Derzeit sind Solid State Drives (SSDs) in aller Munde. Jeder will sie einsetzen und ihre Vorteile nutzen. Durch das Fehlen von mechanischen Teilen sind sie komplett lautlos und energiesparender als herkömmliche Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). Die außerordentlichen Eigenschaften des Flash-Speichers beschert Unternehmen und Endkunden hervorragende Zugriffszeiten, doch woher kommt Flash-Speicher? Und ist diese Technologie überhaupt so neu?

In einem wissenschaftlichen Artikel befasste ich mich mit der Geschichte von Flash-Speicher, den Originaltext können Sie hier nun nachlesen:

Storage based on flash memory or random access memory (RAM) is gaining significant acceptance today. Rather than its mechanical counterpart, the hard disk drive, it is getting more reliable, faster and cost effective than ever. Flash memory finds its way in a wide range of commercial and governmental information systems, though available for decades, by providing cost effective solutions ⁽¹⁾.

It all began in 1984 when Dr. Fujio Masuoka was working for Toshiba. “The name ‘flash’ was suggested because the process of erasing the memory contents reminded him of the flash of cameras” ⁽²⁾. In 1984 he presented the invention at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held in San Francisco, California. Large arrays of floating gate metal-oxide-semiconductors (MOS) transistors store the data ⁽²⁾. The technology of flash memory, as so often in the computer industry, was driven by minimizing components, optimizing the fabrication, improving the controllers and thus following Moore’s Law. Shortly after the presentation by Dr. Fujio Masuoka Toshiba released the first flash chip with a capacity of 256 Kbit in 1985. The first Multi-level flash chip was introduced in 1995, back then with a capacity of 32 Mbit. The technical inability of NAND flash memory for random access, qualified the less expensive type of flash memory to be used as a secondary, persistent storage. Its development is closely tied to the increasing success of digital cameras, mobile phones and other consumer electronics. The much more expensive NOR flash memory became an alternative for read-only memory (ROM), e.g. for storage of a firmware. Capacity then tended to increase while the manufacturing process was more and more optimized. In 2002 Samsung delivered a 1 Gbit chip in 120 nanometer fabrication and in 2005 a 4 Gbit chip in 70 nanometer production. Toshiba followed in 2008 with a 16 Gbit chip (56 nanometer) ⁽³⁾. Current NAND flash memory single chips support up to 64 Gbit (converted: 8 Gbyte) and are fabricated with 24 nanometer process technology ⁽⁴⁾.

Referenzen:

1. Neal Ekker, Coughlin Tom, and Jim Handy. Solid State Storage 101 – An introduction to Solid State Storage. http://www.snia.org/forums/sssi/knowledge/education/SSSI_Wht_Paper_Final.pdf, January 2009. 13.11.2010.
2. Alan R. Olson and Denis J. Langlois. Solid State Drives – Data Reliability and Lifetime. http://www.imation.com/PageFiles/83/SSD-Reliability-Lifetime-White-Paper.pdf, April 2008. 16.11.2010.
3. Andreas Bechtolsheim. The Role of Flash, Storage Developer Conference 2008. http://www.snia.org/events/storage-developer2008/presentations/keynotes/AndreasBechtolsheim_The_Role_of_Flash_SDC2008.pdf, 2008. 13.11.2010.
4. Toshiba. Toshiba launches 24nm process NAND flash memory. http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2010_08/pr3101.htm, August 2010. 19.11.2010.