Dual Power Loss Protection
Technology with the power to protect your data
Exascend’s Dual Power Loss Protection is an advanced technology that effectively mitigates the potentially catastrophic effects that sudden loss of power can cause to flash storage and their data.
When a flash storage device suddenly loses power, in-flight data and data not yet stored in the non-volatile NAND flash risk getting lost and completely irrecoverable. Even worse, the mapping table – where the storage device keeps track of where data is stored inside the NAND flash – is at risk of severe corruption, making the storage device inoperable upon return of power.
Our Dual Power Loss Protection technology addresses these threats with a two-pronged approach that encompasses both hardware and firmware.
Exascend’s firmware power loss protection makes it quick and easy for the flash storage device to rebuild the mapping table upon return of power, allowing the application to continue using the SSD as if nothing had happened. Exascend achieves this by leveraging its many cutting-edge firmware technologies, including:
- Firmware Integrity Plus™, which keeps multiple firmware backups on the flash page to ensure that a most recent copy of the firmware is readily available;
- RAID ECC and LDPC algorithm, which retrieve and reconstruct even the most severely corrupted data;
- Data Path Protection, which ensures that any data in transit or being moved around for garbage collection purposes is stored in its entirety;
Together, these technologies ensure that both stored and in-flight data are their most reliable and healthy, safe from corruption or damage caused by incomplete writes.
Hardware power loss protection, meanwhile, leverages tantalum capacitors that holds enough extra power for the storage device to flush all remaining data to the non-volatile flash before being forced to turn off due to loss of power.
During a standard power shutdown, the host system initiates a command to the SSD signaling it to save any in-flight data stored in the DRAM cache to the NAND flash before completing the shutdown process. [Figure 1.]
In an unexpected power loss event, the SSD’s voltage detector will trigger PLP once it detects that the voltage has dropped below 4V. From there, the tantalum capacitors acting as backup batteries will provide extra power for the SSD to finish writing data to the NAND flash. [Figure 2.]
Higher-capacity SSDs naturally need more time to flush in-transit data to the NAND flash, since the amount of data at risk is dependent on the amount of data the DRAM cache can store. With that said, due to limitations on the controller load, an SSD’s DRAM buffer size tends to top out at 8 MB, meaning that in a power loss event, the SSD will take up to 6ms to complete a write.
Exascend’s Dual PLP-enabled SSDs incorporate capacitors in a way that can hold data flushing time for up to 29ms – way longer than what is required by the higher-capacity SSDs on the market.
Combined, our firmware PLP and hardware PLP offer a high level of defense against sudden power loss and the catastrophic effects it may otherwise cause.
Exascend SSD that supports Power Loss Protection
| Exascend SSD | Hardware PLP | Firmware PLP |
| PCIe M.2 | Upon request | V |
| U.2, E1.S and 2.5″ SATA-III | V | V |
| SATA-III M.2 | Upon request | V |
Recommended applications
Industrial
Industrial applications demand unwavering performance in challenging environments.
Mission critical
Reliability comes second to none in mission critical applications – where failure is not an option.
Transportation
Shocks, vibrations, and extreme temperature fluctuations demand only the best from storage devices.
Telecommunications
Next-generation telecom requires ultra-fast storage devices that excel in any environment.
Edge computing
The edge puts storage devices up against severe environmental challenges and unique demands.
Broadcast & cinema
Put the pinnacle of broadcast and cinema within your reach.
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