The first SSDs, or solid-state drives using flash memory, appeared in 1995, and were used exclusively in the military and aerospace sectors. The huge cost at that time was compensated by unique characteristics that allowed the operation of such disks in aggressive environments over a wide temperature range.

SSD drives appeared in the mass market not so long ago, but quickly became popular as they are a modern alternative to a standard hard drive ( HDD). Let’s figure out what parameters you need to use to choose a solid-state drive, and what it actually is.

Device

Out of habit, an SSD is called a “disk”, but it can rather be called a “ solid parallelepiped", since there are no moving parts in it, and nothing shaped like a disk either. The memory in it is based on the physical properties of the conductivity of semiconductors, so an SSD is a semiconductor (or solid-state) device, while a regular hard drive can be called an electro-mechanical device.

The abbreviation SSD just means “ solid-state drive", that is, literally, " solid state drive" It consists of a controller and memory chips.

The controller is the most important part of the device that connects the memory to the computer. The main characteristics of an SSD—data exchange speed, power consumption, etc.—depend on it. The controller has its own microprocessor that operates according to a preinstalled program and can perform the functions of correcting code errors, preventing wear, and cleaning debris.

Memory in drives can be either non-volatile (NAND) or volatile (RAM).

At first, NAND memory outperformed HDD only in the speed of access to arbitrary memory blocks, and only since 2012 the read/write speed has also increased many times over. Now in the mass market, SSD drives are represented by models with non-volatile NAND memory.

RAM memory has ultra-fast read and write speeds, and is built on the principles of computer RAM. Such memory is volatile - if there is no power, the data is lost. Typically used in specific areas, such as speeding up work with databases, it is difficult to find on sale.

Differences between SSD and HDD

SSD distinguishes it from HDD primarily as a physical device. Thanks to this, it boasts some advantages, but also has a number of serious disadvantages.

Main advantages:

· Performance. Even from the technical characteristics it is clear that the read/write speed of an SSD is several times higher, but in practice the performance can vary by 50-100 times.
· No moving parts, and therefore no noise. This also means high resistance to mechanical stress.
· Random memory access speed is much higher. As a result, the speed of operation does not depend on the location of files and their fragmentation.
· Much less vulnerable to electromagnetic fields.
· Small dimensions and weight, low power consumption.

Flaws:

· Resource limitation for rewrite cycles. This means that a single cell can be overwritten a certain number of times - on average, this figure varies from 1,000 to 100,000 times.
· The cost of a gigabyte of volume is still quite high, and exceeds the cost of a regular HDD several times. However, this drawback will disappear over time.
· Difficulty or even impossibility of recovering deleted or lost data due to the hardware command used by the drive TRIM, and with high sensitivity to changes in supply voltage: if memory chips are damaged in this way, information from them is lost forever.

In general, solid-state drives have a number of advantages that standard hard drives do not have - in cases where performance, access speed, size and resistance to mechanical loads play a major role, SDD persistently replaces HDD.

How much SSD capacity will you need?

The first thing you should pay attention to when choosing an SSD is its capacity. There are models on sale with capacities from 32 to 2000 GB.

The decision depends on the use case - you can install only the operating system on the drive, and be limited by the capacity SSD 60-128 GB, which will be quite enough for Windows and installation of basic programs.

The second option is to use the SSD as the main media library, but then you will need 500-1000%20%D0%93%D0%B1%0A" rel="noopener nofollow">a disk with a capacity of 500-1000 GB, which will be quite expensive. This only makes sense if you work with a large number of files that need to be accessed really quickly. For the average user, this is not very rational price/speed ratio.

But there is one more property of solid-state drives - depending on the volume, the write speed can vary greatly. The larger the disk capacity, the faster the recording speed, as a rule. This is due to the fact that an SSD is capable of using several memory crystals in parallel at once, and the number of crystals grows along with the volume. That is, in identical SSD models with different capacities of 128 and 480 GB, the difference in speed can vary by about 3 times.

Considering this feature, we can say that now the most optimal choice in terms of price/speed can be called 120-240 GB SSD models, they will be enough to install the system and the most important software, and maybe even for several games.

Interface and form factor

2.5" SSD

The most common SSD form factor is the 2.5-inch format. It is a “bar” with dimensions of approximately 100x70x7mm; they may vary slightly among different manufacturers (±1mm). The interface for 2.5” drives is usually SATA3 (6 Gbit/s).

Advantages of the 2.5" format:

• Prevalence on the market, any volume available
• Convenient and easy to use, compatible with any motherboard
• Reasonable price

Disadvantages of the format:

• Relatively low speed among ssds - up to a maximum of 600 MB/s per channel, versus, for example, 1 Gb/s for the PCIe interface
• AHCI controllers that were designed for classic hard drives

If you need a drive that is convenient and easy to mount in a PC case, and your motherboard only has SATA2 or SATA3 connectors, then 2.5%E2%80%9D%20SSD%20%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BA %D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%0A" rel="noopener nofollow"> 2.5" SSD drive- This is your choice. The system and office programs will obviously load faster compared to the HDD, and the average user will not notice much of a difference with faster solutions.

mSATA SSD

There is a more compact form factor - mSATA, dimensions 30x51x4 mm. It makes sense to use it in laptops and any other compact devices where installing a regular 2.5” drive is impractical. If they, of course, have an mSATA connector. In terms of speed, this is still the same SATA3 specification (6 Gbit/s) and does not differ from 2.5".

