#Ssd drive reviews 2018 how to#

There are smaller SSDs available that use whatвЂ™s called mini-SATA (mSATA) and fit into the mini-PCI Express slot of a laptop. The connector used for these standard sizes is SATA. It comes in a standard 1.8вЂќ, 2.5вЂќ, or 3.5вЂќ size that can fit into the housing and connectors for the same-sized hard drives. The form factor of the SSD can beВ the same as a regular hard drive. The technology is encased inside either a plastic or metal case and looks like nothing more than what a battery might: If you look at the images below, youвЂ™ll see the top and undersides of a typically-sized 2.5вЂќ SSD. Yet, suffice to say, good controller technology is often what separates aВ excellent SSD read/write speed from a lesser one.ДЇinally, you may be wondering what an SSD looks like and how easy it is to replace a hard drive with an after-market device. We wonвЂ™t get into the nitty-gritty details for the various tasks it performs such as error correction, read and write caching, encryption, and garbage collection to name a few.

#Ssd drive reviews 2018 how to#

Decisions it makes related to how to store, retrieve, cache and clean up data can determine the overall SSD speed. The controller is a very important factor in determining the SSD read write speed. In other words, the data storage life of an SSD can outlive you!ДЄn SSD does not have a mechanical arm to read and write data, it instead relies on an embedded processor (or вЂњbrainвЂќ) called a controller to perform operations related to reading and writing data. Regardless, that rumor is certainly not true with todayвЂ™s technology, asВ you can read and write to an SSD all day long and the data storage integrity will be maintained for well over 200 years. During the early days of SSDs, rumors floated around saying stored data would wear off and be lost after only a few years.

This is of course an essential characteristic of any type of permanent memory. What does non-volatile mean you ask? The simple answer is that you can turn off the disk and it wonвЂ™t вЂњforgetвЂќ what was stored on it. As an analogy, whatвЂ™s quicker? Having to walk across the room to retrieve a book to get information or simply magically having that book open in front of you when you need it? ThatвЂ™s how an HDD compares to an SSD it simply requires more physical labor (mechanical movement) to get information.ДЄ typical SSD uses what is called NAND-based flash memory. This difference is what makes SSD speed so much faster. Rather, information is stored in microchips.В Conversely, a hard disk driveВ uses a mechanical arm with a read/write head to move around and read information from the right location on a storage platter. Like memory stick storage, there are no moving parts to an SSD. YouвЂ™re probably familiar with USB memory sticks вЂ“ SSD can be thought of as an oversized and more sophisticated version of the humble USB memory stick. You might be shopping for a computer or storage upgradeВ and simply wondering what the heck SSD actually means? To begin, SSD stands for Solid State Drive.

WeвЂ™ll make no assumptions here and keep this article on a level that anyone can understand. Yet, if performance and fast bootup is your primary consideration and money is secondary, then SSD speed is the way to go.В For the remainder of this article, we willВ make a comparison of SSD and HDD storage and go over the good, the bad, and the ugly of both. Even though the price of SSDs has been falling, the price per gigabyte advantage is still strongly with HDDs. So which of the two is the better choice, SSD storage or HDD storage?В ThereвЂ™s no straight-forward answer to this question each buyer has different needs and you have to evaluate the decision based on those needs, your preferences, and of course budget. Most people now buy laptops for their computing needs and have to make the decision between getting either a Solid State Drive (SSD) or Hard Disk Drive (HDD) as the storage component. For the remainder of this article, we willВ make a comparison of SSD and HDD storage and go over the good, the bad, and the ugly of both. Yet, if performance and fast bootup is your primary consideration and money is secondary, then SSD speed is the way to go.