Size is everything in the world of SSDs and first hand proof of this can be seen in any number of ultrabooks, including the Apple MBA. True ultrabook size can only be accomplished through mSATA or M.2 SSDs. Much is the same with external storage where we have seen size reduced significantly, while performance has jumped exponentially with the introduction …

Today’s consumer is a much smarter breed than we all were yesterday.  The simple fact that SSDs are faster, totally silent, create less heat, are significantly more impact resistant and provide longer laptop battery life than the hard drive, just isn’t enough.  Today’s consumer wants to know how this is possible and why. Our introductory two articles in the ‘Learning …

When SSDs were first introduced to the consumer way back in 07/08, many companies understood the value of what could be brought to the table and jumped aboard the new SSD train.  SanDisk was the first to appear, followed by Samsung and Intel, all being NAND flash memory manufacturers.  Several third-party companies were quick to join in through contracts with …

Have you ever wondered how a smart phone, IPOD or even an IPAD can work at such speed and instant access, yet your computer takes over a minute to start?  That question just might be the reason that you have joined us in our series ‘Learning To Run With Flash’ and, if so, congratulations!  You are about to enter a …

Last week I posted the comment on a social site that stated, “If you are a friend of mine and still use a hard drive, I am embarrassed for you”. This drew criticism that I truly never expected, much from friends who responded through private thoughts back to me, some that I would never print. I was definitely taken aback …

It’s been some time since Crucial introduced the M500 Series SSD and, as it was when first released, the M500 remains to be a top value premium SSD offering. At $439 for a 960GB M500, this translates to .43/GB which is still lower than some premium SSDs of half that capacity.  Not so much a difficulty with respect their  target …

The following article is a reprint of a recent post at the LSI Blog that we felt would be of great benefit to our readers.  Our thanks to LSI, Kent Smith and Jeremy Werner for their work and the opportunity to report information that we feel might be a great reading opportunity for our readers.  Please check out the LSI …

Of all the e-mail we receive, perhaps the most surprising are the number that are dedicated specifically to PCIe SSD Cards.  Which has the most capacity?  Will this work for such and such?  Would you trust this for the long-term?  What is the best bang for the buck?  Questions with respect to PCIe SSDs continue to hit our inbox daily, …

Our report today will demonstrate single and RAID tests when we combine the newest ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac motherboard with eight HGST SSD800MM SAS 12Gbps 400GB enterprise SSDs.  Our charts will display how the HGST SSD800MM scales as it is tested on its own, as well as in RAID 0 at X2, X4 and X8 combinations.  We can validate right off …

Some time ago, we conducted a review of a new PCIe Card called the IOSwitch Raijin and it was constructed of a M.2 to PCIe x4 adapter, along with the Plextor M6e native PCIe M.2 (NGFF) 256GB SSD.  At the time, the M6e was an unreleased SSD and it seemed that even Plextor was caught off guard at the publicity …