What are “SMART SSDs”?

SSDs are increasingly becoming common because of their compact nature, high-data transfer speeds, and high read and write speeds. Installing SSDs allows users to boost their computer speed and performance significantly. However, like hard drives, you should regularly evaluate the state of your SSDs to avoid data loss. Fortunately, SSDs support SMART technology, which helps users anticipate impending SSDs failure.

Before delving into the SMART technology, manufacturers typically create SSDs with 3000 to 5000 rewrite cycles for every memory block. This means an NVMe SSD with 100GB memory allows up to 300,000 rewrite cycles. While the actual figure might be slightly less, these cycles can support years of productive work.

What is SMART Technology?

Interestingly, SMART technology, or Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology, was developed earlier than SSDs were manufactured. They were initially designed for hard disk drives but are currently used for SSDs as well. The technology has a tool that collects and stores information about SSD health status and proactively warns users about impending errors, failure, and data loss.

Ideally, there are widely accepted attributes drawn from SMART technology that describes a physically perfect SSD. Therefore, you should learn to interpret information obtained from specific storage technologies used in SSDs. Also, data collected from HDD disks have a different meaning from information gathered from SSDs.

How SMART Technology Detects SSD Failure

SMART technology provides crucial information that helps predict potential SSD failure. It gathers information and attributes about your SSD disk health. Below are crucial SSD attributes that reflect the health of your SSD:

1. Attribute 202: Percent Lifetime Used

As the name suggests, this attribute compares how much time you've used with the predicted SSD lifetime. During purchase, attribute 202 shows "0," which means that the SSD has been used 0 percent of its maximum lifetime. This value increases over time until 100%, which is the predicted lifetime by the manufacturer.

However, your SSD won't stop functioning immediately this attribute clocks 100%. It indicates that your SSD's failure is approaching, and you should consider finding a replacement. You should transfer important data to prevent data loss.

2. Attribute 210: Successful RAIN Recovery Count

Attribute 210 is another significant feature that prevents data loss. A redundant Array of Independent NAND (RAIN) slightly differs from RAID technology. However, both processes take place in the same drive. RAIN can increase SSD drive longevity.

Ideally, RAIN events occur rarely. However, frequent occurrences significantly decrease SSD performance. This is because using RAIN to prevent data loss uses a lot of I/O bandwidth. Therefore, start finding a replacement if you notice a spike in RAIN events on your SSD drive. This means the drive can't store information for long and therefore activates RAIN technology frequently to recover stored information.

3. Attribute 5: Reallocated Sector Count

SSDs contain memory blocks with specific lifecycles. However, it isn't uncommon for some blocks to fail sooner than the manufacturer predicted. This explains why NAND flash drives have a built-in NAND block status evaluation feature. This attribute evaluates the condition of memory blocks and deactivates unsuitable blocks. The more the number of failed memory blocks, the lower your SSDs' health.

4. Attribute 180: Used reserved block count

Attribute 180 shows the number of additional memory blocks required to replace failed blocks. These parameters depend on the type of NAND architecture, firmware architecture, and capacity of your SSD drive. Ideally, the value of attribute 180 is 1000 blocks for a new SSD. This value decreases as more blocks fail because failed blocks are replaced with spare blocks. A low value on this attribute shows that your SSDs' health is poor.

The Bottom Line

You should check your SSD SMART status frequently. You can do so using manufacturer apps or specialized apps, such as CrystalDiskInfo. Windows 10 also allows users to check their SSD status but doesn't provide details. It only shows if your drive is healthy or not.