Are SSD drives more reliable and/or why did my SSD fail?

SSDs (Solid State Disks) are memory devices typically made of NAND Flash memory and are not susceptible to shock damage. However, because of the complex and delicate nature of NAND Flash memory, they often suffer a higher failure rate than disk drives. Because the memory erase process damages the device, most cells are limited to as little as 1,000 erase cycles. The SSD must also constantly move data from over utilized areas to underutilized areas, creating an accounting issue (roadmap issue). Any failure of the “roadmap” or over use can cause the device to abruptly fail, often without any advanced warning!