Trim Enabler 4 2 – Write Faster To Any Ssd

Posted on by

If you have a need for speed, you need to consider the switch to SSDs.

Instead of managing whole blocks, a TRIM enabled SSD can work with the smaller memory clusters called pages. Even more, whenever a delete command is issued by the operating system or the user, the SSD automatically sends a TRIM command to wipe the storage space being erased. This ensures a faster writing speed when new data is stored in that area. With TRIM enabled, SSD drives do not have to delete the entire block of data and instead, deleting only the required page is suffice. Thus, TRIM significantly increases the speed of writing data on SSD drives. It also increases the overall lifespan of an SSD drive. Instead of managing whole blocks, a TRIM enabled SSD can work with the smaller memory clusters called pages. Even more, whenever a delete command is issued by the operating system or the user, the SSD automatically sends a TRIM command to wipe the storage space being erased. This ensures a faster writing speed when new data is stored in that area.

More Linux resources

I know that many of you have been using solid-state disk (SSD) devices to replace the venerable hard drive (HDDs) with physical spinning disks for a long time now. I have been, too, actually, but only because the System76 Oryx Pro laptop I purchased a couple of years ago came with SSDs as the primary storage option. Whenever I boot my laptop – which is not frequently because I usually let it run 24x7 for various reasons – it surprises me how quickly I get to a login prompt. All of my other physical hosts boot more slowly from their spinning disk hard drives.

Don't get me wrong. I like my computers with fast processors, lots of CPUs, and large amounts of RAM. But I have this problem: people gift me their old computers, and I dismantle them for parts, including hard drives. Few people are currently discarding systems with SDDs, which I expect will not change for a while.

I use those older systems until the motherboard or something else irreplaceable dies. At that point, I take the remaining unusable components of the defunct system to the local electronics recycling center. I keep any usable parts, including hard drives. I end up with plenty of old hard drives, some of which I use to keep some of those older systems going for a while longer. The rest just sit in a container waiting to be used.

I hate to discard perfectly usable computer parts. I just know that someday I will be able to use them. I also try to keep computers and components out of the recycling process so long as they are useful. And I have found places to use most of those older bits, including those old hard drives.

Why SSD?

The primary function of both HDD and SSD devices is to store data in a non-volatile medium so that it is not lost when the power is turned off. Both drive technologies store the operating system, application programs, and your data so that they can be moved into main memory (RAM) for use. The functional advantages of SSD over HDD are twofold, and both are due to the solid-state nature of the SSD.

First, SSDs have no moving parts to wear out or break. I have had many HDDs fail over the years; I use them hard, and the mechanical components wear out over time.

The second advantage of SSDs is that they are fast. Due to their solid-state nature, SSDs can access any location in their memory at the same speed. They do not need to wait for mechanical arms to seek to the track on which the data is stored and then wait for the sector containing the data to rotate under the read/write heads to be read. These seek and rotational latencies are the mechanical factors that slow access to the data. SSDs have no such mechanical latencies. SSDs are typically 10x faster when reading data and 20x faster when writing.

There are other non-performance-related advantages for SSDs over HDDs. SDDs use less energy, are smaller and weigh less than HDDs, and are less likely to be damaged if dropped.

In many respects, SSDs are like USB thumb drives, which are also solid-state devices and essentially use the same flash memory storage technology.

Trim Enabler 4 2 – Write Faster To Any Ssd

The primary drawbacks to SSD devices are that they are more expensive for a given storage size than HDDs, and HDDs have a greater maximum capacity than SSDs. Currently, that capacity is about 14 TB for HDDs and 4 TB for SSDs. These gaps are narrowing. Another issue with SSDs is that their memory cells can 'leak' and degrade over time if power isn't maintained. The degradation can result in data loss after about a year of being stored without power, making them unsuitable for off-line archival storage.

Trim Enabler 4 2 – Write Faster To Any Ssd Upgrade

There are several interesting and informative articles about SSDs at the Crucial and Intel web sites. To be clear, I like these pages for their excellent explanations and descriptions; I have no relationship of any kind with Crucial or Intel other than to purchase at retail some of their products for my personal use.

Trim Enabler 4 2 – Write Faster To Any Ssd Hard Drive

SSD types

There are two common SSD form factors and interfaces. One is a direct replacement for hard disk drives. It uses standard SATA power and data connectors and can be mounted in a 2.5' drive mounting bay. SATA SSDs are limited to the SATA bus speed, which is a maximum of 600 Mb/s.

The other form factor uses an M.2 PCIe connector that is typically mounted directly on the motherboard. The ASUS TUF X299 motherboard in my primary workstation has two of these connectors. The physical form factor for M.2 SSDs is 22 mm wide with varying lengths up to about 80 mm. M.2 devices can achieve read speeds of up to 40 Gb/s due to the direct connection to the PCI bus.