Benefits of using SSDs for an organization
High performance- SSD offers high speeds of data transfer much more than the conventional devices used for storage found on computers. This is as a result of them lacking moving parts that normally slow down the performance of drives. Data transfer or sharing occurs very fast. Study has proved that SSD load 67% faster in web hosting applications (Chen et al. 2011). This ultimate difference in speed has earned it massive popularity, hence substituting installation of conventional HDD.
Faster seek time- The much improved performance of the SSD over HDD arises from its lower latency and the capacity to transact more I/O operations/second (IOPS) than can be done in HDD, being bound by science of mechanical drive spinning (www.computerworld.com).
Lower power consumption and cool operation- Power consumption in lesser in SSD than other storage modes because technology employed in creating SSD is much advanced and upgraded for less electricity consumption but more functional productivity with respect output and input respectively.
Small size and light weight- SSD space is much smaller as compared to other conventional large storage hardware. Organizations would therefore keep their eye closely on implementing small storage policy. Overall, the organization has the advantage related capacity and procedure of storage for determination of the firm’s overall objectivity. The organization would, therefore, tries to fulfill the gap log thus helping in personnel image building for the business.
Ability to withstand severe shock, vibrations, high altitude and extremes of temperature- This design strengths enables SSD to have long shelf life, reliability and capacity to store data safely even in harsh conditions that would damage or distort stored data in conventional methods (Zambelli & Olivo, 2012).
Immune to Magnets- Magnets always distort the stored data through its electromagnetic force movements when interacting with magnetic materials. SSD are immune to such effects as may be caused by magnets on other storage devices.
Disadvantages and considerations for SSDs
More expensive as compared to the conventional hard drives- SSDs are comparatively expensive, have finite amounts of write cycles, and less capacity in comparison to the conventional spinning drives.
Not ideal to all-The adoption for SSDs are not recommended for all organizations, it is best suited for companies requiring high performance, is power sensitive, intensive I/O operations and is operating in a rugged environment. SSDs are expected to be used in premium performing tiers in well-balanced maintenance and storage deployments.
Nascent technology in SSDs- Like any other latest technology, this technology is equally believed to be in the testing phase and many industry leaders such as HP, Sun, and Intel do not predict its dominance over hard drives, especially in enterprise setups.
Questionable life expectancy-NAND Flash, which is the underlying technology in the present major SSD items, has limitations on write wear-outs, with embedded software, over the positioning of ability, processors and so forth (Chen et al. 2011). The absence of measure standard of SSD’s life expectancy is a chief drawback.
SSDs slow down their speed and performance as they get filled up-After being filled up to its near capacity, its write performance tends to decrease dramatically (Zambelli & Olivo, 2012).
I would strongly recommend that Delaware Health and Social Services and, also the Disabled American Veterans to seriously consider SSDs for their organizations. Their first tier has 15000 rpm drives; this is already a high-level mechanical spinning requiring high intensive I/O operations that can best be supported by the use of SSDs. The additional SQL database that they have got together with the need for scaled performance for their new applications would drive them more for the need of SSD.
For the case of Disabled American Veterans, the looming upgrading event would demand them to consider SSDs, particularly SAN-based SSDs (searchsolidstatestorage.techtarget.com). SAN upgrade would improve storage all through and latencies involving deployment of flash on the SAN and then doing an upgrade for the storage network through replacements of all HBAs in every host and substituting the SAN switch. Remember a wholesale equipment replacement render SAN upgrades disruptive and expensive. When a VirtuCache containing in-server SSD is deployed, it provides a better performing alternative as compared to the SAN upgrades. The reasoning behind this conclusion is based on the fact that, in flash-based appliances for storage, SSDs are usually behind the storage and network controller. With VirtuCache application, SSD appears on the ESXi, which is the host motherboard, thus, closeness enhanced to the CPU, which will be consuming the IO (Chen et al. 2011).
Determination whether SSDs are more or less difficult to examine by computer forensics experts
Well SSD forensics is quite different from custom hardware. They self-destroy criminal or court evidence, creating difficulties in extracting deleted and destroyed information (such as disks formatting). This becomes close to impossibility. Alternatively, the right acquisition method would involve getting access to the original binary decryption keys, paving the way for investigators to get hold of data stored in encrypted masses that may give access to further information than those available in SSD’s unencrypted areas (Gubanov & Afonin, 2012). Furthermore, several exceptions exist which may effectively deter techniques leading to self-corruption on drive’s evidence. Presently, SSD drives that have been used in NAS devices, taking part in RAID configurations, which are again connected to non-internal devices through FireWire and USB have exceptions from evidence self-corruption. Outdated versions of Mac OS, Linus and Windows never support SSD’s garbage collecting mechanisms; therefore extend these exceptions (Chen et al. 2011).
I would suggest that both the Health and Social Services and also the Disabled American Veterans to consider the difficulty manifested in computer forensic examinations when considering the purchase of SSDs. The former is a governmental agency while the latter is a not-for-profit organization. The bottom line is that both are controlled and operate within the statutory regulations that are spelled out in their respective Acts. It therefore means they should at all times be able to provide information when summoned by courts or any relevant agencies such as commissions. It thus calls for the need to consider forensic possibilities in order to abide by the rules. One possible design or installation consideration to enhance this could be the practical use of the SSD’s controller. By doing physical detachment of the controller then substituting with the custom hardware for reading information directly out of the flash chips, computer forensics or investigators would be in a position to extract elements of destroyed information which could be saved in several areas within the flash chips (Gubanov & Afonin, 2012). By so doing, these social agencies or bodies would put themselves safe while upgrading their systems to SSD, since ignorance is never an excuse for criminal offence.
References
Enterprise IT shops now choose SSD storage. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://searchsolidstatestorage.techtarget.com/feature/Enterprise-IT-shops-now-choose-SSD-storage
Zambelli, C., & Olivo, P. (2012). SSD Reliability. Inside Solid State Drives (SSDs) Springer Series in Advanced Microelectronics, 203-231.
Chen, F., Koufaty, D. A., & Zhang, X. (2011, May). Hystor: making the best use of solid state drives in high performance storage systems. In Proceedings of the international conference on Supercomputing (pp. 22-32). ACM.
The rise of SSDs over hard drives, debunked. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://www.computerworld.com/article/2939438/data-storage-solutions/the-rise-of-ssds-over-hard-drives-debunked.html
Gubanov, Y., & Afonin, O. (2012). Why SSD Drives Destroy Court Evidence, and What Can Be Done About It. Forensic Focus.
