Swissbit Powersafe Power Loss Protection for Industrial SSDs

Effective protection against loss of data in the event of power outages (Power Loss Protection – PLP) is an essential safety feature of industrial SSDs.

All Swissbit AG’s storage solutions are therefore equipped with 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, the company has 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 feature provides industry PLP protection for SSDs that are designed for reliability and long product lifecycles. It is available as an optional feature for selected firm’s SSD series.

Operating principle of powersafe:  1) During a sudden power outage, the input voltage V_in begins to drop, 2) as soon as V_ssd reaches a critical voltage threshold, the power management disconnects V_ssd from the host and connects to the regulated voltage of V_cap (capacitors, in blue), 3) powersafe supplies the SSD with power (t_powersafe) long enough to execute write commands and empty cached data.

The secret to the performance of the powersafe feature is the combination of firmware and hardware features. Reliable tantalum capacitors that store energy while the SSD is in operation form the basis. In the event of a 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, GM, memory solutions. “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’, the company applied tests that go beyond the industry standard. With 10,000 test cycles, during which only write processes are carried out during a power outage, the firm 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 the most demanding workloads.

6Gb SATA SSD X-75 with powersafe available
For selected SSD series, the firm 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 with the extended PLP protection option both for the 2.5″ variant and the M.2 form factor. The 3D TLC NAND based SSDs with 6Gb SATA interface offer endurance and reliability across the full industrial temperature range with capacities from 240 to 1,920GB.

In addition, the company will present the N-30, a PCIe SSD module series as a ‘powersafe’ variant, in 3Q22. The N-30m2P (TLC) will be available with capacities from 240GB to 4TB and corresponding pSLC variants (N-36m2P).