Some of the earliest interfaces were the side connectors used in computers (Atari, Commodore) and game consoles (NES, Pegasus). They were connected to cartridges, that is, data carriers with permanently recorded software that could not be changed.
The side connectors used by manufacturers came in various widths and lengths. It was difficult to talk about any standard and compatibility.
With the growing popularity of PC-class computers, standardized side connectors have appeared, which, however, have not been used for connecting storage media for many years.
ATA and SATA interfaces
The main storage medium has become hard disks, which use a magnetic medium to store information. To connect them to a computer, the ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) interface is used, which provides a bandwidth of up to 133 Mb / s.
Photo source: abooth202 / CC BY-ND Its successor is the SATA standard. Currently, it is the most popular interface in desktops and laptops. To connect the drive, two wires are used - for data transmission and power. The interface has gone through three updates. First, that is, SATA-1 provides 150 Mb / s throughput. SATA 2 achieves 300 MB / s, while SATA 3 achieves 600 MB / s.
The progressive miniaturization of devices has led to the necessity of creating additional variants of the SATA standard. One of them is eSATA, which is the version used to connect external hard drives to the computer. Currently, it is increasingly being replaced by USB 3.0 connectors due to the great capabilities and popularity of the latter.
PCI Express, i.e. a return to the side slots
Currently, the PCI Express standard connector is increasingly used, which allows you to bypass the limitation of the SATA III interface, and, at the same time, is available on older devices.
In this case, the data transfer rate exceeds 1 Gb / s. PCI Express is also more energy efficient than SATA. This type of interface is only used on desktop computers.
PCI Express slots vary in length. The cards connected to it use only a certain number of channels. Therefore, a device with two channels can be connected to a slot that has four, eight, or even sixteen channels.
Latest version of PCI Express 3.0 interface. Compatible with legacy devices. The advantage is two-way transmission, thanks to which the data is transmitted simultaneously in two directions.
M.2 standard - for the sake of mobility
The M.2 connector was developed as the successor to the mSATA standard. It takes up less space and allows you to achieve data transfer rates up to 1 Gb / s.
It was originally intended for laptops, but is gaining popularity also in the case of desktop computers.
The standard can use a SATA or PCI Express controller. In the case of the second solution, the drive takes full advantage of the PCI Express controller using a compact M. 2. Before purchasing a hard drive, you should make sure which controller supports the M. 2 connector on the motherboard.
Which solution to choose
For hard drives, the SATA III interface is still sufficient, but for SSD media this standard limits their potential. Currently the most promising solution is a hard drive using a PCI Express controller with an M. 2. If it is not available, a good solution is an M. 2. SSD with an integrated PCI Express adapter.
In the future, solutions using the DDR3 interface may become popular. A prototype of such a device was presented by Sandisk, uLLtraDIMM model... Thanks to this solution, I / O controllers are effectively used, and the response time reaches 5 ms for writing and 150 microseconds for reading.
In the near future, improvements to popular solutions will also appear on the market. PCI Express 5.0 is ready to offer twice the bandwidth of its predecessor. Work is also underway on a new generation of M. 2 connector that will provide data transfer speeds of 7.9 Gb / s.
One thing is for sure, SSDs are the future of storage media with better years ahead.
Installing and configuring an SSD drive has a number of features that you need to pay attention to. Unlike conventional HDDs, SSDs have a limited number of write / read cycles and this should be taken into account if you are not indifferent to its lifespan. Since the first operating system that has full support for SSD is Windows 7 and the new Windows 8 OS, we will consider a number of measures to optimize these operating systems. The main goal of all settings is to minimize the number of write operations to the drive.
Windows 8 optimization has a number of differences, check out.
Before any manipulation of the SSD drive, you need to go into BIOS and switch to AHCI mode. Next, we recommend that you go to the SSD manufacturer's website and check for a newer firmware version if you need to update the firmware to the latest version.