M.2 SSD

There is another, most compact M.2%0A"rel="noopener nofollow">form factor M.2, gradually replacing mSATA. Designed mainly for laptops. Dimensions - 3.5x22x42(60.80) mm. There are three different lengths of the strips - 42, 60 and 80 mm , pay attention to compatibility when installing into your system.Modern motherboards offer at least one U.2 slot for the M.2 format.

M.2 can be either a SATA or PCIe interface. The difference between these interface options is in speed, and quite large at that - SATA drives boast an average speed of 550 MB/s, while PCIe, depending on the generation, can offer 500 MB/s per lane for PCI-E 2.0. and speeds up to 985 Mb/s per PCI-E 3.0 line. Thus, an SSD installed in a PCIe x4 slot (with four lanes) can exchange data at speeds of up to 2 Gb/s in the case of PCI Express 2.0 and up to almost 4 Gb/s when using PCI Express third generation.

The differences in price are significant; an M.2 form factor drive with a PCIe interface will cost on average twice as much as a SATA interface with the same capacity.

The form factor has a U.2 connector, which can have connectors that differ from each other by keys - special “cutouts” in them. There are keys B and , as well as B&M. They differ in speed on the PCIe bus: the M key will provide speeds up to PCIe x4, the M key will provide speeds up to PCIe x2, as well as the combined B&M key.

(4:medium)(6:medium)

The B-connector is incompatible with the M-connector, the M-connector, respectively, with the B-connector, and the B&M connector is compatible with any. Be careful when purchasing SSD%0A%20%D1%84%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%20 M.2%0A" rel="noopener nofollow">M.2 SSD, since the motherboard, laptop or tablet must have a suitable connector.

PCI-E SSD

Finally, the last form factor in existence is SSD%0A,%20%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BA%20%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%20%D1%80%D0%B0%D1% 81%D1%88%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F%20 PCI-E%0A"rel="noopener nofollow">SSD, like a PCI-E expansion card. Mounted, respectively, in a PCI-E slot, they have the highest speed, about 2000 MB/s read and 1000 MB/s write. Such speeds will cost you a lot: it is obvious that you should choose such a drive for professional tasks.

NVM Express

There are also SSDs that have a new logical NVM%20Express%0A"rel="noopener nofollow">NVM Express interface, designed specifically for solid-state drives. It differs from the old AHCI in even lower access latencies and high parallelism of memory chips due to a new set of hardware algorithms.
There are models on the market with a connector M.2, and in PCIe. The only downside of PCIe here is that it will take up an important slot, which may be useful for another board.

Since the NVMe standard is designed specifically for flash memory, it takes into account its features, while AHCI is still only a compromise. Therefore, NVMe is the future of SSDs and will only improve over time.

What type of SSD memory is better?

Let's look at the types of SSD memory. This is one of the main characteristics of an SSD, which determines the cell rewriting resource and speed.

MLC (Multi-Level Cell)- the most popular type of memory. Cells contain 2 bits, as opposed to 1 bit in the old type SLC, which is almost no longer on sale. Thanks to this, there is a larger volume, which means lower cost. Recording resource from 2000 to 5000 rewrite cycles. In this case, “overwriting” means overwriting each cell of the disk. Therefore, for a 240 GB model, for example, you can record at least 480 TB of information. So, the resource of such an SSD, even with constant intensive use, should be enough for about 5-10 years (during which time it will still become very outdated). And for home use, it will last for 20 years, so the limited rewrite cycles can be ignored altogether. MLC is the best combination of reliability/price.

TLC (Triple-Level Cell)- from the name it follows that here 3 bits of data are stored in one cell at once. The recording density here is higher by as much as 50% compared to MLC, which means the rewriting resource is less - only 1000 cycles. The access speed is also lower due to the higher density. The cost now is not much different from MLC. It has been widely used in flash drives for a long time. The service life is also sufficient for a home solution, but the susceptibility to uncorrectable errors and “dying out” of memory cells is noticeably higher, and during the entire service life.

3D NAND- This is rather a form of memory organization, and not its new type. There is both MLC and TLC 3D NAND. Such memory has vertically arranged memory cells, and an individual memory crystal in it has several levels of cells. It turns out that the cell has a third spatial coordinate, hence the prefix “3D” in the name of the memory - 3D NAND. It is distinguished by a very low number of errors and high endurance due to a larger technical process of 30-40 nM.
The manufacturer's warranty for some models reaches 10 years of use, but the cost is high. The most reliable type of memory available.

Differences between cheap SSDs and expensive ones

Disks of the same capacity, even from the same manufacturer, can vary greatly in price. A cheap SSD may differ from an expensive one in the following ways:

· Cheaper type of memory. In ascending order of cost/reliability, conditionally: TLC ≥ MLC ≥ 3D NAND.
· Cheaper controller. Also affects read/write speed.
· Clipboard. The cheapest SSDs may not have a clipboard at all; this does not make them much cheaper, but it noticeably reduces their performance.
· Protection systems. For example, expensive models have protection against power interruption in the form of backup capacitors, which allow the write operation to be completed correctly and not lose data.
· Brand. Of course, a more popular brand will be more expensive, which does not always mean technical superiority.

Conclusion. What is more profitable to buy?

It's safe to say that modern SSD drives are quite reliable. The fear of data loss and the negative attitude towards solid-state drives as a class are completely unjustified at the moment. If we talk about more or less popular brands, then even cheap TLC memory is suitable for budget home use, and its resource will last you for at least several years. Many manufacturers also provide a 3-year warranty.

