Table of Contents
Introduction
The solid state hard drive is a data storage device that uses solid state to store data. Technically the SSD is not a disk but may often be referred to as a solid state disk (Morley, 2008). This is because the solid state hard replaces the traditional disk drives. Hard disks have been around for quite a long period of time. Hard disk drives are made up of heads, platters, spindles and magnetic surfaces this has often caused failure of these disk for a long period. The hard disks have an imperfect structural system (Morley, 2008). Solid state drives are constructed in a way that there are no moving parts, moving heads and platters. Data in solid state disks is stored as word length pieces and is easily accessed instantly through the use of a system wide address. The solid state disks use volatile and non volatile storage. NAND which is a non volatile storage mechanism is common in USB drives and memory cards. These are persistent and can be used as hard drives (Biersdorfer, 2009). SDRAM is volatile and requires a different source in order to operate separately from the computer.
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Advantages of solid state drives
Solid state drives have a higher access rate as opposed to hard disks which first need to spin from the head to read sectors of the platter. Usually hard disks experience latency during access of data which occurs when data is being transferred(Biersdorfer, 2009) . The solid state drives do not have a relationship locality and retrieval speed.
The solid state drives have a higher stability than the hard disks this is attributed to lack of moving parts which are vulnerable to mechanical wear. It is important to note that the cost of solid state drives is high as compared to that of regular hard disk.
NAAB is referred to as non volatile because it will not lose its data comments after the computer is turned off. This gives it an advantage over DRAM which loses data after the computer is turned off.SSD also offer silent operation because there are no moving parts. The SSD based on NAND do not require power to operate
The SSD have a greater ability to withstand shocks such as those from accidental falls and vibrations therefore SSD are better suited than the traditional hard disk for mobile laptops, net books and mobile books (Morley, 2008).
SSD also provide a lighter and portable low size storage medium as compared to the traditional discs. The flash SSDs are not only light weight but also have data density twice that of hard discs. The failure of storage in SSDs is lesser than that of that of hard disc. In addition SSDs also do not required fragmentation (Biersdorfer, 2009). Traditional hard discs are not able to access data in multiple sections of the drive instantly. SSDs have the capability to perform multiple reads at one instance.
Disadvantages
Flash drives have a limited life time compared to the traditional hard disks. In addition SSDs do not encrypt data making them less secure. The Capacity f SSDs is less than that of the hard disc. The DRAM based SSDs consume more power because they need to run even when the computer is switched off.
The popularity of SSD is increasing with major companies like Intel adopting the technology. Currently SSD do not threaten to oust hard disks but it is likely in the future for SSDs to dominate due to the ability to perform better with less complexities. Currently Samsung and Intel are seeking to popularise the technology through developing production plans (Morley, 2008).