The role of an SSD in your computer
A solid state drive (SSD) is a new type of storage drive that’s similar to a hard drive, but faster and more reliable. SSDs use flash memory to deliver nearly-instant boot and load times, and since they don’t have to mechanically seek out data on a spinning platter (like a hard drive), they’re able to access data almost instantly.
Inside your system, your storage drive works alongside your system’s memory and processor to access and use data. For example, say you want to access data from a spreadsheet and perform some basic edits. Here’s what’s going on behind the scenes.
- Programs and files are housed on your storage drive.
- Your system’s processor transfers program data from your storage drive to the memory for short-term access and use. Since SSDs have nearly-instant data transfer speeds, they help speed up the data transfer process, which is the amount of time it takes to load programs and files.
- The processor then accesses data from the memory, which is like your computer’s bank of available workspace. Memory is then used to “run” the program.
Since your files, pictures, programs and operating system are all saved and accessed on your storage drive, installing an SSD is one of the quickest ways to make load times a thing of the past – and transform almost every aspect of your system’s performance.