The Other Specs: An SSD Is More Than Its Throughput
The Other Specs: An SSD Is More Than Its Throughput
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Admit it. When you’re on the hunt for a solid state drive (SSD), the first thing you look at when comparing drives is their performance numbers. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that – it’s good to know how quickly a particular SSD can handle theoretical workloads. Making a purchasing decision based on speed alone might be good enough if you’re buying the drive for home use, but an SSD’s performance is just one of many factors to consider if you’re seeking a drive for enterprise duties. Power consumption, life span, and reliability all come into play, as well, but even these criteria aren’t enough to make a truly informed decision on an enterprise SSD.
A couple of SSD attributes get lost in the mix all too often. Interoperability and total cost of ownership (TCO) aren’t the kind of sexy stats that show up on an SSD’s retail box, and you’ll be extremely lucky to even find them on a spec sheet. Try to discuss an SSD’s TCO or interoperability with a gamer, and odds are you’ll see their eyes glaze over before they ask you how fast the drive can load a map in StarCraft. Again with the speed.
Don’t get caught in this trap. Interoperability and TCO are crucial in enterprise settings. If you don’t take them into account, you’re just asking to make a mistake that could end up costing your business thousands of dollars and wreck your storage strategy for years. Neglect them at your own peril.
In this article, we’ll explain how interoperability and TCO affect SSDs from an enterprise perspective.