What is SSD?

An SSD (Solid State Drive) is a type of Non-volatile Storage Medium which stores data on flash memory. The SSD is optimized to give high read and write performance for both Random and Sequential Data search. SSDs are referred with name Solid State Disk or Flash Drives.

SSD is not like Hard Disk Drive, which has to move the part to break or spin up or down. As the Hard Disk Drive works over the traditional way, which read and write data through a spinning head in the Hard Disk. Whereas, the magnetic property always doesn’t work in Hard Disk and causes break down. In contrast to this, the SSD reads and write data to a substrate of the interconnected flash memory chip.

SSDs stores data faster as well as performs very well than the fixed disk. SSD can handle heavy read and random workloads very easily and efficiently. SSDs are used in a range of devices and computer games as well. It also includes Digital Cameras, Digital Music Player, Laptop, PCs, Smartphones, Tablets, and Thumb Drives.

What is M.2 SSD?

M.2 SSD is a Solid State Drive (SSD) which is used in a computer system to expand the storage space of data, which is internally mounted a small shaped card. The expansion for storage space card is originally known as the Next-Generation Form Factor (NGFF). The device is a flash fit storage module into a thin and light device, like devices smart gadgets like Razor-Slim Notebook PCs. Generally, M.2 SSD is smaller in size as compared to mSATA SSD.

Basically, M.2 is a revised and improved version of the mSATA standard. The M.2 has been designed to maximize the usage of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) space by minimizing the module footprint. It provides double the storage space and within the footprints of the mSATA device. The M.2 SSD is usually rectangular in shape with an edge connector on a side. It is available in a variety of sizes in terms of shape and storage space both. Samsung the giant Korean Electronic Company released its 970 EVO M.2 SSDs with the storage capacity of up to 2TB. The device is available in GB (Gigabytes) and TB (Terabytes) both.

Normally, the M.2 dimension is measured in 22mm by 80mm. As well as, it supports various width and length; width range from (12, 16, 22 and 30mm) and length range from (16, 26, 30, 38, 42, 60, 80, and 110mm).

The M.2 SSD was specially designed by the PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG) consortium of technology industry vendor and the Serial ATA International Organization. The M.2 module can support applications like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Satellite Navigation, Digital Radio, Near Field Communication (NFC), Wireless WAN, WiGig and Solid State Drives (SSDs).

Difference between M.2 SSD and SATA SSD

1. M.2 SSD and SATA SSD card are different form factors and have different connectors. Both cannot be plugged into the same device.

2. M.2 SSD store data fast and larger amount of data as compared to the SATA SSD.

3. The M.2 SSD supports PCIe 3.0, SATA 3.0, and USB 3.0 interface, whereas, SATA SSD only supports SATA.

4. M.2 PCIe support up to a speed of 4 GB per second, in contrast to this, SATA SSD has a maximum speed of 600 MB per second.

5. M.2 support multiple storage and non-storage use cases in a computer system whereas, SATA support only bus interface strictly for data storage devices.

6. M.2 SSD support up to five times more bandwidth than SATA models. It provides better performance in primary tasks like file transfer, video or photo editing, Compression, and Decompression, and Transcoding.

Benefits of Using M.2 SSD

1. Provides More Speed: The M.2 SSD has more potential than the SATA SSD. The speed is very much evident that M.2 SSD provides about 15x the speed of the fastest hard drive. This will boost up the working speed of the computer and shorten the boot time of the computer as well as shorten load time of video games.

2. Compact Form: The M.2 SSD is compact in size and very much useful for notebooks and laptops, as it sizes approx. the length of your finger. It is very apt for portable devices and hugely reduces the shape and weight of the devices.

3. Reliable: The M.2 SSD is much reliable and don’t physically degrade the device and lasts longer. As the new technology gets into some kind of risks yet it is reliable and provides long-term satisfaction.