What Is a Solid State Drive (SSD)? Advantages of SSD Drives

Solid state refers to an electronic circuit made entirely of semiconductors. Today, most electronics are built around semiconductors and chips. A solid state drive uses semiconductors as its primary storage medium, instead of the magnetic platters of a traditional hard drive.

Similarities and Differences Between Flash Drives and SSDs

SSDs and USB flash drives use the same type of non-volatile memory chips that retain information without power. The difference lies in the drives’ form factor and capacity. A flash drive is designed to stay outside the computer system, while an SSD is designed to remain inside the computer, replacing a more traditional hard drive.

Advantages and Disadvantages of SSDs

Why Should You Use an SSD?

Solid state drives offer several advantages over magnetic hard drives. First, an SSD has no moving parts. While a magnetic drive uses drive motors to spin the magnetic platters and drive heads, all storage in a solid state drive is handled by flash memory chips.

Power usage plays an important role in the use of solid state drives in portable computers. Since there’s no power draw for motors, an SSD uses less electricity than a normal hard drive.

Since the drive doesn’t spin a platter or move drive heads, faster data reads are achieved.

Why Are SSDs Safer?

Reliability is also an important factor for portable drives. Hard drive platters are fragile and sensitive. Small jarring movements from even a short drop can damage the drive.

Since SSDs store their data on memory chips, there are fewer moving parts to be damaged by an impact. Although SSDs are mechanically better, they do have a limited lifespan. This comes from a fixed number of write cycles a drive can undergo before its cells become unusable. However, for most consumers, write cycle limits exceed the lifespan of the computer they’re used in. So there’s no need to worry about this.

Why Aren’t SSDs Used in All Computers?

As with most computer technology, the primary limiting factor in using solid state drives in laptops and desktops is cost. These drives have been available for a while now, and their prices have dropped. However, they still cost roughly three times more, or more, than a traditional hard disk drive for the same storage capacity. The higher the hard drive’s capacity, the bigger the cost difference becomes.

Even with the capacity difference, most computers now have more storage capacity than previous models. Only a large collection of raw digital photo files and high-definition video files would likely fill up a hard drive quickly. As a result, solid state drives generally offer an adequate level of storage for most laptops. Additionally, high-performance external options via USB 3.0, USB 3.1, and Thunderbolt make it fast and easy to add extra storage with an external hard drive for less-needed files.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do you install an SSD?
  Although the instructions vary slightly depending on the brand of SSD you have, you generally need to disconnect all cables from your computer and turn off the power supply. Then open your computer’s case, place the SSD in the appropriate slot, and screw it in. Reconnect the cables. Once installation is complete, check your computer’s BIOS to make sure it recognizes the new SSD.
• How do you wipe an SSD?
  First, back up any data you want to keep, such as photos, software product keys, and documents. Then get a free data destruction program. Install it, run it, and follow the instructions to wipe your hard drive.

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