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UPGRADE

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12 views2 pages

UPGRADE

Uploaded by

remoabdelrahimk
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Omer Abdelrahim,SD000,0000

Upgrade your data storage


There are two good reasons to upgrade your hard disk drive. You may need more storage capacity
or you may wish to speed up your rig by switching from a mechanical drive to a solid state drive
(SSD).
CAN YOU UPGRADE?
If you can physically upgrade the storage on your
computer, then this is not usually a complicated thing to do Once you are sure you can
and can be carried out with few tools other than a upgrade, find out which of the
screwdriver. While desk-top computers usually have technologies and formats are
plenty of slots for extra disk drives, some slim laptops or compatible with your system.
all-in-one tablets have no provision for upgrading their
storage. If the storage can be upgraded, there may be provision for only certain size or format of
new storage devices, for example 2.5 inch bays or the latest M.2 format. This will restrict the type of
storage that can be installed.
WHICH DRIVE WORKS FOR YOU? familiar 2.5 inch disk
drive and the newer
If you can upgrade, then you need to find out M.2 format stick. The
which sort of drive is compatible with your SATA connected
machine. It is worth considering what sorts of drive will fit in most desk-top computers, while
storage devices are available. Here are some the newer M.2 format requires a special slot
of the current sorts on the market: to be available. This format is becoming
▪ Mechanical hard drives available in high-end and light-weight laptop
computers.
▪ Solid state drives
The M.2 format is effectively a miniature PCI-
▪ SATA connected SSDs Express socket with a theoretical maximum
▪ M.2 format SSDs bandwidth of 32 Gbits/second compared with
6 Gbits/second for SATA connected drives.
MECHANICAL HARD DRIVES M.2 format drives can hit much higher speeds
than are possible over SATA. Premium M.2
These hard drives offer reliable performance
format drives using NVMe technology can
at reasonable prices per gigabyte. They are
deliver close to four times the speed of a
much slower than SSDs and provide
SATA drive.
economical solutions to large capacity
secondary storage where speed is not at a All M.2 have standard dimensions and SATA
premium. They are not recommended as the drives are usually supplied as 2.5 inch format.
main system disk where a smaller SSD will Just bear in mind that there are two
improve boot up time and system thicknesses of SATA drives – 7 mm or 9.5
performance considerably. mm. You may need to check on your laptop
computer whether it is limited to the thinner
SOLID STATE DRIVES size. The use of a spacer can pad the
These are available in two formats; the thickness of a slimmer drive in a 9.5 mm
space.
CAPACITY OR SPEED?
The performance difference between an SSD and a mechanical drive is not only about data transfer
speed, but also on seek time. On a mechanical hard disk the head has to physically move between
different areas of the disk surface as it fetches bits of data for different programs or processes. On
an SSD all locations are instantly addressable so performance is fast, smooth and responsive.

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Omer Abdelrahim,SD000,0000
Type of Storage Benefits Disadvantages
Mechanical hard disk drive Large capacity at relatively Slow, not so good as system
low price per GB drive
Solid state drive (SATA) Fast with commonly available Quite expensive especially
2.5 inch slots for large capacity drives
Solid state drive (M.2 format) Small but very fast Need specialised slot and
expensive
Cloud storage Unlimited storage Not under personal control
A large capacity (up to several terabytes) hard disk drive is economical if speed is not essential, but
economical storage is. Mechanical hard drives are available in both the larger 3.5 inch and the 2.5
inch size. For a primary drive SSD, a capacity of 256 GB or even better 512 GB would be ideal and
affordable. Similarly an M.2 format drive may be used as a primary (system) disk or as super-fast
secondary storage.
So far we have only talked about internal storage. Using an external disk drive to store your data is
also a possibility using any of the drive types discussed here. An advantage of this is that you have
portability of your data and can take it from one computer or location to another. You could also
choose to store your data on a server in the cloud and have it accessible from anywhere that you
can use an internet connection.
UPGRADING TO A NEW SYSTEM DISK
There are several options to transferring the contents of the old disk onto the new disk. One method
is to make a clean install using a version of the operating system on disk. This method will remove
all existing programs you have. These will need to be reinstalled after the new disk is operating. An
alternative method which will preserve your existing programs is to use cloning software (often
supplied with a new disk drive) and make an exact copy of the current disk. This can be quite
straightforward, but if the new disk is a smaller capacity than the one it is replacing may involve you
in deciding what to keep and what to leave out. A third route is to make a virtual image of the source
disk and copy it onto external media, then boot from a disk containing the imaging software choosing
which files to keep.
Good luck if you decide to upgrade your storage.

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