So, if you are on a budget, then your choice is SSD%0A%20%D1%91%D0%BC%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C%D1%8E%20%D0%B2%20 60-128%20%D0%93%D0%B1%0A" rel="noopener nofollow">SSD with a capacity of 60-128 GB for installing the system and frequently used applications. The type of memory is not so critical for home use - it will be TLC or MLC, the disk will become obsolete before the resource runs out. All other things being equal, Of course, it's worth choosing MLC.

If you are ready to look into the mid-price segment and value reliability, then it is better to consider SSD MLC 200-500 GB. For older models you will have to pay about 12 thousand rubles. At the same time, the volume is enough for you for almost everything that needs to work quickly on your home PC. You can also take models of even higher reliability with 3D%20NAND%0A" rel="noopener nofollow">3D NAND memory crystals.

If your fear of flash memory wearing out reaches panic levels, then it's worth looking at new (and expensive) technologies in the form of 3D%20NAND%0A" rel="noopener nofollow">3D NAND drive format. And jokes aside, this is the future of SSDs - high speed and high reliability are combined here. Such a drive is suitable even for important server databases, since the recording resource here reaches petabytes, and the quantity errors are minimal.

I would like to highlight SSD %20%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%20 in a separate group %D1%81%20%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%84%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%BC %20 PCI-E" rel="noopener nofollow">SSD drives with a PCI-E interface. They have high read and write speeds (1000-2000 MB/s), and are on average more expensive than other categories. If you put performance at the forefront, then this is the best choice Disadvantage - it takes up a universal PCIe slot; motherboards of compact formats may only have one PCIe slot.

Beyond competition - SSD with NVMe logical interface, the reading speed of which exceeds 2000 MB/s. Compared to the compromise logic for SSDs, AHCI has much greater queue depth and parallelism. High price in the market, and the best characteristics - the choice of enthusiasts or professionals.

27. 05.2017

Blog of Dmitry Vassiyarov.

SATA interface - features and characteristics of this port

Good day, dear friends.

Do you often come across the phrase “SATA interface”, your friends talk about it, but you have no idea what it is? Then you should read this article, from which you will not only get an answer to this question, but also learn to understand the generations of connectors of this family.

Debriefing

Let's start with what the interface is. It is a means of interaction between two devices; in this case between the motherboard and the hard drive. It consists of a controller, signal lines and a special protocol - the rules by which this particular type of interface works. To make it clearer, physically it is a connector on the motherboard where the HDD is inserted.

SATA in English stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, which means “consistent application of the latest technologies.” The first word in this case plays a key role, since it is it that determines the type of this interface - it is sequential.

This means that data is transferred bit by bit - one at a time - over a certain period of time. I focus on this for a reason, because the predecessor of SATA is PATA () - a parallel interface that transmitted information several bits at once. It is currently considered obsolete and is therefore not used.

Development of the sat started in 2000 by leading companies in the computer market of that time and today, including Dell, Seagate, Maxtor, APT Technologies, Quantum, etc. They began to integrate the connector into boards everywhere in 2003.

Advantages

SATA is considered better because it transmits information faster and has thinner wires. Another plus is the reduced operating voltage due to the reduced number of contacts and microcircuits, so the controllers generate less heat, therefore do not overheat and last longer.

Judge for yourself, SATA has 7 pins, while PATA had 40. Also, the improved shape of the cable makes it resistant to multiple connections.

In addition, the outdated interface involved connecting 2 devices to one cable, while the modern one has separate wires for each gadget. Thus, all devices can operate simultaneously, delays in data transmission and possible problems during the assembly of components are eliminated.

Types of SATA

To work with any SATA interface, 2 cables are used: 7 pins for information exchange and 15 pins for connecting power. Instead of the latter, a 4-pin Molex connector can be used. The power cable supplies voltages of 5 and 12 V. The width of the wire is 2.4 cm.

The differences between the types are the data transfer speed and bus frequency. Let's look at the existing generations:

• SATA. The model that came out first. Now it is practically not used. Its bus operated at a frequency of 1.5 GHz, which is why the throughput did not exceed 150 Mb/s.
• SATA 2. The interface first appeared in 2004 on the nForce 4 chipset of the NVIDIA brand. Externally: the same as the previous option. The frequency has been increased to 3 GHz, thereby increasing the speed of information exchange to 300 Mb/s.
• SATA 3. Release took place in 2008. Traditionally, performance has doubled (600 MB/s). Compatibility between devices designed for previous generations has been maintained.

After the release of this interface, 2 more modifications were released:

- 3.1 (2011). Among the innovations: Zero-power optical drive (does not consume energy in sleep mode), mSATA (connector for portable and solid-state hard drives, netbooks and mobile gadgets), Queued TRIM Command (increases the productivity of SSD drives), Hardware Control Features (performs host identification of device capabilities). Data is transferred at the same speed as in the 3rd generation.

- 3.2 - SATA Express (2013). This family has merged with PCIe, that is, the software interface is compatible with SATA, but PCIe is considered the carrier connector.

Physically, this model is designed as two adjacent SATA ports, so you can simultaneously connect devices designed for interfaces of previous generations and directly for Express. The data transfer speed has increased significantly: up to 8 Gb/s if 1 connector is used, and up to 16 Gb/s if both are used.

eSATA

This type of interface should be separated into a separate group. Because it is designed to connect devices from the outside. This is indicated by the first letter in the name, which carries the concept “External” (external). The connector appeared in 2004.