It is strongly recommended that before installing the OS, temporarily disable all hard drives, leaving only the SSD drive. This is necessary in order for Windows to correctly configure itself to work with the SSD drive by disabling all unnecessary services.
- We disable the Prefetch and Superfetch services, for an SSD drive, their use does not make sense. As a rule, with the correct recognition of the SSD drive, Windows 7 independently disables these services, but it will not be superfluous to check.
Install - EnablePrefetcher \u003d dword: 00000000HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. SYSTEM. CurrentControlSet. Control. Session Manager. Memory Management. PrefetchParameters
Install - EnableSuperfetch \u003d dword: 0000000 - Disable automatic file defragmentation, it is not only unnecessary for the SSD drive, but also reduces its lifespan. Attention - if you have Windows 8,
Open Disk Defragmenter (Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Defragmenter)And disable scheduled disk defragmentation
- Some resources recommend disabling the paging file, if there is enough RAM (at least 8 GB), this may be justified. But this statement is controversial and has not been thoroughly verified by anyone!
Open the performance settings (Computer - Properties - Advanced system settings - Advanced - Performance Settings - Advanced - Virtual memory - Change)Install - No swap file
- We prohibit system drivers and user codes that do not fit in memory from dumping into the paging file, and also force the system kernel to be stored in RAM.
Open the registry editor (Start - Run - regedit)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. SYSTEM. CurrentControlSet. Control. Session Manager. Memory Management
Set - DisablePagingExecutive \u003d dword: 00000001 - Deletes the Update Serial Number (USN) change log, which stores an archive of all file changes on the volume. When you change, add, or delete files, directories, and other NTFS objects, the update sequence update log is updated accordingly. These logs are generated for each volume. Each record contains information about the type of change and the changed object.
Enter the command (example for drive C :) - fsutil usn deletejournal / D C:
- Disable Timestamp on NTFS, the last access marks to the folders are updated every time the folder is opened. If the folder being opened contains many child folders, then the opening process may be delayed, so we recommend disabling this mechanism.
Open the registry editor (Start - Run - regedit)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. SYSTEM. CurrentControlSet. Control. FileSystem
Install - NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate \u003d dword: 00000001 - Disable System Restore. Considering that in Windows 7 there is such a powerful tool as Backup and Restore, which allows you to create a system image and restore the system from the image in a matter of minutes. Regular system recovery is losing its relevance more and more.
Open the system properties (Computer - Properties - Additional system settings - System properties - System protection)
Disable System Restore
- Disable indexing for the SSD drive.
We go into the properties of the SSD disk and uncheck the box next to: "Allow indexing of the contents of files on this disk in addition to the file properties"
- Disable Sleep, given the speed of loading the operating system, sleep simply loses its meaning. In addition, this command will free up space on the system disk by deleting the file hiberfil.sysit is in it that the contents of RAM are written when entering hibernation or hybrid sleep mode. Its size is equal to the size of the RAM installed on your computer (and the amount of RAM on modern machines is calculated in gigabytes). Attention - if you have Windows 8,
Open the command line (Start - All Programs - Accessories - Command Line)Enter the command - powercfg -h off
- We prohibit turning off the hard disk, energy saving is highly questionable, and performance suffers noticeably.
Open the power plan setting (Computer - Properties - Performance counters and tools - Power settings)
In the settings, we prohibit turning off the hard drive
- We transfer Temp folders from SSD to HDD, this will significantly reduce the amount of recording on the SSD drive.
Open environment variables (Computer - Properties - Advanced system settings - Advanced - Environment Variables)And we indicate new paths for TEMP and TMP
- We transfer user folders (My Documents, Downloads, etc.) from SSD to HDD. Since many applications and games rely heavily on custom folders, it makes sense to move them to a regular hard drive.
Open the user folder (Computer - System drive - Users - Current user)
Open the properties of the desired folder - Location, and specify a new path(it is better to create a folder in advance in the section where you are going to move the folder)... After that, Windows will ask whether to move the documents from the old folder to the new one, we agree and wait for the end of the process.
