3 ms·

How does a storage device shrink in capacity, and by what mechanism is that shrinkage communicated with the filesystem?

• malfist 3y ago
  That's determined by the firmware and the manufacturer. Flash isn't like disks. You don't write to a block that's on a certain cylinder on a certain platter. You write a block and the memory controller determines where it will be stored, usually based on some wear leveling algorithm. It's one of the reasons you can't securely delete a flash drive.
  • ssl-3 3y ago
    The question remains. Handwaving about how flash is different than disks isn't an answer to how shrinkage is conveyed to the filesystem (and isn't a meaningful differentiator anyway, since common spinny-disks haven't been 1:1 mappings for well over 3 decades, themselves).