Flash memory, also known as flash storage, is a type of nonvolatile memory that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed
. It is widely used for storage and data transfer in consumer devices, enterprise systems, and industrial applications
. Flash memory is a variant of EEPROM (Electrical Erasable Programmable Read- Only Memory)
. Some key features of flash memory include:
- Data Units : Flash memory erases data in units called blocks and rewrites data at the byte level
- Durability : Flash memory has an endurance that ranges from as little as 100 erase cycles for an on-chip flash memory to more typical values of 10,000 or 100,000 erase cycles, up to 1,000,000 erase cycles
- Types : There are two main types of flash memory: NOR-based flash and NAND-based flash
. NOR-based flash was the basis of early flash-based removable media, while NAND-based flash has reduced erase and write times and is commonly used in memory cards, USB flash drives, solid-state drives, smartphones, and tablets
- Applications : Flash memory is used in various applications, such as embedded systems (e.g., digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players), smartphones and tablets, USB drives, and industrial computing applications
Flash memory offers several advantages, including fast access times, large storage capacity, low power consumption, and flexibility towards erase and write operations