Alternative way:
Open the registry editor (Start - Run - regedit)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Software. Microsoft. Windows. CurrentVersion. Explorer. Shell Folders
HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Software. Microsoft. Windows. CurrentVersion. Explorer. User Shell FoldersAnd we indicate new paths to the necessary folders, which must first be copied to a new location.
Alternatively, we also recommend transferring the cache and browser profiles, from SSD to HDD, or even better to. And do not forget that it is recommended to leave up to 25% of free disk space for the TRIM function to work properly. As a result of the implementation of all the recommendations indicated here, the amount of information recorded on the disk should be sharply reduced.
Although SSDs are many times faster than conventional hard drives, this does not mean that solid-state devices cannot be optimized - on the contrary. Of course, this is by no means mandatory, and even if you don't follow the tips in this article, your SSD will provide you with much better performance anyway than any magnetic hard drive. However, if you want to get the best out of what it can do and don't mind reaching peak results, here are some interesting ideas on the topic.
BIOS optimization
After installing the SSD, check which SATA connector it is connected to. This information can be found in the BIOS menu, which can be invoked by pressing the Del or F2 key when turning on the computer - almost immediately after pressing the power button.
Go to the BIOS section responsible for managing disk devices. The title of this section may differ depending on the brand and model of the laptop / motherboard, and if you encounter difficulties in finding it, try looking for the relevant information on the manufacturer's website.
Within this section, make sure the SATA port to which the SSD is connected is configured to use AHCI mode. It is a special interface (Advanced Host Controller Interface) developed by Intel for communication between a disk device and RAM. Unlike the older IDE mode, it allows the SSD to make full use of the transmit power of the SATA channel it is connected to. This is especially important if your laptop / computer has the latest revision of the SATA 3.0 standard (3.0), which provides a peak data transfer rate of up to 600 MB / s. Many modern SSDs are quite capable of supporting this massive bandwidth and, under ideal conditions, will give you read / write speeds of the order of 500-550 MB / s.
The choice of the modern AHCI interface mode brings another plus - the operation of some SSD models in IDE mode can lead to problems with the so-called TRIM support. This is a feature that only modern operating systems support - Windows 7 and newer. Its purpose is to take care of the "good health" of the solid state drive. In reality, TRIM is a command that the system periodically polls the device controller, which is responsible for distributing information over it. In simple terms, TRIM improves the performance of an SSD, but if it is configured to run in IDE mode, the TRIM function may not work properly.
Windows-level optimization
As mentioned above, to get the most out of an SSD, it must have good support at the operating system level. The problem with versions of Windows released before the "seven" is that they are simply not designed to work with disks that have appeared on the market relatively recently. Therefore, my advice to you - if you intend to upgrade from HDD to SSD, first think about upgrading to a modern version of Windows (7 or higher), of course, if you have not already done so.
After connecting the drive, be sure to update your system SATA drivers to the latest, most current version. To do this, your first stop should be at the motherboard / laptop manufacturer's website.
Also, make sure the SSD is using the latest firmware. All SSD manufacturers offer a dedicated service tool for this purpose, which you can find and download on the official website. Many of these tools also offer useful features, not just checking if the firmware is up to date - they include options for general system optimization, such as disabling defragmentation, which not only does not improve the performance of an SSD, but can seriously shorten its lifespan.
This, however, is not the only optimization at the operating system level that can and should be undertaken. Another Windows function that is not necessary and it is desirable to disable it is the so-called indexing of information on the disk. It is designed to speed up searches with large file sizes, but on significantly slower hard drives, and in the case of SSDs, this feature is completely unnecessary. Moreover, like defragmentation, the indexing process is accompanied by a lot of disk accesses, which, as already mentioned many times, can shorten the life of an SSD.
To disable indexing, right-click on your disk's icon, select Properties, and uncheck the Allow indexing of the contents of files on this disk in addition to file properties.