Compared to the first generation SATA:

• More reliable performance;
• The wire was extended from 1 m to 2 m;
• Various signal levels are used.

The downside of this version is the need for a special cable to connect gadgets. The disadvantage was eliminated in the next modification - eSATAp - by introducing USB 2.0 technology, with information transmitted via wires with voltages of 5 and 12 V.

Determine the interface version.

How do you find out which SATA connector your motherboard and the devices connected to it have? There are several ways to do this:

• Read the technical specifications of your model in the instructions or on the official website.
• View the inscriptions directly on the motherboard.

• Use the CrystalDiskInfo utility. After installation, a window will open where complete information about your hardware will be presented.

Here is the website of this program: http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

If you are planning to buy a new screw, but the model you like does not match the connector on the motherboard, do not rush to abandon your choice, as special adapters for the SATA interface are sold.

I look forward to seeing you on the pages of my blog again.

One of the first interfaces was the side connectors used in computers (Atari, Commodore) and game consoles (NES, Pegasus). They were connected to cartridges, that is, storage media with permanently recorded software that could not be changed.

The side connectors used by manufacturers came in a variety of widths and lengths. It was difficult to talk about any standard and compatibility.

With the growing popularity of PC-class computers, standardized side connectors appeared, which, however, were not used for connecting storage media for many years.

ATA and SATA interfaces

The main storage medium has become hard drives, which use magnetic media to store information. To connect them to a computer, the ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) interface is used, which provides a throughput of up to 133 Mb/s.

Photo source: abooth202 / CC BY-ND

Its successor is the SATA standard. Currently, it is the most popular interface in desktop computers and laptops. To connect the drive, two wires are used - for data transfer and power. The interface has gone through three updates. First, that is, SATA-1 provides a throughput of 150 Mb/s. SATA 2 allows you to reach 300 Mb/s, while SATA 3 – 600 Mb/s.

The progressive miniaturization of devices has led to the need to create additional variants of the SATA standard. One of them is eSATA, that is, the version used to connect external hard drives to a computer. Currently, it is increasingly being replaced by USB 3.0 connectors due to the greater capabilities and popularity of the latter.

PCI Express, that is, a return to side connectors

Currently, the PCI Express connector is increasingly used, which allows you to bypass the limitation of the SATA III interface, and, at the same time, is available on older devices.

The data transfer rate in this case exceeds 1 Gb/sec. PCI Express is also more energy efficient than SATA. This type of interface is only used on desktop computers.

PCI Express slots come in different lengths. Cards connected to it use only a certain number of channels. Therefore, a device with two channels can be connected to a slot that has four, eight, or even sixteen channels.

Latest version of PCI Express 3.0 interface. Compatible with devices of previous generations. The advantage is two-way transmission, due to which data is transmitted simultaneously in two directions.

M.2 standard – for the sake of mobility

The M.2 connector was designed as a successor to the mSATA standard. It takes up less space and allows data transfer rates of up to 1 Gb/sec.

It was originally intended for laptops, but is also gaining popularity in the case of desktop computers.

The standard can use a SATA or PCI Express controller. In the case of the second solution, the drive uses all the capabilities of the PCI Express controller using a compact M. 2 connector. Before purchasing a hard drive, you should make sure which controller supports the M. 2 connector on the motherboard.

Which solution to choose

For hard drives, the capabilities of the SATA III interface are still sufficient, but for SSD media, this standard limits their potential. Currently, the most promising solution is a hard drive that uses a PCI Express controller with an M. 2 connector. If this is not available, a good solution is to use an M. 2. solid-state drive with a built-in adapter for the PCI Express connector.

In the future, solutions using the DDR3 interface may become popular. A prototype of such a device was presented by Sandisk, model ULLtraDIMM. Thanks to this solution, I/O controllers are effectively used, and response times reach 5 ms when writing and 150 microseconds when reading.

Improvements to popular solutions will also appear on the market in the near future. The PCI Express 5.0 standard is ready to offer twice the bandwidth compared to its predecessor. Work is also underway on a new generation of the M. 2 connector, which will provide data transfer speeds of 7.9 Gb/s.

One thing is for sure, SSD drives are the future of storage media, the best years of which are yet to come.

For many users, the SATA Express interface appeared almost out of nowhere, quickly bursting into the familiar environment of computer technology. And all thanks to Intel and its partners. The first ensured its integration into Intel 9-series chipsets, and the second ensured its implementation in new motherboards created on the basis of the specified system logic sets. It is noteworthy that until the spring of 2014, only computer enthusiasts and specialized specialists knew about the development of the SATA Express (SATA 3.2) specification. What is SATA Express? Where did he come from and what is his purpose? What should we prepare for in the future?

To give comprehensive answers to these questions, let's look into the history of ATA interfaces, because everything in our lives is interconnected and any event is, on the one hand, the logical conclusion of the reasons that gave rise to it, and on the other, the reason for subsequent incidents.

So, let's think back to 2003, when the first generation SATA interface specification, known as SATA 1.5 Gb/s, was introduced. It replaced AT Attachment, which was later renamed Parallel ATA (PATA). Since AT Attachment at one time “grew” from the Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) standard developed by Western Digital, many remember it precisely as IDE. Why did it become necessary to replace the PATA interface? Firstly, a problematic issue was the further increase in its throughput, which over the history of its existence increased from 16 to 133 MB/s. Secondly, there was a rather complex and expensive implementation of cables, which used 40 or 80 lines. In addition, they were inconvenient to install in computer cases, taking up a lot of space. Thirdly, it should be recalled that PATA drives cannot be “hot” swapped. Fourthly, we should not forget about the problematic implementation of queuing protocols when processing data. These and other reasons forced us to abandon the parallel interface and move to a more compact and promising serial one.

