Paper Title: Characterizing SSDs with the SMART Monitor

Paper Abstract: SMART (self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology) is a monitoring program included with most SSDs. However, most engineers do not get all the value out of it they could. SMART can be useful in estimating drive lifetimes and in determining their performance under a wide variety of conditions. For example, most drives report the amount of data written from the host as well as the amount of data actually written to flash. Users can then measure write amplification using their actual workload and estimate likely drive lifetime. SMART attributes can also help in monitoring reliability. Engineers can get great value out of this widely available tool.

Paper Author: Shuhei Tanakamaru, Senior Principal Engineer, Marvell Technology Inc

Author Bio: Shuhei Tanakamaru is a Principal Engineer at Seagate where he focuses on enterprise SSD architecture. His areas of expertise include ECC (BCH/LDPC), RAID, signal processing, and NAND management techniques for highly reliable solid-state storage. Dr. Tanakamaru’s work has been published in over 40 journals and major technical conferences, including IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) and IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM). Before joining Seagate, he did SSD design work at Toshiba and HGST. He earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Information Systems from The University of Tokyo, Japan.