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Flash Destroyer Tests Limit of Solid State Storage

Posted by timothy on from the step-right-up-place-your-bets dept.

An anonymous reader writes "We all know that flash and other types of solid state storage can only endure a limited number of write cycles. The open source Flash Destroyer prototype explores that limit by writing and verifying a solid state storage chip until it dies. The total write-verify cycle count is shown on a display — watch a live video feed and guess when the first chip will die. This project was inspired by the inevitable comments about flash longevity on every Slashdot SSD story. Design files and source are available at Google Code."

6 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting! by exasperation · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It'll be nice to get some third-party data on exactly how long these things last on average.

    1. Re:Interesting! by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I would like to see a comparison with a mechanical drive doing the same thing in parallel.

      While the Solid Sate has a theoretical Limited number of writes vs. the mechanical drive, it would be interesting to see what real world has to offer.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:Interesting! by TeknoHog · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm just curious, why use sic in your own posts? Wouldn't you just correct whatever you are sic-ing?

      IMHO, this kind of use of [sic] is perfectly valid. It means "this is not a typo, it's really how it is spelled" (literally "thus"). In this case it refers to an unusual word that may look like a misspelling of a more common word. However, it can also refer to a genuine misspelling, when you are referring to what somebody else wrote.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    3. Re:Interesting! by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And honestly it's a pretty valid argument. This is definitely going to be informative, but I'm just as interested in how a particular SSD handles the flash blocks failing as when they fail. A SSD with flash that averages 1,000,000 writes before blocks start to fail but does it gracefully with little/no data loss could be better than one that averages 2,000,000 but goes out in a blaze of glory as soon as the first block fails.

      Flash fails on write - if the write succeeds, you will be able to read it baring catastrophic events like ESD exposure.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    4. Re:Interesting! by blahplusplus · · Score: 3, Interesting

      One should not forget companies might have "chip lotteries", i.e. use chips that are less robust and cheaper to manufacture without majority of consumers knowing the difference.

      They do this in the LCD monitor industry where they have "panel lotteries" that use cheaper parts and are not what is advertised due to consumer ignorance. See Article on Anand here about panel lotteries:

      http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=39226

  2. Re:Apples and hippos by somenickname · · Score: 3, Interesting

    All of these ones: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150636%201749646482&name=SLC