Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Several individuals are curious to know the meaning of SSD. Moreover,
most of these individuals are unable to find the answers that provide a
simple explanation without being very technical.
The SSD, which is the abbreviation for solid-state drive is a kind of a hard drive. Also referred to as a flash drive, the architecture of the SSD is significantly distinct from the regular hard drives. These drives are provided with specialized memory chips that can be erased and overwritten that contains information even when in the switched off mode. Consider the SSD as the bigger cousin of a memory stick.
Similar
to the standard drives, the SSD uses specialized locations for caching
memory. This memory is useful to increase the speed of processing by
containing information that is frequently used. This ensures that users
do no need to access the primary storage location when the information
is required; it is easily available from the cache memory.
Some of these drives use volatile cache similar to SDRAM, which is the shortened name for synchronous dynamic random access memory. In contrast, some SSDs use non-volatile cache memory. The first type of drive requires power to hold the information, which is similar to the computer’s RAM. The second types of drives hold information even when switched off.
The SSD has numerous benefits in comparison to the conventional drives. The time to recall information is greatly reduced, which makes the SSD fast. The drives are in a sold status, which means there is no possibility of dysfunctional moving components and does not give out huge amounts of heat. Additionally, these drives are lightweight, consume less power, and do not make any noise. In case the SSD falls or down or is banged, the possibility of damage is unlikely, which makes these drives durable.
Nonetheless, the SSDs do have certain limitation when compared to the regular drives. A majority of the SSD write information slower than the regular hard drive. However, this depends on the kind of memory and the number of chips available in the SSD. Although, the cost of the SSD has reduced, these drives are costlier than the regular drives. The SSD has a limited life span with the number of write/erase cycles being limited. At the end of this, the reliability of the SSD is greatly reduced. In comparison, hard drives can lost for at least a decade.
Several individuals associated with the industry forecast SSDs to replace the hard drives in the computers. However, it is expected that by the time, this becomes reality; most of the limitations of the SSD will be overcome or reduced. Currently, the SSD is known to provide an extended life to the notebook’s battery, reduce the machine’s weight, and improve its reading capabilities.
Another limiting factor for wider use is the capacity of these drives. Presently, the hard drive capacity is more than 200 GB information stored in minute two and a half inches hard drives. However, a majority of the SSD launched during the 2007 CS were 64 GB. This implies that the highly priced drives are able to store only a small amount of information in comparison to regular hard drives.
However, these limitations will soon be overcome. Numerous manufacturing companies are developing flash drives with higher capacities that will be priced lower than the presently available SSD. This will have far-flung implications in the notebook storage segment.
The SSD, which is the abbreviation for solid-state drive is a kind of a hard drive. Also referred to as a flash drive, the architecture of the SSD is significantly distinct from the regular hard drives. These drives are provided with specialized memory chips that can be erased and overwritten that contains information even when in the switched off mode. Consider the SSD as the bigger cousin of a memory stick.
Similar
to the standard drives, the SSD uses specialized locations for caching
memory. This memory is useful to increase the speed of processing by
containing information that is frequently used. This ensures that users
do no need to access the primary storage location when the information
is required; it is easily available from the cache memory.Some of these drives use volatile cache similar to SDRAM, which is the shortened name for synchronous dynamic random access memory. In contrast, some SSDs use non-volatile cache memory. The first type of drive requires power to hold the information, which is similar to the computer’s RAM. The second types of drives hold information even when switched off.
The SSD has numerous benefits in comparison to the conventional drives. The time to recall information is greatly reduced, which makes the SSD fast. The drives are in a sold status, which means there is no possibility of dysfunctional moving components and does not give out huge amounts of heat. Additionally, these drives are lightweight, consume less power, and do not make any noise. In case the SSD falls or down or is banged, the possibility of damage is unlikely, which makes these drives durable.
Nonetheless, the SSDs do have certain limitation when compared to the regular drives. A majority of the SSD write information slower than the regular hard drive. However, this depends on the kind of memory and the number of chips available in the SSD. Although, the cost of the SSD has reduced, these drives are costlier than the regular drives. The SSD has a limited life span with the number of write/erase cycles being limited. At the end of this, the reliability of the SSD is greatly reduced. In comparison, hard drives can lost for at least a decade.
Several individuals associated with the industry forecast SSDs to replace the hard drives in the computers. However, it is expected that by the time, this becomes reality; most of the limitations of the SSD will be overcome or reduced. Currently, the SSD is known to provide an extended life to the notebook’s battery, reduce the machine’s weight, and improve its reading capabilities.
Reason why SSD is not used in all computers
As common with other computer peripherals, the limited use of the SSD in all the computers is the high price of these drives. Although, the drives are available since a long time, the price of a SSD is as high as the price payable for the entire notebook that will be used to install the drive. However, the prices are reducing as more companies manufacture these drives and the drive capacities for manufacturing the memory chips expand. The SSD launched during the CS 2007 were priced at half the rates of the drives with the same capacities launched the previous year.Another limiting factor for wider use is the capacity of these drives. Presently, the hard drive capacity is more than 200 GB information stored in minute two and a half inches hard drives. However, a majority of the SSD launched during the 2007 CS were 64 GB. This implies that the highly priced drives are able to store only a small amount of information in comparison to regular hard drives.
However, these limitations will soon be overcome. Numerous manufacturing companies are developing flash drives with higher capacities that will be priced lower than the presently available SSD. This will have far-flung implications in the notebook storage segment.
