SSD Overheating
Most people may think that solid state drives (SSD) do not need cooling, yet for those SSDs on the higher-speed end of the spectrum, this might be another story.
As 5G connectivity and AIoT applications are on the rise, there has been an increasing demand for large-scale data transfer. A PCI express SSD today offers up to six times the transfer rates of a SATA III drive. This has made PCIe a much-favored choice among those with a need for speed and top-notch performance. While this sounds like wonderful news, the downside is that these SSDs now come in increasingly small sizes. The downscaling has made power consumption and heat generation in these storage devices an issue.
If a storage device runs at a high temperature for a prolonged period of time, components are more prone to failure. This can result in device failure and data loss. Proactive measures must be taken to dissipate heat from these drives.
The Thermal Sensor and How It Works
A thermal sensor, as its name suggests, collects in real-time an SSD’s thermal information via the S.M.A.R.T. tool, making temperature readings available via the host or the SSD controller. Users can employ Scope Pro, an exclusively-designed software developed by Transcend, to monitor the temperature. With Scope Pro, an instant warning will be sent to users if overheating is detected. Along with the dynamic thermal throttling mechanism, the performance of the SSD will be throttled down to ensure that the SSD’s temperature does not exceed the critical level.
Transcend monitoring software: Scope Pro
By utilizing the thermal sensor, a storage device can be monitored for any temperature changes and protected from heat damage. With this protective mechanism, data is secured and overall system reliability optimized.