New PLP feature for maximum protection against power outages: powersafe™ from Swissbit – Image source: Swissbit
The operating principle of Swissbit powersafe™: 1. During a sudden power outage, the input voltage Vin begins to drop 2. as soon as Vssd reaches a critical voltage threshold, the power management disconnects Vssd from the host and connects to the regulated voltage of Vcap (capacitors, in blue) 3. powersafe™ supplies the SSD with power (tpowersafe) long enough to execute write commands and empty cached data. Image source: Swissbit
Effective protection against loss of data in the event of sudden power outages (Power Loss Protection – PLP) is an essential and established safety feature of industrial SSDs. All Swissbit storage solutions are therefore equipped with optimized PLP technology as standard to safeguard against the loss of user data and ensure device and firmware integrity. For maximum protection, especially in mission-critical applications, Swissbit has now introduced “powersafe”, an additional PLP level that also secures data as it transfers from host to controller (Dynamic Data) or from DRAM to NAND (Cached Data). The new feature provides industry leading PLP protection for SSDs that are designed for highest reliability and long product lifecycles. “powersafe” is available immediately as an optional feature for selected Swissbit SSD series.
The 2.5″ SATA SSD X-75 is now available with powersafe™ under the name “X-75 P”. – Image source: Swissbit
The secret to the high performance of the “powersafe” feature is the combination of sophisticated firmware and hardware features. Highly reliable tantalum capacitors that store energy while the SSD is in operation form the basis. In the event of a sudden power outage, the stored charge is used to safely write both dynamic data and data in the DRAM cache to the NAND flash array. Intelligent power management within the firmware ensures that the power supply disconnects from the host upon reaching a critical threshold and connects to the regulated voltage of the capacitors instead. This provides the SSD with sufficient power to safely execute write commands and flush cached data.
“Power outages can permanently damage data and consequently be costly. Particularly in an industrial environment, where SSDs are often in operation for more than ten years, we can now offer one of the most advanced PLP features with ‘powersafe’,” explains Roger Griesemer, General Manager Memory Solutions at Swissbit. “Especially for mission-critical applications where data loss is not an option, we have raised the reliability of our SSDs to a new level.”
Validation: way above average
For the development of “powersafe”, Swissbit applied extensive tests that go far beyond the industry standard. With 10,000 test cycles, during which only write processes are carried out during a power outage, Swissbit has ensured a high level of repeatability and reliability. In addition, short idle times between the individual test cycles put even more pressure on the design to ensure that “powersafe” can handle even the most demanding workloads.
SATA III SSD X-75 with powersafe™ now available
For selected SSD series, Swissbit offers “powersafe” as an optional feature, identified by the suffix (P) within the product name. The first in line is the X-75 product series, which is available immediately with the extended PLP protection option both for the 2.5″ variant and the M.2 form factor. The 3D NAND (TLC) based SSDs with SATA III interface offer the highest endurance and reliability across the full industrial temperature range with capacities from 240 to 1,920 GB.
In addition, Swissbit will present the N-30, a new PCIe SSD module series as a “powersafe” variant, in the third quarter 2022. The N-30m2P (TLC) will be available with capacities from 240 GB to 4 TB and corresponding pSLC variants (N-36m2P).