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I am using a SOM (something with Zynq 7000) that boots from an SD. While SD provides a lot of storage, i can't use it in industrial applications in a long term- it is not rated for temperature range and can come out because vibrations.

What storage could be used? I want comparable volume (0.5GB at least, the more the better) and preferably something not involving consumer grade connectos.

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    \$\begingroup\$ What temperature range do you need? You can get SD cards rated at -40~85°C (Kingston) and many of the sockets lock the card in. If they can be used reliably in a pro DSLR I would think they'd be fine in most applications. \$\endgroup\$ Feb 6, 2021 at 17:43
  • \$\begingroup\$ What Spehro said and also does it need to be portable? \$\endgroup\$
    – Parker
    Feb 6, 2021 at 17:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ For really high temperature (>90-100C) you sometimes seem FRAM used instead of flash. \$\endgroup\$ Feb 6, 2021 at 18:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ -40 to 85 is fine, but i can't guarantee what will the customer use. In fact, i am pretty sure they will use whatever is available an blame me if things happen. \$\endgroup\$
    – user76844
    Feb 6, 2021 at 20:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ Make sure your specifications include the minimum parameters for the cards. You can't control customers, but you can mitigate liability. \$\endgroup\$
    – K H
    Feb 7, 2021 at 2:35

3 Answers 3

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SD cards are common in industrial applications.

There are industrial-grade SD cards. Quick search reveals that most of them are rated for operation -40°C to +85°C, eg. Amtron.

When it comes to vibrations, there are vibration-resistant slots, like this one designed for automotive. Many (arguably most) SD slots are spring-locked, thus already resistant to vibration. That's because even for consumer devices vibration cannot be ruled out.

So unless your particular scenario presents unique challenges, SD card will work.

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Aside from the fact that SD cards are actually available in a lot of temperature ranges I'd call "industrial", for devices where an vibration means that spring-fastened connectors won't do: eMMC, soldered to the board is pretty much a drop-in replacement, if your device supports both SD and eMMCs (and the Zynqs do, IIRC).

If you need interchangeability of storage media, but need to be vibration-resistant: tough problem. I'd guess my solution would probably be eMMC on a carrier board, connected via some appropriately rated connector (and/or secured using machine screws). Alternatives include booting from SPI flash (sloooow) and/or eMMC soldered onto the same board as the Zynq, and as soon as you have Linux (or even just uboot) running doing whatever your hardware supports: PCIe/NVMe, SATA or SAS (if you can load an FPGA image, why not?), USB, network...

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    \$\begingroup\$ Or hard-solder an eMMC to the board and have an SD slot to harvest data and/or update firmware. \$\endgroup\$
    – TimWescott
    Feb 6, 2021 at 19:15
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There are SMT devices that are SD card compatible; look for eMMC or iNAND. A newer, similar technology is Universal Flash Storage (UFS). Either of these might suit your needs. Here's a parametric search that covers some of these devices.

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