{"id":41523,"date":"2024-01-09T08:46:53","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T22:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/?p=41523"},"modified":"2024-01-09T08:59:45","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T22:59:45","slug":"understanding-storage-tips-and-tricks-to-make-the-most-of-your-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/geekspeak\/understanding-storage-tips-and-tricks-to-make-the-most-of-your-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Computer storage options explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Inside your PC lurks some form of storage. It must be there, because without it, when you pressed the power button, precious little would happen. Your storage is not only your own documents and files, but also where your applications and computer operating system lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are multiple types of storage, and it can be handy to know what they are and the differences between them, whether you\u2019re in need of new storage, replacement storage, or even when you\u2019re shopping for a new laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we talk about storage in a computer, we\u2019re typically talking about what\u2019s called a hard drive. This is the device (in various forms) where the actual storing of data, all those ones and zeroes that your computer understands, takes place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mechanical Hard Drives: Inexpensive, but not cutting edge<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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The LaCie Portable Hard Drive known for being highly durable<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

For most of personal computing history, if you had a hard drive, it was a mechanical type that used rapidly spinning disks within a solid enclosure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you think of an old-school jukebox that flipped between LPs, you\u2019re a million miles away from the way that a mechanical hard drive works. It too has a reading head that can flip between disk layers to read individual segments of a much more solid disk than your typical vinyl LP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mechanical drives<\/a> still have a place today in computing, largely because they\u2019re still \u2013 just \u2013 the most cost-effective models on a price-per-gigabyte level. However, that\u2019s offset by the fact that, because there is a mechanical moving component to this type of hard drive, they\u2019re slower than the other prevalent form of storage for your computer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SSDs: Super-fast, Super-Flexible<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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The WD My Passport SSD Drive can transfer data at lightning speeds<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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The other competing memory standard for hard drives \u2013 and other storage media \u2013 are SSDs, or Solid State Drives<\/a> to unpack that acronym for you. SSDs have no moving parts, storing all the data electronically on silicon chips in essence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SSDs can be massively faster than mechanical drives within a PC, because \u2013 again going back to my LP analogy \u2013 there\u2019s little of the same seek time waiting for a needle to hit just the right part of a track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SSDs are also quite a bit more flexible, because the shaping of the silicon wafers can encompass smaller or larger storage devices. That\u2019s not just a question of capacity but also physical volume. Switching to external drives, an external SSD will typically be quite a lot smaller than an external mechanical hard drive of the same storage capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Geeks2U can supply and install a new SSD<\/h2>\n

If your computer has slowed down recently, you need a Geek. Our SSD Upgrade Service can boost your existing computer\u2019s performance and extend it\u2019s life so you don\u2019t need to rush out and buy a new one. You can purchase our SSD Upgrade Service exclusively from Officeworks.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why isn\u2019t everything SSD?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SSDs are faster, quieter and more energy efficient than traditional hard drives, but there are some challenges that mean that mechanical hard drives still have their place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a start, while SSD prices have dropped in recent years, they\u2019re still comparatively pricey, so those on a budget still tend to flock to mechanical drives, especially for higher capacity drives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other factor relates to the core technologies within an SSDs. Most are rated for a set number of reading and writing cycles, but critically when an SSD fails, it\u2019s considerably harder to recover any data from it. It\u2019s not exactly easy from a mechanical drive either, which is why specialised data recovery is so pricey, but in many cases of SSD failure, it\u2019s downright impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do USB Flash drives fit into all of this?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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The SanDisk iXpand has both a USB and Lightning connections<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USB Flash drives<\/a> \u2013 those near ubiquitous \u201cthumb drives\u201d count as storage too. They\u2019re broadly using the same technologies as SSDs, but with simpler control interfaces and typically much lower speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re after a simple and cheap way to transport file, a USB Flash drive is a great option, because they\u2019re very inexpensive. However, the flip side of that is that they\u2019re not as well built as most external SSDs or mechanical hard drives, and even harder to recover data from in the event of a disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is my hard drive so slow?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a couple of reasons why you might hit less-than-stellar speeds on a hard drive. As noted, mechanical drives are the slowest of the species, so if you\u2019re using one of those, they\u2019ll be a little less nippy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re using an external hard drive, the interface you use also matters a lot. While USB is the standard here, and most simply use a rectangular USB A type plug, the speeds of different USB ports on your computer end will also influence your overall speed. Plug a super-fast SSD into a USB 2.0 port, and you\u2019ll get much slower speed than if it\u2019s USB 3 or better. Look for ports with a small blue strip edge connector within or check your computer\u2019s specifications to avoid using slower ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also matters what you\u2019re copying to or from an external drive. Computers can handle single larger files with better overall speed than lots of smaller ones, even if the combination of those smaller files amounts to less data!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of it this way: If you had one big box to shift across a room, you might move slowly shifting it, but it all goes at once, so the rate of movement is quite regular. That\u2019s our single large file. If you\u2019re copying thousands of files in a directory, it\u2019s like there\u2019s thousands of tiny boxes, and each one must be picked up individually. Easier to carry as singles, but lots of journeys across the room before you\u2019re finally done. The relative age, quality and condition of your computer counts as well, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Geeks2U are data experts<\/h2>\n

Whether you need help transferring, backing up or protecting, Geeks2U can help you get on top of your data. Call us today for a free, no-obligation quote.<\/p>\n

\n \n \n \n \n <\/use>\n <\/svg>\n Get in touch <\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inside your PC lurks some form of storage. It must be there, because without it, when you pressed the power button, precious little would happen….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4234],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data-recovery"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41523"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45222,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41523\/revisions\/45222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}