How to choose an SSD after understanding the difference between SLC, MLC, TLC, QLC, and PLC?
When we talk about computer speed, the focus is on some of the main components that affect the speed of the computer mainly, and one of the most important of these components is the hard disk, and there are several types of hard disks that differ among themselves in terms of speed, storage space, price, etc. The hard drive is the speed, so choosing a powerful SSD hard drive will undoubtedly be the right fit for you.
But when you choose an SSD hard drive, you will find in front of you many strange terms and symbols that you may not know their meaning, such as MLC, TLC, SLC, etc., and in fact, these are different types of SSD, which means that each of them has something that distinguishes it from others, which What makes each type suitable for a particular use, and below we offer you to explain the advantages of these types and how to choose the appropriate type among them, but before that let's get acquainted with some important terms that help to understand these types well.
What is NAND Flash?
Hard drives rely on NAND Flash storage, which stores data in cells where each cell has a bit or a set of bits and is recorded in the storage device as 0 or 1, so it is hard drives that store fewer bits in A single cell will be very fast but it will come with smaller storage space and a higher price and vice versa as well.
What are Terabytes Written (TBW)?
Usually each card has a certain strength or durability, and it can be similar to the life span, which is the amount of consumption of the hard. BBWs are terabytes that can be written to the drive before it gets corrupted, for example, if there is a 100 TB hard drive it means that after writing 100 TB of data to this hard drive it will get corrupted, and this can happen within 5 years In the event that 54 GB of data is written daily to the hard drive, and of course, no ordinary user writes this amount of data daily.
The Samsung 860 Evo is one of the types of SSD, and it is a very special hard from Samsung, and the 500 GB model comes with durability of 1200 TB, and this of course is a very huge number so this drive is supposed to work for a large number of years without any problems appearing in the hard or damage it.
Western Digital also explains in a detailed article how the SSD endurance is measured using a simple equation to convert between DWPD to TBW or vice versa and is simply as follows:
● The number of terabytes TBW = space x DWPD number of data written per day x 365 x number of years of warranty
● The number of data written per day DWPD = the number of TBW divided by 365 x years of warranty x space
SSD hard types
In the previous paragraph, you have understood how to choose a suitable SSD after calculating the warranty period in exchange for use, and now let's go to know the types of SSD hard drives and the technology used in their manufacture, and what is appropriate for the user or companies
Type 1: Single-Level Cell (SLC) SSDs
We start by talking about single-cell SLC SSDs, and in this type one bit is written to each cell (in the form of 0 or 1), and this of course is not considered a large number, but rather it is the least compared to other types, but it provides many advantages in hard drives SLC SSDs, and one of these advantages is speed. So, it can be said that among the types of hard drives, SSDs are the fastest, and among the types of SSDs, SLC is the fastest computer hard.
%20SSDs.webp "ingle-Level Cell (SLC) SSDs")
One of the most important advantages of this type (SLC) is also that it is less prone to errors and data loss as it has great durability, and this makes SLC suitable for organizations, companies, etc., where the data and files on the hard disk are more secure for a long time.
However, SLC hard drives have some drawbacks, including their very high prices compared to other types. For example, on the global purchase site Amazon, there is a 128GB SLC SSD hard drive, and its price is the same as the price of a TLC NAND hard drive with a storage capacity of 1TB!
Type 2: Multi-Level Cell (MLC) SSDs
Dual-level MLC SSDs register 2 bits on each cell, which makes them slower than SLC hard drives, because they take longer to write 2 bits and are less robust as they write more data to NAND flash than SLC hard drives, but What distinguishes MLC hard drives is the possibility of having a larger capacity of up to 1 TB with relatively reasonable prices.
Type 3: Triple-Layer Cell (TLC) SSDs
This type writes three bits on one cell, and although it is considered slower and less durable, the most important thing that distinguishes it is its very economical price, especially when compared to the previous two types and this is what made TLC hard drives the most popular and widely used among other types, so if you are looking for the lowest price, in fact, TLC SSDs will be the best for you, even though their speed is low, they are still considered good, and despite their low endurance, they last for several years well.
Type 4: Quad-Level Cell (QLC) SSDs
%20SSDs.webp "Quad-Level Cell (QLC) SSDs")
QLC (Quad) may be the best type of SSDs, especially in the future after it has been developed more than it is now, and QLC works to provide the most important general advantages of hard drives, including the appropriate price and good performance with large storage capacity, however, one of the most important disadvantages of this Hardware so far is the durability or durability which is very low compared to the previous type Triple TLC.
One of the quad hard drives is the mid-range Crucial P1 QLC NVMe hard drive. It has a durability rating of 100TB for the 500GB model, and a durability rating of 200TB for the 1TB model, which is pretty low on TLC but still good for normal use. And at a cheap price.
More powerful and higher models such as the Samsung 960 EVO or the Adata XPG SX6000 Pro 256GB 3D NAND NVMe and more are also available.
Type 5: Penta-Level Cell (PLC) SSDs
These hard disks are able to store more data than previous types, but this will be at the expense of the speed and performance of the hard disk, as it stores 5 bits per cell, and is expected to be less durable than the previous types.
Understand the terminology before choosing an SSD
There are other terms that you may need to understand when choosing to buy a new SSD and we explain them briefly so you know if your computer supports it or not:
SSD Cache: When the cache of an SSD disk becomes full, its performance weakens and starts to slow down. This is common with TLC and QLC disks, and every SSD has a cache space that is stored before it is written to the disk. The more space in the cache, the better.
SATA III - SATA 3: It is the common interface for cheap/middle-priced SSDs and H.D.D hard disks as well. It is connected to computers and motherboards via a dedicated SATA cable and its maximum capacity is 600MB/s.
NVMe interface: It is the latest and fastest interface through which the SSD hard drive is installed directly on the motherboard through a dedicated PCIe port, so you should check that your motherboard supports this technology. NVME in its small size M2 is 3x faster than a SATA SSD and is supported by most modern motherboards.
We hope that the article provided you with sufficient information to make a decision regarding choosing a powerful SSD in 2022 and beyond, after understanding the available technologies and the average prices for them.