Delkin Blog

Technology has progressively shown improvement year after year, and this ongoing evolution has required new development in data storage solutions, especially in the industrial sector. Therefore, it’s necessary that the right decisions are made when picking the appropriate industrial memory card. There are several form factors of industrial memory cards available, with a variety of specifications. Form factors include Industrial SD, Industrial microSD, Industrial USB, Industrial CF, and Industrial SSD. Not all storage devices are designed alike, and industrial-grade memory cards have features that enable superior performance.

The top differentiating factors of industrial memory cards are:

Rugged Temperature Range

Industrial memory cards are tested for extended temperature grades of -45C to +85C. Some customization can also increase the ruggedness through conformal coating or screening options.

SLC NAND

Industrial flash storage devices exceed consumer-grade cards significantly when it comes to durability. Higher grade NAND Technology is used which can offer a much longer product lifecycle.

A Controlled BOM (Bill of Materials)

The industrial memory card has a controlled BOM which stipulates there will be no modifications to firmware, customization or NAND controller initiated without the note of a product change notification (PCN).

Increased Endurance Cycles

Industrial flash storage cards using SLC will last for much longer than non-industrial options, and will have limited Product Change Notifications throughout the product lifecycle.

Better Data Retention

Because of the rugged data storage capacity, industrial memory cards offer a far suitable data retention capacity over the long term in extreme conditions.

Higher Endurance for Industrial Applications

To increase endurance, there’s a whole host of intelligent firmware methods accessible in the market for industrial memory cards. The most common are Error Checking and Correction (ECC), Wear Levelling and Defect Management. The aim is to render firmware that increases flash endurance.

Power Protection

Industrial flash storage cards have high-level software and hardware-based solutions to reduce data corruption originating from unexpected power fluctuations.