As briefly mentioned before, SSDs are non-volatile storage media, and use NAND flash memory in an array to hold data. SSDs have been around for quite some time; however, mainstream use would have been greatly hampered by the high cost of the drive. Samsung first released a 32 GB SSD with a PATA interface in 1996, followed by SanDisk's 32 GB SSD, but with a SATA interface.

Although SSD drives use flash memory, the materials used are more high-end than that found in flash drives, which makes it highly preferred for use as a hard drive, but again, contributes to the very high cost.

Some advantages of SSDs come from the fact that there are no moving parts in an SSD. No moving parts makes the SSD more durable in the event of a fall or swift foot to the PC tower, as there are no platters or actuator arms to be scratched or struck. Also, the faster read/ write speeds and access times greatly reduce the time taken for the device to boot or start, and even gives an enhanced experience when using resource-intensive software and games.

As far as digital forensics go, SSDs are still a relatively new technology that will be constantly improved upon for some time to come. It's important to remember that you are not dealing with a mechanical drive, and to remember that data on an SSD, much like a flash drive or memory card, can be lost or wiped within minutes or even seconds. Although traditional tools can be used to image and recover data from SSDs, I strongly suggest on researching any SSD drive before performing any forensic activities, to get a better understanding of its workings and complexities such as dechipping and wear-leveling algorithms.