The SATA interface evolved quite quickly and already in 2009 the SATA 6 Gbit/s version appeared with a maximum theoretical throughput of 600 MB/s or 4.8 Gbit/s. In practice, speeds reach 550 MB/s, which is currently more than enough for most ordinary users, for example, to operate SSD drives.

But almost the same reasons that at one time led to the abandonment of PATA and the transition to SATA became the path to the further development of this interface - the circle was closed and its life cycle entered the final stage. When experts began working on the next increase in SATA bandwidth (SATA 12 Gb/s specification or SAS 3.0), they noticed that it was quite difficult to achieve the desired result. Firstly, the implementation of logic becomes significantly more complicated, which leads to the need to integrate additional blocks, increase the controller area and increase the cost of its production. Secondly, the complexity of implementing the operating protocol increases significantly. Thirdly, not all lines operate stably when the data transfer rate increases to 12 Gbit/s. Another negative point was the increase in power consumption, which is absolutely unacceptable in modern realities, because energy efficiency is one of the priorities when developing new devices. Ultimately, the SATA 12 Gb/s interface would take several more years to operate effectively at its performance limits, so its integration would be unlikely to pay off in home systems.

What was the way out of this situation? Quite simple: take a familiar and promising interface that has already proven itself well. We are talking about PCI Express. Let us recall that in the PCI Express 2.0 specification, one line provides information transfer at a speed of 500 MB/s in each direction, that is, we get an overall figure of 1 GB/s, which is significantly higher than 600 MB/s for SATA 6 Gbit/s. The number of lines involved can be increased, which guarantees excellent scalability in the future, and the transition to new versions of the standard will also improve speed performance. In particular, the PCI Express 3.0 version already offers speeds of 985 MB/s in each direction (1970 MB/s in both directions). For PCI Express 4.0, this figure will already be at the level of 1969 MB/s (3938 MB/s in two directions). As we can see, the potential is enormous.

What else does PCI Express have to offer? Firstly, very broad integration, because absolutely all desktop processors include a controller for this bus. Secondly, it is quite energy efficient. Thirdly, the use of the Separate Reference Clock with Independent Spread Spectrum Clocking or SRIS architecture, which was developed and implemented by ASUS engineers, eliminates the need for the host controller to use a separate clock generator. This ensures the transition to cheaper PCIe cables and guarantees correct recognition of SATA Express devices.

Adding up all these factors gives us simplicity of the final implementation, ease of increasing the level of performance, relatively low financial costs for further development and fairly high energy efficiency.

And again, we note similar historical points: for better compatibility, SATA Express is based on the SATA standard, just as in its time SATA used the ATA base to more easily replace the PATA interface. Who said history doesn't repeat itself?

As you may have guessed, SATA Express is essentially just a “bridge” that transfers computer equipment to the high-speed capabilities of the PCI Express interface, while maintaining compatibility with the traditional connector. That is why IT specialists define SATA Express primarily as a specification for a new type of connector that allows routing of PCI Express and SATA interface signals.

Along with SATA Express, the M.2 interface also actively entered the scene, which is simply a smaller implementation of the same SATA Express, but with the additional use of USB 3.0 lines. However, the ultimate purpose of these interfaces is the same: to make the transition from SATA capabilities to the potential of PCI Express.

What do we have at the moment? The first motherboards used the SATA Express interface with two PCI Express 2.0 lanes. That is, their maximum throughput is 2 GB/s or 16 Gbit/s. In practice, the figure only reaches 10 Gbit/s. ASRock used four PCI Express 3.0 lanes for the Ultra M.2 slot in the ASRock Z97 Extreme6 motherboard, which theoretically increased its throughput to 32 Gbps. The potential, as they say, is obvious.

As for the SATA 6 Gb/s interface, it will still be present on the market for a long time, and will only gradually be replaced by the SATA Express interface or subsequent versions of PCI Express. For example, Western Digital stopped shipping PATA drives only at the end of 2013. That is, for another 5-7 years (or maybe more) the SATA interface will be an active component of computer systems.

Intel SSD DC P3700 Series Solid State Drives with NVM Express Interface

For the most productive SSD drives that are used in servers and cloud storage, the NVM Express interface has already been developed and is actively used. It is an optimized version of PCI Express designed exclusively for SSDs, available in the form of expansion cards and traditional 2.5-inch devices. At the same time, sequential data read and write speeds reach 2800 and 2000 MB/s, respectively. In the future, these solutions should also appear on the mass market.

Now let's move on to the hero of this review, the drive (A256TU1D190004 SSD 256), and use its example to study the practical benefits of using the SATA Express interface.

Specification

Manufacturer and model		(A256TU1D190004 SSD 256)
Form factor
Interface
Controller used		ASMedia ASM1062R
Internal storage
		Memoright MS 801
	Quantity
	Total volume, GB
	Operating mode
Dimensions, mm		100 x 70 x 9.5
Products webpage

Since the new product is a kind of concept, it is not possible to find information about it on the official website. Therefore, we will consider the features of the tested solution as we get to know it.

Appearance

We received a drive concept for testing, therefore, we will not be able to evaluate the information content of the packaging. Note that the box in which the ASUS HYPER EXPRESS is supplied is quite large and perfectly protects it from external damage during transportation.

