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Monday, August 6, 2012
The Complete Guide to Solid-State Drives
August 6th, 2012Top StoryThe Complete Guide to Solid-State DrivesBy Adam Dachis
What Is a Solid-State Drive (SSD)?
A new SSD can speed up your computer in several ways:
SSDs have their downsides, however. For starters, an SSD won't hold as much data per dollar as an HDD. For the same $100, you could buy either a 120GB SSD or a 2TB HDD. That means you're paying about 83 cents for every gigabyte on an SSD versus five cents for every gigabyte on your HDD. That's a huge difference in cost, and the gap only grows as you compare larger drives. Luckily, it's not an all or nothing proposition. In the days of cloud storage and streaming media, SSDs provide plenty of space for most people. For those who need more storage than is affordable with an SSD, SSDs and HDDs can coexist on the same system (and we'll discuss those in depth a bit later), so you can enjoy the speed benefits of an SSD without sacrificing on storage. In this post, we're going to walk you through everything you need to know about getting started with your first solid-state drive, from buying the one that suits you best to getting it set up and running most efficiently in your computer. We'll even take a look at a few advanced techniques for those of you who are ready to do even more with your super-fast storage device. Choosing the Right SSD to BuyChoosing the right solid-state drive for you isn't difficult, but the process can be a little overwhelming with so many brands available. In this section, we'll show you what you want to look for when choosing a drive and offer up a few recommendations that have worked well for us. All SSDs are fast, and will feel like a great upgrade from a HDD, but when you're spending significantly more money on a drive that provides less storage you want it to be one of the best. You also want a reliably piece of hardware, and these are both fairly hard to gauge if you have little experience with the technology. Here are the qualities you want to look for in an SSD when you're shopping around:
These are the drives we can recommend from our own experience, but there are many other brands of SSDs available. If you want to shop around and weigh your options, keeping the criteria mentioned in this section in mind will help you find a good, reliable drive. Dealing with the Limitations of Your SSDOne of the most common problems new SSD owners face is adapting their current systems to run on a much smaller drive. Most HDD owners are accustomed to having at least 500GB of storage, if not upwards of 2TB. Downsizing to 120GB or 240GB—the most affordable and popular SSD sizes—can be a tough job. Sacrifices will be necessary, but there are a ways you can make the process a little easier. Often times, you can even use a HDD as your secondary drive for additional storage. Let's take a look at your options. Option One: Start Fresh and Copy the Essentials
Again, this method requires more work but also handles the task of cleaning up your system at the same time. It may be more tedious, but it is an efficient way to solve two problems at once. Option Two: Migrate Your Data from Your Old Hard Drive
Windows users can follow our SSD migration guide for the complete instructions. It comes across as a complex process, but shouldn't take too much time. You also won't have to reinstall Windows. Mac users can follow our MacBook SSD installation guide. While the guide focuses on installing an SSD in a MacBook Pro's optical disc drive bay, if you skip to the second half you'll find instructions on performing a data migration as well. Bonus: Use an External Drive and the Cloud to Combat Storage Constraints
Unless you have enormous collections, an SSD with a 240GB (or higher) capacity should be able house your operating system, documents, music, and photos without issue. It's when you get into the business of music creation, video editing, professional photography, and other work that produces large files will you regularly run into a storage ceiling. An external drive is often the easiest solution, so you'll want to pick up one with a large-enough capacity to suit your needs. If you're looking for a portable drive, the Seagate GoFlex series is worth a look as it not only works with USB 3.0, but can be connected to other ports like Firewire 800 and Thunderbolt by way of adapter. This also provides you with some assurance of compatibility with future technology. When an external drive won't do the trick, and you really need to downsize your space-hungry media collection, the cloud can come to the rescue. Most of the best solutions come from Google because they're both simple and free. Google Play Music allows you to upload your entire audio collection, and doing so will allow you to delete any songs you rarely listen to (or at least move them to an archival hard drive) while still maintaining direct access to them from anywhere you have an internet connection. Picasa can do the same thing for your photos. (Personally, I prefer Flickr, but it isn't free.) When it comes to other data, you have plenty of options. Google Drive is great for various files, Simplenote for text, and Evernote for rich text and PDFs. It doesn't matter so much which services you use, but rather that you start making regular use of the cloud if you have heavy data needs that can't be adequately served by an external or secondary internal drive. Optimize Your SSD for Optimal PerformanceFor the most part, there isn't much you have to do to optimize your SSD. It's already really fast and should do it's job without any adjustment. That said, you can achieve better performance and longevity with a few adjustments. Enable TRIM
Basically, it prevents your SSD from being overused. Just like any component, SSDs have limited lifespans. TRIM helps keep your solid-state disk alive a bit longer, so you want to have it enabled if your drive supports it. Here are instructions on how to find out and enable TRIM in Windows and OS X. Enable or Disable Hibernation Mode
Don't Defragment Your SSDWhen data is stored on a drive, it often ends up in various parts that aren't all in the same place. This is called data fragmentation. It slows down HDDs because the drive's head needs to move from place to place to read all the little bits of information. This can be fixed using a process called defragmentation, which is built into recent versions of Windows (7 and higher) and OS X. Because the location of data on an SSD is pretty much irrelevant, as it can quickly access any of it regardless of where it is, defragging a SSD is not only unnecessary but bad for the drive as well. SSDs have a limited lifespan that's determined by how much they're used. While most will last as long as you'd ever need, defragmenting the disk involves reading and writing data unnecessarily and those actions will shorten your SSD's lifespan. OS X and Windows should know when you're using an SSD and turn off defragmenation automatically. That said, it's important to remember not to defragment your solid-state drive. It provides no real benefit and can shorten its life. You should now be well on your way to a better, faster computer with your solid-state drive. Most of us here at Lifehacker have been enjoying the benefits of SSDs for a few years now and can't imagine going back to a traditional hard drive. Despite the limitations and the cost, they're one of the best investments you can make. We hope you enjoy your SSD as much as we're enjoying ours! Photos by Z-River (Shutterstock), Friedrichan (Shutterstock), and Amazon.  |
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Fake Gamers of the Week: Maybe Don't Drink This Family's Punch
August 6th, 2012Top StoryFake Gamers of the Week: Maybe Don't Drink This Family's PunchBy Kate Cox  There is no color allowed in this family's home. Theirs is a cult of khaki, a wasteland of white.Their mission is to match. Every inch, every item, every tooth, every person, must be white and well-lit. There can be no dissent. And when they have scourged all color from their world, they must play, wholeheartedly and with full devotion. But play they must. Their cult demands full engagement. They are so in tune with the PlayStation that their controllers require neither wires nor charging ports. Perhaps there is no television at all, but a pristine white wall. Father is a true believer. But Mother... there is sometimes a hollowness behind her frozen smile. And—wait! Those are buttons! And they're not even white! They can be seen! This is not the uniform, madam. Those were not the terms. This cannot stand. That's it, boys. Play. Just keep playing. The game is all that matters. Fake Gamer of the Week is Kotaku's weekly tribute to the strange and wonderful stock photo models of the world. Male, female, young, old; the beautiful, the ugly, the strange, and the disconcerting. We've got 'em all, with a new entry every Monday. Past Fake Gamers can be found at the Fake Gamer of the Week archive.   |
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