All You Need to Know About NAND Flash Storage Devices

What is a NAND Flash Storage?

NAND is a widely used non-volatile flash storage device that is viable without any power connection. It is so common that almost everyone has access to it by knowingly or unknowingly.The most accurate examples of the NAND flash storages are USB drives, SD or MicroSD cards, SSD devices, and so on. All these devices require RAM but instead an upgraded and highlyefficient solution is the NAND memory drive. It is a small chip, hardly can be the size of a fingernail but can store a large amount of data including documents, photos, videos, and music.

How to Utilize NAND Flash Storage?

The NAND memory cells are built with floating-gate transistors that work without a charging facility. All the electrical circuits used in it are based on the power to create a difference across the cells. The floating gate and the control gate manage the energy flow into the memory cell. The constant progress in development must lead to the reduction of size so that it can fit in almost anywhere that too at a lesser cost. On the other hand, it increases the density and it gives competition to the HDD drive. This enhances its efficiency and therefore, NAND chip is used in every modern electronic gadget including smartphones, smart TVs, computers, tablets, cameras, as well as in the traffic lights, digital advertising panels, passenger announcement systems, and displays. In short, anything with Artificial Intelligence requires having memory storage and NAND flash is the appropriate solution.

According to the purpose of usage, utilization criteria for NAND flash vary depending on different grades; industrial and consumer. Considering the impacts, it has diversity on reliability, endurance, compliance, and total cost of ownership. So, it is important to decide the purpose of using the NAND flash storage before jump into purchasing one.

Different Types of NAND Flash Storages

The manufacturing process of NAND flash storage takes time to ensure maximum efficiency based on "FABS". FABS takes the responsibility of creating different types of NAND flash media that comes in different sizes, such as 1, 2, and 3 bits a cell. The fewer number of cells used, the higher the performance and price but space and speed become lower. As NAND represents according to electrical charges stored in these cells and makes diverse NAND storages like:

1. SLC: It is a Single-Level Cell comprises 1-bit per cell. It not only delivers the fastest speed and enhanced performance but also convey the highest level of integrity, reliability, and endurance.
2. MLC: It is the Multi-Level Cell comprises 2-bit per cell. The removal and writes transpire twice which reduces its endurance but it works great in PCs and laptops.
3. TLC: It is the Triple-Level Cell comprises with 3-bit per cell. It is mostly consumer oriented as the performance decreases.
4. QLC: It is Quad-Level Cells that comprise with 4-bits per cell. The level of endurance for this is also a bit less due to the increase of cells.
5. 3D NAND: It is manufactured using a new method by stacking memory chips on top of each other to extend its capacity, performance, and endurance. It is faster and efficient also consumes less energy to hold more information.

It has been more than 20 years since NAND flash storages have started to expand and with certain development, it has become the dominant choice. The 3D NAND is a breakthrough to this evolution and the Industrial SSD Solutions are considering this alongside the other categories. NAND flash market is also evolving because of its high-density and low-cost management.

Flexxon is an industrial NAND flash storage & memory manufacturer. They provide long-lasting Flash storage and industrial SSD solutions for cybersecurity, medical, and automotive.

I am Elan Juli and I am a blogger