The most common models of the now-discontinued Intel Optane series of solid state drives (SSDs) look like a typical m.2 NVMe SSD, but as Kyle wrote previously about what an Intel Optane drive is, they are specialty drives combining a high-capacity NAND memory part and a high-speed (but lower-capacity, typically 16GB or 32GB) 3D XPoint […]
Have you ever wondered why your computer says your disk drive has a lower capacity than the package it came in? For example, let’s say you just bought a shiny new 2.5″ 5 TB portable hard drive. You plugged it in; you waited in suspense as its five platters and ten heads finally overcame and […]
Intel Optane SSD is a discontinued line of solid state storage devices that differs from traditional solid state drives by the fact that two different kinds of storage are utilized in one device: NAND memory, like a traditional SSD, and 3D XPoint (“crosspoint”) memory, a more exotic kind of flash memory jointly developed by Intel […]
Some “ultraportable” laptops, particularly Sony Vaio Z-series models from around 2010, are equipped with an unusual type of solid state drive, which is actually two SSDs in one. With these drives, each side of the PCB houses a distinct SSD, which both share a single 29-pin (15mm) LIF connector to connect both devices to the […]
Today I want to share a story about a Macbook that was run over by a car and the internal storage was damaged. Luckily, there was only damage to some surface mount components and the entire SSD device was not destroyed. If you are familiar with Macbook internal solid state drives, you probably know that […]
Sandforce based SSD devices are notorious for failure and for being difficult, if not impossible, to recover. One type of Sandforce based SSD device failure is rumored to only be recoverable by a few data recovery labs across the globe, and at great expense. At Blizzard, we have discovered that some Sandforce based SSD drives […]
SSD data recovery presents some new challenges for data recovery labs. It requires new training, techniques, and tools. One controller type stands out as notorious in the DR world, it’s known as “SandForce”. To this day support has still not been added to the top SSD data recovery tool. For some Sandforce SSD failures there […]