Another useful optimization is to reduce the so-called virtual memory (page file). This is an area on the system disk that Windows reserves for use if there is not enough free RAM to load user applications. In such cases, the system saves on the disk "surplus" information from memory, that is, data that is not currently required, but at the user's request are loaded into the main memory again.
You yourself understand that this is due to multiple read / write cycles from the system partition, which, in the case of an SSD, once again shortens its operating life. Therefore, it is recommended to either reduce the size of the paging file, or (which is preferable) move it to another partition - for example, to an additional hard disk, if you have one.
To do this, right-click on the "Computer" (or "This PC") folder, select "Properties", then "Advanced system settings." In the "Performance" section, click the "Options" button, select the "Advanced" tab and in the "Virtual Memory" section, click "Change".
By default, the location and size of the paging file are automatically detected. To move this file to a different location, turn off the "Automatically select the size of the paging file" option, then from the list below, select a disk / partition that is not the system one and click "Set".
You can disable this feature entirely if you have a really solid amount of RAM - say 16 gigabytes or more. This will not only save precious space on your SSD, but you will also improve overall system performance by forcing Windows to exclusively use RAM, which is even faster than an SSD.
Hibernation is another system feature that isn't really needed if you're using an SSD. If you have read our text on this topic, then you probably remember that hibernation provides a quick start of the operating system and energy efficiency - two issues that are quite efficiently solved using a solid state drive. This makes hibernation unnecessary and it is better to disable it - active use of hibernation will amortize your SSD, making unnecessary disk accesses.
To disable hibernation, press + R on your keyboard, type CMD and press Enter to bring up a command prompt window. Then enter the command powercfg -h off and press Enter. Done - Hibernation is deactivated.
They are rapidly gaining popularity. More and more users decide to try an SSD drive and install an operating system on it. But, most have no experience with this type of drives. Therefore, on thematic forums, they are often interested in how to connect an SSD drive to a computer. In this article, we will look at the process of connecting SSD drives to a desktop computer.
Firstly, the process of connecting an SSD drive to a computer is fundamentally no different from. Therefore, if you know how to connect hard drives, then you will not have any difficulties with connecting an SSD. The only difficulty is how to fix the SSD disk inside the case, but more on that later.
Step # 1. Prepare your computer to connect the SSD drive.
Before proceeding to connect the SSD drive, you must completely disconnect the computer. To do this, disconnect the cable that leads to the power outlet. Then disconnect the rest of the cables and remove the side covers of the system unit. As a rule, they are fixed with four screws at the back of the system unit.
Step # 2. Installing an SSD drive.
An SSD is a completely electronic device. Unlike hard drives, it has no moving parts and therefore does not generate vibration or noise. Therefore, the SSD drive can be installed anywhere in the system unit.
Your task is to choose a place where the SSD can be conveniently fixed so that it does not dangle inside the computer. Otherwise, when moving the computer or next time servicing the computer, the SSD drive may hit other computer components and damage them.
The easiest and at the same time reliable option is in the hard drive bay. But, since the bay for hard drives is designed for 3.5 "devices, and the SSD is made in a 2.5" form factor, we need a special sled (mount). Quite often, these sleds come with the drive itself. If not, you can purchase them separately.
The SSD is attached to the sled with 4 screws that are screwed in from the bottom of the sled. After that, the sled itself is inserted into the system unit into the bay for 3.5 inch hard drives and secured with 4 screws.
As a result
Step # 3. Connect the SSD to the computer.
After securing the sled inside the system unit, you can start connecting cables to the SSD drive. Solid state drives are connected in the same way as modern hard drives, that is, using two.
The wide SATA cable is power, it connects to the computer's power supply. A narrow SATA cable is a data cable that connects to the motherboard.
If it supports SATA 3.0, then the SSD drive is best connected to the SATA 3.0 ports. SATA 3.0 ports provide significantly faster transfer rates to get the most out of your SSD.