Inside the package there is the media itself and a cable for data transfer and power supply. It is quite possible that the retail sample will also contain instructions and some additional “bonuses”, but for most users this minimal set will be enough.

The drive has a nice appearance thanks to a sticker on the top cover, the pattern on which imitates polished metal. The body of the new product is indeed metal, but has the usual matte black finish. The reverse side of the ASUS HYPER EXPRESS contains several stickers indicating its serial number and a list of received certificates. The inscription “Concept Edition” indicates that we are not dealing with an engineering sample, but with the concept of a new device. Consequently, the retail version of the drive can still be significantly improved and improved.

The body of the new product is made in a standard 2.5-inch format and has a thickness of 9.5 mm. At the same time, all mounting holes are also in the usual places, which makes it compatible with the corresponding bays for conventional SSDs.

One of the main features of the media is the data transfer interface provided by the latest SATA Express. We will look at it in more detail later.

Internal organization

Unscrewing the four screws allows us to access the drive's hardware. It is represented by a printed circuit board with elements placed on it, including two mSATA ports for installing drives of the appropriate form factor.

Two Memoright MS 801 (MRMAL5A256GTUM2C00) media with a capacity of 256 GB are used as internal SSDs. Their technical specification is as follows:

Manufacturer and model		Memoright MS 801 (MRMAL5A256GTUM2C00)
Form factor
Interface		SATA 6 Gb/s
Volume, GB
Controller used		Marvell 88SS9187
Memory type
Storage temperature, °C
Operating temperature, °C
Humidity, %
Maximum serial data transfer rate, MB/s
Maximum 4 KB random block transfer rate, IOPS
Time between failures, hours (MTBF)
Overall dimensions, mm
Products webpage

The central place in these drives is occupied by the Marvell 88SS9187 controller. Toshiba TH58TEG9DDJBA89 banks with a multi-level structure, manufactured using a 19-nm process technology, are used as memory chips. The chips are located on both sides of the drives, and the volume of each of them is 64 GB. There is also the use of additional cache memory manufactured by Micron (marked 2TE12). New products support a number of certificates, including FCC, CE and RoHS.

Among the advantages of complete SSDs, it is worth noting a significant time between failures, which is more than 2,100,000 hours, which is very important, because these drives operate in RAID 0 mode, and the failure of one of them will lead to the loss of all information stored on them.

Note that the total capacity of the two drives is 512 GB, but 1/16 of this volume (32 GB) is reserved by the system for efficient use of all memory cells thanks to special algorithms.

Inside the ASUS HYPER EXPRESS, a printed circuit board of our own production is used, which is clearly hinted at by the inscription “ASUS COOPER”.

A prominent place on the board is occupied by the ASMedia ASM1062R controller, designed to create a RAID 0 array with two installed drives. Judging by numerous reviews on the network, it does not support TRIM technology, which is designed to completely remove information from memory cells and free them for writing new data.

The trimcheck-0.6 utility confirmed this fact. It is difficult to say how much it will affect the operation of the drive, since the technology itself is designed to prevent a gradual drop in the speed of SSD drives when unnecessary data is deleted. Consequently, its absence can manifest itself only after some time.

The included cable, on one side, has a SATA Express connector for connecting to the system board, and on the other, a corresponding interface for connecting a drive. Additionally, there is also a standard SATA connector for supplying power to the new product.

The ASUS Z97-DELUXE test motherboard has two SATA Express interfaces. One of them (SATA Express_1) is controlled by the ASMedia ASM106SE controller and is combined with a nearby M.2 interface, therefore, only one of them can work at a time. The operation of the second connector, designated SATA Express_E1, is provided by the Intel Z97 chipset, while it is also combined with two USB 3.0 ports (USB3_E56) and a PCI Express x16 interface (PCIe x16_3). By default, the system board automatically detects which of the specified connectors the devices are connected to.

At the same time, in the lower right corner of the board there are also special connectors (SATA_E_1_CLK and SATA_E_E1_CLK), the closure of which allows you to indicate the use of the corresponding SATA Express interfaces. They allow you to avoid some unpleasant moments, for example, when a drive with a SATA Express interface is not detected by the system. Closing the contacts results in a clock signal of a certain frequency being supplied to the device, therefore, the board’s BIOS correctly recognizes the drive. The need for jumpers should soon be eliminated, since the frequency generator will be placed directly on the drive PCB (SRIS architecture). We will definitely check the speed performance of the new product in automatic detection mode and with a CLK jumper installed on the switch to find out which one is more preferable for the end user.

The HD Tune Pro utility confirms the lack of support for TRIM technology, while noting that the drive supports the S.M.A.R.T monitoring system. and hardware setting of the NCQ command order:

• NCQ (native command queuing) - hardware installation of command queuing, which allows you to optimize the performance of the drive;
• S.M.A.R.T. (self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology) - a monitoring system that monitors the condition of the drive, making it possible to predict the time of its failure.

File system

The memory capacity of the new product is 447 GB or 480 billion bytes. The discrepancy with the value of 480 GB is due to the decimal conversion of memory units. Drive manufacturers use this marketing ploy across their entire product range.

