W
Write Amplification
Definition
Write amplification (WA) is a phenomenon in flash storage where the actual amount of data physically written to NAND is larger than the logical data being stored. This occurs because flash cells must be erased in large blocks before being rewritten. A WA factor of 3x means that writing 1 GB of user data causes 3 GB of physical writes. Techniques like TRIM, overprovisioning, and intelligent garbage collection minimize write amplification to extend drive endurance.
