"Today we’re going to take a look at the new 0-provision LSI SandForce Driven SSD from ADATA, the SP900 128GB. This drive brings with it a few twists that we will be examining to find what effects they have on the drive. The first being the ADATA SP900 is the first or one of the first SandForce drives to have no over-provisioning. Prior to the SP900 drive all SandForce drives came in an over-provisioned configuration, meaning there was less drive space available than actual NAND on the drive. Over-provisioning began with the SandForce 1200 series SSD Processor that launched with 20% over provisioning. For example, the 50GB SandForce controlled drives actually had 64GB of NAND on the PCB with 50GB available to the user prior to formatting. Over provisioned space (OP) or, factory spare area is used for internal drive maintenance. OP was considered necessary to maintain peak drive performance. SandForce soon decided 20% OP was not necessary and, standardized 7% of NAND space for OP. Less OP allowed SandForce drives to be marketed at, for example: 120GB instead of 100GB, making the cost per usable GB lower even though, BOTH the 100GB and the 120GB drives actually have 128GB of NAND on the PCB. 7% OP has held true until today."
