What is the full form of SSD
SSD: Solid State Drive
SSD stands for Solid State Drive. It is a mass storage device similar to a hard disk drive (HDD). It allows reading and writing data and maintains stored data in a permanent state even without power. It can be connected to a computer through standard IDE or SATA connections. SSDs are also known as flash drives or solid-state disks.
SSD is a non-volatile storage media as it is designed with floating gate transistors (FGRs) to hold the electrical charge. Thus it retains the data even when it is not connected to a power source. Each FGR in an SSD contains a single bit of data denoted as 1 for a charged cell and denoted as 0 for a cell without an electric charge.
Components of SSD:
An SSD mainly comprises a Flash Memory Chips and Flash Controller.
- Flash Memory Chip: The data is stored on a solid-state flash memory that contains storage memory. SSD has interconnected flash memory chips, which are fabricated out of silicon. So, SSDs are manufactured by stacking chips in a grid to achieve different densities.
- Flash Controller: It is an in-built microprocessor that takes care of functions like error correction, data retrieval, and encryption. It also controls access to input/output (I/O) and read/write (R/W) operations between the SSD and host computer.
Note: It has no moving parts like an HDD, which has a spinning disk with a read/write head on a mechanical arm called an actuator.
It is designed to deliver high read and write performance for both sequential and random data requests.
The benefits of using an SSD drive:
- Durability: It is more durable than hard drive as it does not have moving parts which may go wrong and produce heat.
- Faster: It offers faster boot times, faster application loading times, and improved system responsiveness.
- Easy to Carry: It is lighter in weight than a hard disk, which makes it better suited for the wear and tear of constant travel.
- More Efficient: It needs less power to work as it does not have moving parts.
- Easy to Install: Anyone can install an SSD with little more than a screwdriver – no previous experience required.