Delkin Blog

If you’re looking for NAND flash memory products, then you have likely encountered both industrial and consumer grade options. Each of these kinds of products has its place, but choosing the wrong one could lead to serious complications for your application, from device failures to budgetary breakdowns. If you have an industrial application, it’s important to choose an industrial grade product. Failing to do so could cost you a significant amount of time and money in the future as you deal with glitches, malfunctions, and the need to replace memory cards before you anticipated. What exactly are industrial products? Here is what you need to know.

SLC NAND flash is standard.

One key difference between industrial grade memory products and their consumer grade alternatives is that most industrial products use SLC flash. SLC stands for single level cell, and it refers to the way in which data is stored in the memory device. With SLC flash, one bit of data is stored on each cell on the memory card. This has a few advantages. Since there is only one bit of data to process per cell, read and write operation speeds are as fast as possible. Also, the risk of data loss during an operation due to a power glitch is greatly minimized. For industrial users with mission-critical data, these advantages make selecting an industrial grade product essential.

Industrial grade products offer a controlled BOM and longer life cycles.

A controlled BOM, or bill of materials, is an important feature for industrial products. This means that the controller, firmware, flash chips, and other components of the memory card will not be changed without advanced notice and without issuing a new product number, in order to allow developers and OEMs to make any necessary adjustments for a seamless transition. A longer life cycle also minimizes the number of times memory cards need to be changed.

Industrial products are suited to rugged conditions.

Industrial grade products can tolerate more extreme conditions than consumer products, such as those encountered in transportation, factory automation, and gaming. Industrial grade memory has extended temperature ranges and can work in environments with high levels of shock and vibration.

Learn more about industrial grade products by contacting Delkin. We offer a variety of industrial grade flash storage options and can help you select the best fit for your application.