Testing

To test the ASUS HYPER EXPRESS SSD drive, the following test bench was used:

Motherboard	ASUS Z97-DELUXE (Intel Z97, Socket LGA1150, DDR3, ATX)
CPU	Intel Core i7-4770K (LGA1150, 3.5 GHz, 8 MB L3 cache)
CPU cooler
RAM	2 x 4 GB DDR3-2400 TwinMOS TwiSTER 9DHCGN4B-HAWP
Video card	AMD Radeon HD 6970 2 GB GDDR5
HDD	Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS, 500 GB, SATA-300, NCQ
Optical drive	ASUS DRW-1814BLT SATA
power unit	Seasonic X-660 Gold (SS-660KM Active PF), 650 W, 120 mm Fan
operating system	Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit

The first conclusion that can be drawn from the ASUS HYPER EXPRESS testing results is that the use of the SATA Express interface allows you to achieve truly outstanding performance. So, in our case we are talking about operating speeds of up to 690 - 820 MB/s (depending on the utility used), while even the most productive solutions with the SATA 6 Gb/s interface demonstrated maximum results at about 500 MB/s.

Let's look at the obtained indicators in more detail. CrystalDiskMark and AS SSD Benchmark utilities show very similar results. Thus, the reading speed from the media was 616 - 674 MB/s, and writing was even a little faster - at 688 - 735 MB/s. In EVEREST, the linear reading performance of the new product is also high and amounts to 665 - 715 MB/s. Other SSDs in this testing, as we see, do not exceed 500 MB/s.

Despite such high performance in many benchmarks, record results for the tested drive were obtained in the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit utility. So, when recording video on ASUS HYPER EXPRESS, the copying speed was 769 - 820 MB/s. Slightly lower, but still impressive, were the speeds for playing HD video in 2 and 4 streams - from 689 to 742 MB/s. Thanks to such high performance, the average result of the new Intel NAS PT was 467 - 513 MB/s, while the capabilities of conventional SSDs were in the range of 280 - 360 MB/s.

But the well-known HD Tune Pro utility is perhaps the only one whose results do not fit into the overall picture obtained using other programs. It is quite difficult to talk about the reasons for this circumstance, since each of the testing applications has its own algorithms. At the same time, the results of four other utilities clearly demonstrate the significant advantage of the new product over conventional SSDs.

As for the CLK jumper, testing has shown that it is best to close it, because in this mode in most cases there is a noticeable increase in performance.

conclusions

Getting to know the drive also allowed us to explore the capabilities of a new version of the serial interface for data transfer - SATA Express.

The use of SATA Express in the tested media allows achieving speeds of up to 820 MB/s. This figure is not the maximum for this specification or for the drive, since the limiter in this case is the capabilities of the Memoright MS 801 mSATA solutions. Therefore, the use of more powerful media inside the ASUS HYPER EXPRESS will allow you to create an even faster drive. But the result obtained during testing is very good, since under normal conditions it is achievable either by creating a RAID array or by using SSDs with a PCIe interface, which are now very expensive. Although, for the sake of fairness, we note that the cost of the new product being tested also remains unknown.

Technologically, ASUS HYPER EXPRESS uses a RAID 0 array of two mSATA drives to achieve high speed. Since ASUS does not produce its own SSDs of this format, the created device can be considered as a pocket for installing two compact media. Moreover, there is information on the network about the possible sale of new items without drives, therefore, the choice in this case already falls on the users, which can only be regarded as a positive step towards the buyer.

As testing has shown, when using a drive with a SATA Express interface, the mode with the SATA_CLK jumper installed will be more preferable, which will further increase the already considerable performance. In the future, the widespread integration of the SRIS architecture will eliminate the need to use this jumper.

So, we found out in which direction interfaces for connecting drives will develop in the near future. Now we just have to see how quickly upcoming SSDs will be able to exhaust the bandwidth of the SATA Express interface and require something even faster. It’s hard to say how quickly this will happen, we’ll wait and see.

Advantages:

• high operating speeds possible due to high throughput;
• pleasant appearance;
• use of a standard 2.5-inch form factor with appropriate fastenings.

Peculiarities:

• It is advisable to install a jumper on the system board (SATA_CLK);
• quiet operation;
• high reliability due to the absence of moving parts;
• low sensitivity to vibration;
• low power consumption.

Flaws:

• lack of support for TRIM technology.

We express our gratitude to the Ukrainian representative office of the company ASUS for the drive provided for testing.

We express our gratitude to the companiesAMD , ASUS , Intel , Kingston And Sea Sonic for the equipment provided for the test bench.

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Despite the fact that solid-state drives, that is, SSDs, have appeared quite a long time ago, many users are just beginning to learn about them and use them on their computers. This may be due to the high price and small capacity, although they have higher performance than standard drives and are much faster.

Before delving into the types of hard drives, their manufacturing technologies, memory types and controllers, it is necessary to focus on the form factor (size). Each device is different in size, has its own connection connectors and is used in completely different ways. If a 2.5-inch SSD does not raise any questions, since it is similar in size and placement of connectors to conventional hard drives, then other types raise a lot of questions.

Today we will talk about devices such as SSD M.2 drives, what they are, what their features and advantages are. This is a relatively new standard, which, according to many experts, is a revolutionary solution. Let's take a closer look at this topic and find out as much information as possible.

Development of the SATA interface

The SATA interface has become a good replacement for PATA, replacing the wide cable with a more compact, thin and convenient option. The main trend in its development was the desire for compactness, and this is quite normal. Even the new interface required a variation that would allow it to be used in mobile devices and where there are special requirements for the size of components.

Thus, mSATA was created - the same interface, only with more compact dimensions. But it did not live long and was quickly replaced by a completely new one - the M.2 connector, which had even greater capabilities. It is not by mistake that the word SATA is not in the abbreviation, since the new version does not belong to this standard. We will talk about this in more detail later.

