Accelerated Testing of Radiation-Induced Soft Errors in Solid-State Drives

Accelerated soft error testing with neutron and proton beams was done on a variety of solid-state drives. Effects included temporary hangs, permanent drive failure, and both detected and silent data corruption. Projected rates for sea-level cosmic rays vary widely from model to model, which is arguably insignificant for some but problematic for others. Design protections for reducing soft error sensitivity are discussed and evaluated for effectiveness. Radiation testing was able to detect silent data corruption at levels 10 000 times lower than can be detected in a conventional reliability demonstration test. We argue that accelerated testing should be a standard part of drive design validation.