SATA 3.0 ports are color coded on the motherboard. Read the instructions for your motherboard in order not to confuse anything.
Modern technologies do not stand still. More modern devices are constantly appearing, which are distinguished by a larger set of capabilities, better quality and higher performance. One such device is a solid state hard drive. In this regard, the question often arises, how to install an SSD in a computer?
But before moving on to the installation, let's take a look at what it is and why do we need this device?
What is SSD
SSD stands for Solid-State Drive, which roughly means solid-state hard drive in Russian. But why is it needed? This is a new type of hard disks that are characterized by high speed of reading and writing information. In other words, when comparing SSDs to older HDDs, the former have much higher data transfer rates.
This, in turn, increases the performance of the PC and shortens the boot time of the operating system. But there is also a drawback. Such drives have certain restrictions on the number of recording and deleting files. In other words, if you constantly copy and delete various files on an SSD, then it will fail after a while, which cannot be said about HDD disks.
But still, even with such limitations, the life of the drive is quite long. And the performance gain, even in games, is quite noticeable. It is worth noting that modern HDD disks have the same interface for connection as a solid-state analogue, so that installing an SDD disk into a computer is quick and easy, without any special costs and difficulties.
Hot keys in Windows 8. Hot keys Windows 8: Video
How to choose a solid state hard drive
So we got to the question of how to install an SSD in a computer. In principle, everything is simple. First, let's look at what interfaces can be for connecting a hard drive. There are several of them:
- ATA (so-called IDE) is an outdated interface that has not been used for a long time. In this case, the data transfer speed is low, and if you have an outdated computer model that uses such a connector, there is simply no point in buying an SDD.
- SATA is a newer interface that replaces the previous one. It has a higher data transfer rate. In turn, SATA is divided into three types:
- SATA 1.
- SATA 2.
- SATA 3.
These types also differ in the data exchange rate. For example, SATA 2 is faster than SATA 1, and SATA 3 is the most modern and fastest interface.
Thus, before buying an SSD, you should find out which connector is available in your PC. For example, it makes no sense to take an SSD with a speed of 600 MB / s if it is connected to SATA 1, since the connection itself will limit the speed to 150 MB / s.
It should be noted that all SATA interfaces are interchangeable. This means that if the motherboard is equipped with SATA 2, then a SATA 3 or 1 cable can be connected to it.
How to Install Windows 8 Gadgets: Video
How to install SDD
So, we made our choice. Now you can move on to the question of how to install SDD into your computer. What is required for this? The first step is to make sure that the interface controller is operating in AHCI mode. This can be done in the BIOS, in the SATA Mode item. ...
If your computer provides the ability to use additional hard drives, then you just have to disassemble the system unit and connect the SSD to one of the SATA interfaces. Most likely, Windows will ask you to format the new drive. This is necessary because in the process of formatting Windows writes the file system to the drive for further work with it.
In this case, you can load the operating system and copy all the necessary data to a new hard drive. However, due to the fact that SDD has the above disadvantage, it is not recommended to use it for storing files. Typically, it is used to install the operating system. In this case, in order not to reinstall Windows after replacing the hard drive, you can install it on a solid-state analog.
Thus, you can use your familiar and customized system, but already on a new, faster and quieter SDD drive. If your computer does not provide the ability to use multiple hard drives at the same time, as, for example, in most laptops, then you will have to perform certain actions.
In the case of a laptop, you will have to disconnect the old hard drive from the computer interface. We see that the device is housed in a special case. We need to remove it and rearrange it to a new solid state analog. As a rule, the body is attached with 4 bolts. After reinstalling the case, insert the hard drive back, in the same way as you disassembled, only in the reverse order.
This concludes. No special drivers are required. The operating system already contains all the necessary software. After the first boot, Windows will detect the new device and automatically install the driver. After that, the system will ask you to restart the PC.
How to install an SSD hard drive in a computer: Video