The only thing that needs to be said is that the M.2 SSD drive is connected without power cables and cables, thanks to which its use becomes as comfortable as possible and allows the computer to be even more compact. This is one of its key advantages.

M.2 Interface Overview

M.2 is a connector on an expansion card installed in a PCI-Express slot, or on the motherboard itself. You can install not only M.2 SSDs in it, but other modules, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The scope of application of this connector is quite wide, which makes it incredibly convenient and useful.

When upgrading your computer, be sure to pay attention to it and install a motherboard with this connector, even if you do not plan to install a solid-state drive with this interface yet.

However, if you have a fairly old motherboard and you don't want to change it, for example, "GA-P75-D3" with a missing M2 slot, but it has PCI-E 3.0, which has a video card and a PCIe x4 slot. In this case, you can install an SSD on PCIe x4 through a special adapter, but its speed will be slightly lower.

Absolutely all M.2 SSD drives have recessed mounting in M.2 connectors. This form factor provides maximum performance with minimal resource consumption and is designed for technological improvements in hard drives in the future.

Moreover, as mentioned above, connection does not require cables and cables, which usually only take up extra space. To start working with the device, simply insert it into the connector.

M-key and B-key

Today's hard drives, including SSDs, are connected to the SATA bus. The maximum throughput of which is 6 Gb/s, that is, approximately 550-600 Mb/s. For a regular drive, such a speed is simply unattainable, but SSD drives can reach much higher speeds without any problems. But installing them is absolutely pointless if the interface cannot “pump” data at a higher speed than the one for which it is itself designed.

In view of this, it became possible to use the PCI-Express bus with greater bandwidth:

1. PCI-Express 2.0. It has two lanes (PCI-E 2.0 x2), characterized by a throughput of up to 8Gb/s, or about 800Mb/s.
2. PCI-Express 3.0. It has four lanes (PCI-E 3.0 x4), with a bandwidth of 32Gb/s, or approximately 3.2Gb/s.

Which interface is used to connect a particular device determines the position of the jumper.

Currently, M.2 SSD drives have the following key options:

1. B key “Socket2” (includes support for PCI-E ×2, SATA, Audio, USB and other modules).
2. M key “Socket3” (includes support for PCI-E ×4 and SATA).

For example, we take a motherboard with an M.2 connector with an M-key. That is, the PCIe ×4 bus is used. Is it possible to install a SATA solid state drive in it? This is an interesting question that we will try to find an answer to.

You need to open the motherboard information and find out whether it supports M.2 SATA or not. Let's say the manufacturer says yes. In this case, you buy an SSD drive that was originally created for PCIe ×4, and absolutely no problems should arise when connecting.

When choosing a motherboard, be sure to pay attention to whether M.2 supports the SATA bus, so that you can use any hard drive.

Let's summarize all of the above and summarize:

1. M.2 is simply a different form factor (connector and size) of solid-state drives. All motherboards that are equipped with this slot use the PCI-E x4 bus.
2. The type of bus used by the drive depends on the keys. Usually the PCI-Express bus (M key) or SATA bus (M+B key) is used. The ability to connect an SSD with a SATA interface should be indicated in the specifications of the motherboard.

Size specification: 2260, 2280 and others

Often, when looking at the specification of a computer or laptop motherboard, you can come across the following line: “1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M Key, type 2260/2280” - this means that 1 M.2 slot with a type M key and size 2260/2280 is used. The first two digits “22” mean the width in “mm”, the second two digits “60” mean the length. Therefore, if you choose, say, Transcend TS128GMTS600, with a length of “60mm” and a width of “22mm,” then there will be no problems with its installation.

But even if you take the Kingston SHPM2280P2/480G with the “2280” type, and since the motherboard’s characteristics state support for this type of drive, installing it will not be difficult.

The motherboard can support many sizes of installed modules, and in this case, it has fixing screws that are designed for each length of the bracket.

NVMe technology

The older generation of conventional magnetic and SSD disks use the AHCI protocol, which was created relatively long ago and is still supported by many operating systems. But with the advent of more modern and faster SSDs, it does not cope with its task and cannot use all their capabilities to the maximum.

The NVMe protocol was created as a solution to this problem. It is characterized by the highest speed, lower latency and uses a minimum of processor resources when performing operations.

For the media to work using this technology, it must support it, so when choosing, pay special attention to this, just like the motherboard (it must support the UEFI standard).

Let's sum it up

After we reviewed SSDs with the M.2 standard, we can say that this is the most compact form factor of solid-state devices. And if the motherboard supports it, it is recommended to use it.

Let's look at a few that will help you make the right choice. So, first of all, when purchasing, you should pay attention to the following points:

1. Does the motherboard have the required M.2 slot, and what size modules does it allow for use (2260, 2280, etc.).
2. The type of key the slot uses (M, B or B+M).
3. Does the motherboard support the SATA or PCI-E interface, and what version is used (for example, PCIe 3.0 4x).
4. Do the operating system, the SSD itself, and the motherboard support AHCI or NVMe protocols?

After all, answering the question of what is better, an SSD with a standard connector or M.2, it is clear that you should choose the second option with NVMe support and install it on PCIe 3.0x4.

This will not only free up more space by reducing the number of wires, but will also increase transfer speeds, system speed and performance. The main thing is that it will make working at the computer more comfortable, enjoyable and efficient.