A Primer on Solid State Drives

Posted by Guest on Feb 5, 2012 in Computer Hardware, Featured | 0 comments

In these modern ages, people who own desktop or laptop computers no longer want to wait for their devices to boot up in the same amount of time it takes to make a cup of brewed coffee, bake a batch of cookies or watch the grass turn brown. Starting the hard drive means to rev it up to retrieve your data. If you want your computer to get started faster, there is something for you. Solid state drives (SSDs) present the best solution for your problem.

An SSD is a data storage gadget which uses a solid state memory when containing data. It utilizes microchips to store data in a non-volatile memory chip. SSD is also more resistant to physical shocks, have lower access time, lower latency and are definitely silent. On the downside, SSD costs more per gigabyte.

Most SSDs have NAND-based flash memory that has the capacity to store data even without power. On the other hand, SSDs with volatile RAM (random access memory) also exist to provide faster access for situations that do not need data persistence after power is lost. Hybrid drives that combine the features of an SSD and HDD into one are also available to improve the performance of the files that are frequently accessed by the user.

Some users of the SSD claim that the experience can be likened to replacing an old car with a new one. Solid-state drives contains no moving parts so there is no need for you to wait for the dither of the drive heads to carry out commands or the disks to spin. SSDs consume less amount of power, making its battery life longer and the computers cooler.
Though the solid-state drives have existed for many decades already, these devices were not practical and affordable until 2008 when major companies such as Toshiba, Samsung, Intel, Corsair, OCZ and Kingston started selling SSDs for just $10 per gigabyte. Since then, prices have gone down, making the SSD more accessible and cheaper for everyone.

Because of this, the sales of solid-state drives have increased throughout the years. According to International Data Corporation analyst Jeffrey Janukowicz, the revenue went up by 150% last year and it is expected to double within the year. Intel, one of the leading companies selling SSDs, began creating the devices because the hard drives were not able to keep up with the increasing speeds of their computer processors.

It is about time to switch to a solid-state drive to make your life better and to take advantage of a faster boot time.