Datalight Demos Software to Reduce Write Amplification on Flash Memory

Datalight, Inc. demonstrated the next release of its Reliance Nitro file system that reduces the write amplification factor in flash-based storage media.

Long a problem for users of flash memory and SSDs, write amplification slows performance and causes premature wear of the media.

It is one of the primary reasons flash-based storage has such limited lifespan, causing it to burn through its finite number of write/erase cycles much faster than it otherwise would.

Because flash must be erased in large chunks before it can be written, writing even small amounts of data taxes system resources (and increases latency) exponentially. The smaller the amount of data to be written, the less efficient a write operation will be. For example, a 140-character text message written directly to flash causes the device to write a full block. Hence on a device using 4096 byte blocks, and 2 MB erase chunks, the write amplification factor could be as high as 512 times.

In the upcoming release of Reliance Nitro, Datalight introduces new technology that improves random write performance and endurance. Specifically, these improvements show results for database and other applications which write many small files or updates.

"Write amplification has long been a barrier to uncovering the full potential of high-performance flash-based mobile and embedded applications," said Datalight CEO Roy Sherrill. "Early testing in our labs shows better than 5x improvement for an average use case, and we expect much greater than that for many applications."