Storage system having a host that manages physical data locations of a storage device

A method carried out in a memory system including a memory device and a host device, the method comprising:

• storing, in the memory device, block mapping data that maps a part of a plurality of physical blocks of a nonvolatile memory of the memory device to at least a free physical block or an active physical block, and that indicates an erase count of each physical block mapped;
• receiving the block mapping data from the memory device;
• comparing a first erase count of a free physical block with a second erase count of an active physical block and determining whether a predetermined condition is met;
• and
• upon determining that the predetermined condition is met, copying data in the active physical block to the free physical block, and updating the mapping data to remap the active and free physical blocks to free and active physical blocks, respectively.

A host device comprising:

• an interface connectable to a memory device that includes a nonvolatile memory including a plurality of physical blocks, a physical block being a unit of data erasure;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• receive, from the memory device via the interface, block mapping data that maps a part of the physical blocks to at least a free physical block or an active physical block and indicates an erase count of each physical block mapped,
• compare a first erase count of a free physical block with a second erase count of an active physical block and determine whether a predetermined condition is met, and
• upon determining that the predetermined condition is met, cause the controller to copy data in the active physical block to the free physical block, and cause the controller to update the block mapping data to remap the active and free physical blocks to free and active physical blocks, respectively.