There are fewer data recovery tools generally available for solid-state devices; however we have been working on our own proprietary tools to overcome vendor specific solid-state drive designs and built-in encryption technologies. We can now boast data extraction tools for almost every solid-state controller. As a result, this last month has seen a record for successful solid-state drive data recoveries!

When they were originally introduced, solid state drives SSD were noticable for both speed and reliability. It was generally thought that because an SSD has no mechanical parts failure rates were negligable. Mechanical components cannot wearing down over time - as there are none! Nevertheless, they still have to worry about electronic components degrading. Capacitors, power supplies and controller chips are all prone to failure.

Whilst we do sometimes find that hard drives fail quickly after manufacture if they are going to fail at all. All the statistics suggest that hard drives wear linearly. Young drives are much less likely to fail than older drives.

Some mention is made from time to time about the number of read/write cycles flash memory can handle. It’s true that flash memory does eventually wear out but the endurance available is more than sufficient for consumer use. A typical solid state drive will be able to last for over a decade even if you write 100 gigabytes of data per day.

There is no single reason why drives fail and no absolute way to protect them. As SSD drives age, electronic components wear and eventually fail. It’s as simple as that.