Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
relatively low in comparison to the total power consumed.
SSDs are ideal as the boot drive for desktop systems because of their performance. Using an SSD can
drop boot or resume from hibernation times dramatically. SSDs are less ideal for storing large
amounts of data because capacities are less than what is available for conventional HDDs.
Will your next computer contain an SSD? If you buy a tablet, a netbook, or an Ultrabook, the answer
is “very likely.” SSDs are big enough to contain the operating system and applications and are rapidly
dropping in price per GB compared to magnetic storage. Netbooks, Ultrabooks, and other PCs can
use external hard disk drives or cloud-based storage for data storage, and some Ultrabooks include
both a small SSD for use by Windows and a larger hybrid hard disk (magnetic storage with a small
amount of flash memory) for application and data storage. Tablets can use flash memory slots, cloud-
based storage, or both to supplement the capacity of an SSD.
USB Flash Drives
As an alternative to floppy and Zip/SuperDisk-class removable-media drives, USB-based flash
memory devices have rapidly become the preferred way to move data between non-networked
systems. The first successful drive of this type—Trek's ThumbDrive—was introduced in 2000, and
since then hundreds of others have been introduced.
Note
Some USB flash memory drives are even built into watches, pens, bottle openers, and knives
(such as the Victorinox SwissMemory Swiss Army Knife).
Unlike other types of flash memory, USB flash drives don't require a separate card reader; they can
be plugged into any USB port or hub. Any system running Windows XP or later can immediately
recognize, read from, and write to a USB flash drive. As with other types of flash memory, USB flash
drives are assigned a drive letter when connected to the computer. Most have capacities ranging from
2GB to 64GB, but can be as large as 256GB with even larger capacities planned for the near future.
Typical read/write performance of USB 1.1-compatible drives is about 1MBps. Hi-Speed USB 2.0
flash drives are much faster, providing read speeds ranging from 5MBps to 15MBps and write
speeds ranging from 5MBps to 13MBps. SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) flash memory drives are now
available for USB 3.0 ports common on most modern desktops and laptops. Although some USB 3.0
flash memory drives support read/write performance up to 150MBps, the actual interface is designed
to support up to 625MBps (5Gbps). As controllers improve, future USB 3.0 flash memory drives are
likely to provide performance closer to the maximum speed of the interface. Because Hi-Speed and
SuperSpeed USB USB flash drives vary in performance, be sure to check the specific read/write
speeds for the drives you are considering before you purchase one.
USB 3.0 FAQ
Q.
Does my computer support USB 3.0? How can I tell?
A.
USB 3.0 ports use blue connectors and are typically marked with an SS next to the USB fork
icon. In Windows Device Manager, look for an eXtensible Host Controller Interface (XHCI)
controller entry in the Universal Serial Bus category.
Q.
Will my new 32GB SupersSpeed USB thumbdrive run at SuperSpeed or HighSpeed if I use
