WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.600 If you're in the market for an SSD or solidstate drive, chances are that 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:10.960 you're thinking about things like capacity and speed. But if you've ever 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:15.519 read a more in-depth review of an SSD, you've probably seen talk about drive 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:20.800 controllers and how they have the potential to make or break a drive's 00:00:17.840 --> 00:00:24.720 overall performance. But what exactly is a drive controller? Well, think of it 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:29.760 this way. If you were to go to the local hardware store and just buy a toolbox, 00:00:27.840 --> 00:00:34.079 it's not very useful unless you're putting stuff in it. And while it's 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:38.239 possible to use your toolbox just by dumping stuff in it willy-nilly, you'll 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:42.960 get a lot more out of your general toolbox experience by sorting your 00:00:40.800 --> 00:00:47.120 pliers and nails and whatnot into the little compartments. So, it'll be easier 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:51.120 to find stuff when it comes time to tackle your next big project. This 00:00:49.360 --> 00:00:55.440 process of sorting your stuff in a storage container is very similar to 00:00:52.640 --> 00:01:01.120 what an SSD controller does. Just like a toolbox can't sort the tools itself, the 00:00:58.160 --> 00:01:05.920 flash cells on your SSD that store data need something that can fill them up 00:01:02.879 --> 00:01:08.080 sensibly with ones and zeros and talk to 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:12.560 the rest of your computer. The SATA data connector on your SSD is wired directly 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:16.560 into your SSD's controller, which processes the data and then sends it to 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:20.960 your drive's flash memory. So, because the controller is responsible for 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:26.080 actually putting data onto the SSD, lower-end ones can create a bottleneck 00:01:22.960 --> 00:01:28.240 or even be less reliable due to hardware 00:01:26.080 --> 00:01:32.479 and/or firmware differences. Unfortunately, the reasons behind why 00:01:30.720 --> 00:01:36.159 one controller is better than the other aren't always clear because 00:01:34.479 --> 00:01:41.119 manufacturers treat controller designs like trade secrets. So, it's a little 00:01:38.960 --> 00:01:46.479 hard to analyze Sandforce's signature blend of 11 herbs and spices compared to 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:52.000 Samsung's secret sauce that actually just turns out to be Thousand Island. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:57.520 But what we can tell you is that nicer controllers in higherend drives are 00:01:54.399 --> 00:01:59.920 connected to many memory cells at once 00:01:57.520 --> 00:02:04.960 for faster throughput. A little bit like how GPUs contain many compute cores that 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:08.879 work in parallel to help you get higher frame rates. But what are some of the 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:13.520 other important ways a controller keeps data flowing smoothly? Well, one of 00:02:11.200 --> 00:02:16.879 these is wear leveling. Unlike a traditional mechanical hard drive that 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:22.720 will generally last until the moving parts wear out, SSD flash cells can only 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:27.760 be written and rewritten so many times. So, imagine a shelf. Instead of always 00:02:25.200 --> 00:02:32.720 putting data on the lowest, easiest to reach one, the controller will try to 00:02:30.160 --> 00:02:37.760 write all cells evenly to extend the usable life of the drive as a whole. 00:02:35.040 --> 00:02:42.720 Controllers also handle a couple very important features called garbage 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:44.319 collection and trim. Unlike hard drives 00:02:42.720 --> 00:02:49.440 where data can just be overwritten at will, SSDs store data in blocks that 00:02:46.959 --> 00:02:54.000 must first be erased before new data can be written. Garbage collection handles 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:59.200 this by marking certain parts of data within the block as stale if they're 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:03.760 okay to be replaced with newer data. Moving the remainder of the still good 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:08.239 data to a new block, then finally erasing the old one. The problem with 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:13.360 this is that when you go to delete a file, garbage collection doesn't mark 00:03:10.480 --> 00:03:19.040 the deleted data as stale. So, garbage collection actually keeps copying this 00:03:15.519 --> 00:03:22.000 data to new blocks, needlessly using up 00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:26.239 write cycles. This is where trim comes in. An operating system command that 00:03:23.920 --> 00:03:31.280 tells your SSD controller which pieces of data within a block are actually 00:03:28.720 --> 00:03:36.080 parts of deleted files so they won't stick around. both improving performance 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:41.360 and increasing the lifespan of your drive, which is critical if you want 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:44.080 your SSD to last the four years it needs 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:49.120 to so it can store an entire election cycles worth of dank memes. Speaking of 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:53.760 that, Squarespace, simple, powerful, beautiful 24/7 live chat support and 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:57.280 email if you need help setting up your website that you can get for $12 a 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:00.879 month. And if you buy a year, you get a domain thrown in with that website as 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:05.519 well. 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