SandForce Data Recovery

Zero Alpha offers professional data recovery for SandForce ssd controllers. SandForce are commonly found in many SSDs and are known for on-the-fly compression and advanced wear management. When these controllers fail, SSDs can become completely inaccessible, show incorrect capacity, or stop detecting altogether. We accept mail in jobs from Australia and worldwide.

SandForce sf-2281 data recovery

SandForce Common Problems

  • SSD not detected in BIOS or Disk Management
  • Drive shows incorrect capacity (0MB or reduced size)
  • Sudden failure after firmware corruption
  • Controller panic state causing permanent BSY condition
  • Data inaccessible due to internal encryption architecture
  • Bad block table corruption preventing normal reads
  • Repeated system freezes when accessing the drive
  • Drive detected but partitions missing or unreadable
  • Power surge damage affecting controller circuitry
  • Firmware update failure rendering SSD unusable

2006–2009: Foundation

SandForce was founded in 2006 in California to develop high-performance SSD controllers. At the time, the SSD market was still emerging, and controller technology was the key differentiator between brands.

In 2009, SandForce launched its first major product line, the SF-1000 series, introducing its “DuraWrite” compression technology — allowing high speeds without requiring external DRAM.

2010–2012: Market Dominance

The SF-1200 and later SF-2200 (including the popular SF-2281) became some of the most widely used SATA SSD controllers in the world.

Many major SSD brands used SandForce controllers, including:

  • OCZ
  • Kingston
  • Corsair
  • Intel (in select models)

During this period, SandForce was considered one of the most innovative controller companies in the industry.

2011: Acquisition by LSI

In 2011, SandForce was acquired by LSI Corporation for approximately $370 million. This marked the end of SandForce as an independent startup.

2014: Transition to Seagate

In 2014, LSI was acquired by Avago Technologies. Shortly afterward, the SandForce SSD controller business was sold to Seagate Technology.

Following this transition:

  • The SandForce brand name was retired
  • Controller development was absorbed into Seagate’s internal engineering
  • No new controllers were released under the SandForce name

SandForce Controller Families

SF-1000 Series (SATA 3Gb/s – 2009 era)

  • SF-1200
  • SF-1222
  • SF-1500

SF-2000 Series (SATA 6Gb/s – 2011 era)

  • SF-2141
  • SF-2181
  • SF-2200 (family name)
  • SF-2281
  • SF-2582

Enterprise / SAS Variants

  • SF-2500 series

Later / Less Common

  • SF-3700 series (announced but limited adoption)