NVMe Storage Explained for 2019 – DIY in 5 Ep 100

Опубликовано 14 июня 2019, 17:00

NVMe or Non-Volatile Memory Express is a super-fast way to access non-volatile memory. Both flash and Solid State Devices (SSDs) are a type of non-volatile memory, hence, NVMe is a super-fast way to access flash memory. It’s a transfer protocol, not a form factor like M.2 or an interface like SATA or PCIe. But because it’s the standardized interface for PCIe SSDs, you can see where people might get confused. It can be around 2-7x faster than SATA SSDs. For reference, traditional hard drives using the SCSI protocol had one queue for commands. NVMe is designed to have up to 64,000 queues each capable of 64,000 commands at the same time! Kingston has two new SSDs for 2019, the KC2000 high performance NVMe SSD and the A2000 entry-level NVMe drive. Both offer faster transmission speeds than their previous models and the A2000 offers NVMe speeds at SATA prices.

Is your system compatible with NVMe? The two things you need to look for are built-in M.2 and support for NVMe. First, check the product page of your computer to see if you have an M.2 slot. Then you need to figure out if your motherboard supports NVMe SSDs. Ideally, there would be an easy way to tell if your hardware can support NVMe, but right now there isn’t. Some motherboards support it, but don’t call it NVMe. They may use terms like “PCIe mode.” You’ll want to be on the lookout for PCIe Gen 3 or later and M.2. Refer to your motherboard’s website or Google search to investigate. Along with hardware compatibly, you must consider OS compatibility. The latest versions of Linux, Windows, Chrome OS, and Mac OS all support NVMe but Apple doesn’t let you tinker much with your hardware on most of the models that have come out in the last few years, so a DIY upgrade probably isn’t in the works for our Mac friends out there.

Cloning software is now compatible with NVMe drives. Kingston uses Acronis True Image software, which comes included with Kingston SSD bundles (not the drive-only version), works great and most other major cloning software has been upgraded to support NVMe as well. If you happen to be upgrading from an older smaller NVMe SSD and only have a single SSD slot, you may need an external NVMe M.2 enclosure. Amazon has plenty of these to choose from but make sure it has decent trusted reviews and supports NVMe, not just SATA.