What Is NAND Flash?
As technology progresses, there is an increasing need for memory that's capable of storing vast amounts of information without adding bulk or weight. Modern devices such as cell phones require memory that is physically small enough to fit into the device, yet powerful enough to store a large amount of data. NAND Flash is one such type of memory.
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What is NAND Flash?
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Created by Toshiba in 1989, NAND Flash is widely used today for everything from storing documents to digital photos. NAND stands for "not and," which describes the logic gate circuit the memory uses. NAND Flash is a type of flash memory. Flash memory is memory that is "non-volatile," meaning that unlike random access memory (RAM), flash memory maintains data even if there is a loss of power. NAND Flash is a widely used form of memory that offers high access speed and large data storage compared with other types of flash memory.
Uses
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NAND Flash and other types of flash memory can mainly be found in small electronic devices such as MP3 players, USB drives and digital cameras. The NAND form of memory works well with these systems in which large files and data are often uploaded or saved over other data. The speed of NAND Flash and its ability to maintain the data ensures that files are safe and not easily lost due to power failure.
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Advantages
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Small, portable devices such as MP3 players, USB drives and digital cameras require memory and data storage with higher density, but at a lower cost. NAND flash memory offers those features while its fast speed allows data to be stored instantaneously. Because of these advantages, more and more companies are looking at NAND Flash as a viable alternative to older forms of data storage. Also, as demand for higher memory capacity increase, the demand for NAND is surpassing other forms of flash memory such as NOR.
NOR Flash
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NAND Flash is often compared to another type of non-volatile flash memory, NOR Flash, which was introduced at roughly the same time. NOR stands for "not or," which, like NAND memory, defines the type of logic circuit the memory utilizes. NAND is quite a bit faster than NOR flash and has a higher storage rate. However, NAND's architecture only allows for single page access, while NOR offers random-access, allowing an application to run directly from the flash instead of going through system RAM. However, both continue to be widely used in the market today.
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