{{Cite web |date=17 March 2011 |title=SSD vs. HDD |url=http://elitepcbuilding.com/ssd-vs-hdd |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820095531/http://elitepcbuilding.com/ssd-vs-hdd |archive-date=20 August 2011 |access-date=11 July 2011 |website=elitepcbuilding.com |author=((Lyth0s)) }}</ref> Also, flash memory has a finite number of P/E (''program/erase'') cycles, but this seems to be currently under control since warranties on flash-based SSDs are approaching those of current hard drives.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.storagesearch.com/bitmicro-art1.html |title=Flash Solid State Disks – Inferior Technology or Closet Superstar? |publisher=STORAGEsearch |access-date=30 November 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224215032/http://www.storagesearch.com/bitmicro-art1.html |archive-date=24 December 2008}}</ref> In addition, deleted files on SSDs can remain for an indefinite period of time before being overwritten by fresh data; erasure or shred techniques or software that work well on magnetic hard disk drives have no effect on SSDs, compromising security and forensic examination. However, due to the so-called ''[[Trim (computing)#SD/MMC|TRIM]]'' command employed by most solid state drives, which marks the logical block addresses occupied by the deleted file as unused to enable [[garbage collection (computing)|garbage collection]], data recovery software is not able to restore files deleted from such.

For relational databases or other systems that require [[ACID]] transactions, even a modest amount of flash storage can offer vast speedups over arrays of disk drives.<ref name="ssd-strat-mysql">{{Cite web |last=Matsunobu |first=Yoshinori |date=15 April 2010 |title=SSD Deployment Strategies for MySQL |url=http://www.slideshare.net/matsunobu/ssd-deployment-strategies-for-mysql |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224013/http://www.slideshare.net/matsunobu/ssd-deployment-strategies-for-mysql |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}</ref>

In May 2006, [[Samsung Electronics]] announced two flash-memory based PCs, the Q1-SSD and Q30-SSD were expected to become available in June 2006, both of which used 32&nbsp;GB SSDs, and were at least initially available only in [[South Korea]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.samsung.com/he/presscenter/pressrelease/pressrelease_20060524_0000257996.asp |title=Samsung Electronics Launches the World's First PCs with NAND Flash-based Solid State Disk |work=Press Release |publisher=Samsung |date=24 May 2006 |access-date=30 November 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220094813/http://www.samsung.com/he/presscenter/pressrelease/pressrelease_20060524_0000257996.asp |archive-date=20 December 2008}}</ref> The Q1-SSD and Q30-SSD launch was delayed and finally was shipped in late August 2006.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://news.softpedia.com/news/Samsung-s-SSD-Notebook-33475.shtml| title=Samsung's SSD Notebook| date=22 August 2006| access-date=15 October 2018| archive-date=15 October 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015192607/https://news.softpedia.com/news/Samsung-s-SSD-Notebook-33475.shtml| url-status=dead}}</ref>

The first flash-memory based PC to become available was the Sony Vaio UX90, announced for pre-order on 27 June 2006 and began to be shipped in Japan on 3 July 2006 with a 16&nbsp;GB flash memory hard drive.<ref name="sony-20060627">{{Cite press release |date=27 June 2006 |title=文庫本サイズの「VAIO type U」 フラッシュメモリー搭載モデル発売 |trans-title=Release of the "VAIO type U" paperback-sized model with flash memory |url=https://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200606/06-0627/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510003927/https://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200606/06-0627/ |archive-date=10 May 2023 |publisher=[[Sony]] |language=ja }}</ref> In late September 2006 Sony upgraded the flash-memory in the Vaio UX90 to 32&nbsp;GB.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://nbnews.info/en/news/397 | title=Sony Vaio UX UMPC – now with 32 GB Flash memory &#124; NBnews.info. Laptop and notebook news, reviews, test, specs, price &#124; Каталог ноутбуков, ультрабуков и планшетов, новости, обзоры | access-date=7 November 2018 | archive-date=28 June 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628004451/https://nbnews.info/en/news/397 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

A solid-state drive was offered as an option with the first [[MacBook Air]] introduced in 2008, and from 2010 onwards, all models were shipped with an SSD. Starting in late 2011, as part of [[Intel]]'s [[Ultrabook]] initiative, an increasing number of ultra-thin laptops are being shipped with SSDs standard.

There are also hybrid techniques such as [[hybrid drive]] and [[ReadyBoost]] that attempt to combine the advantages of both technologies, using flash as a high-speed non-volatile [[cache (computing)|cache]] for files on the disk that are often referenced, but rarely modified, such as application and operating system [[executable]] files.

On [[smartphone]]s, the NAND flash products are used as file storage device, for example, [[eMMC]] and [[eUFS]].