Solid-state drive

A data-storage device that retains data in nonvolatile semiconductor memory, usually flash memory, rather than on magnetic disks.

NAND flash memory: Nonvolatile memory that stores bits in arrays of charge-trapping or floating-gate cells. Most SSDs use NAND cells as their primary storage medium.
Flash memory: A family of nonvolatile semiconductor memories that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It is the memory technology underlying most consumer SSDs.
Hard disk drive: A data-storage device that records information magnetically on rotating platters. It is the traditional disk-based alternative to solid-state storage.
Solid-state drive form factors: Physical sizes and connector layouts used to package solid-state drives. Form factors determine which SSDs fit a computer or enclosure.
SSD controller: A processor that manages an SSD’s flash memory, data mapping, error correction, and host communication. It coordinates flash operations and presents storage to the host.
Floating-gate MOSFET: A transistor whose electrically isolated gate stores charge to represent data. Many flash cells encode bits by sensing charge in floating gates.
Hybrid drive: A storage device combining a magnetic hard disk with a smaller flash-memory cache. It mixes SSD-like caching with a hard disk’s higher-capacity storage.
PCI Express: A high-speed serial expansion bus standard used to connect devices inside computers. Many fast SSDs use PCI Express as their physical data path.
Flash translation layer: Firmware that maps logical addresses to physical locations in flash storage. It hides flash’s erase-block layout behind ordinary block addresses.
Charge-trap flash: A flash-memory technology that stores charge in an insulating trapping layer rather than a conductive floating gate. It is an alternative cell design used in modern NAND.

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