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Find the Best SSD for Your Data Center

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What Level of Performance Do You Really Need?

The expanding popularity of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) puts greater demands on data storage. To be specific, the high-performance, low-latency storage necessary to support and allow complicated high-capacity workloads require SSDs equipped for these tasks.

When selecting an SSD, it’s essential to ensure that the Read/Write speeds are adequate for the frequency and intensity of data lookups. In addition to the pure speed specs, latency is a key factor. Low latency is particularly important in situations where spikes in activity are expected, such as during rush periods for holiday sales or handling a deluge of online transactions.

What’s Compatible With Your Systems?

SSDs with high capacity and top performance won’t make any difference if they can’t cooperate with your existing systems. Compatibility is another important factor, particularly deciding between the common data center and enterprise-grade form factors of M.2 NVMe and 2.5-inch SSDs. For small-form-factor PCs or workstations with limited space, M.2 NVMe SSDs are often the best fit to provide high-speed storage. For entry-level servers or implementations requiring broad compatibility, 2.5-inch SATA drives are a good general-purpose storage option.

Many modern server motherboards come with SATA connectors for 2.5-inch SSDs, and some also include M.2 NVMe slots. However, it’s essential to verify the specific compatibility of a server motherboard with these form factors. Some motherboards may require adapters or expansion cards for a given form factor, introducing added cost.

Who Provides the Best Support?

The final factor to consider is brand support. Choose an SSD from a reputable brand that provides reliable support and warranty options. This can provide peace of mind and ensure that you have access to troubleshooting and support resources down the line. While one-year warranties are widespread, vendors with long-term or lifetime warranties can offer significant cost-savings and reduce future headaches in the long run. Should a drive fail, a lifetime warranty can be the difference between a complementary drive replacement and the need to buy new hardware. Knowledgeable and readily available customer support can also distinguish seemingly similar drives, as buyers will be able to troubleshoot and remedy any issues in a timely manner thanks to on-hand expertise.

With so many options available on the market, it can be difficult to identify the best drive for your needs. Yet, the decision is critical to ensuring that your data center performs optimally and provides reliable storage for your data. To navigate the bevy of options and have the right SSD for the job remember there’s six criteria buyers should evaluate: capacity, performance, compatibility, endurance, security, and brand support.

DDR5 memory in the marketplace

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Over the past decade, the unprecedented growth of programs and apps, data sets and complex codes, along with 3D model rendering, 8K video editing, and gaming with high frame rates, has proven too taxing for DDR4 technology. It simply cannot keep up. As CPU core counts increase to deal with these immense needs, memory technology has had to scale up as well. DDR5 memory in a next-gen system is the answer to achieving the required performance today as well as scaling up to meet even more demanding needs in the future of content creation, distribution, and consumption. But how exactly does it help?

Content creation

Content creators have been limited with DDR4 technology as their high-powered workstations consumed any increase in memory density or memory bandwidth. The added hours of waiting drove down efficiency as even multitasking was
impossible. But DDR5 memory will provide a massive boost for bandwidth. Over time, DDR5 will ultimately scale to 64Gb
components, providing densities previously only available to servers with 16 slots per CPU.

Content distribution

Cloud storage and cloud-based services have also been constrained by previous memory technology, which limited the
efficiency and quality of distributed content. With DDR5 memory, cloud storage will be capable of delivering a higher level of performance, faster than ever. Whether within the same rack footprint or in a smaller footprint with the same level of performance, DDR5 enables richer content to be delivered faster, for a better user experience.

Content consumption

High-performance PC users like gamers have always sought new memory technologies with faster speeds. DDR5 answers the increasing needs of hardware components, such as gaming monitors with frame rates as high as 144Hz or even 240Hz and resolutions such as 4K or 8K become more mainstream. More applications will be able to leverage higher refresh rates and even provide AR/VR-type experiences. Even if the end use is just watching videos online, they can now be consumed at higher resolutions, making the experience more lifelike.

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A beginner’s guide to graphics cards and how they help power your computer’s images and games

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At the birth of the computer era, the IBM PC became the standard computer in large part due to its modular architecture with interchangeable components.

Like the original IBM, every modern PC’s motherboard has slots in which any third-party manufacturer can insert the components needed to make the PC run. Among those components is the graphics card, which is responsible for displaying all the images you see on the screen, including advanced 3D graphics for computer games.

As such, a powerful graphics card is an essential piece of hardware for any computer gaming system. The best gaming PCs and best gaming laptops feature high-end graphics cards from top brands like Nvidia and AMD, enabling them to run modern games at high resolutions and smooth frame rates.