APC - September 2015 AU.pdf

NEXT-GEN SSDS
42
Forget SATA for SSDs – there’s a new
breed of solid-state storage that blasts
through old bottlenecks, thanks to PCIe.
Lindsay Handmer tests eight examples.
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES
48
There’s more to today’s external hard
drives than just tacking on extra terabytes.
Joel Burgess and Paul Taylor investigate.
NAS BOXES
54
Nathan Taylor tests a bevy of the
latest two-, six-, seven- and eight-bay
network-attached storage boxes.
CLOUD STORAGE & BACKUP
64
Nathan Taylor explains the benefits
of storing your data in the cloud.
UNTANGLING THE
STORAGE WEB
Digital storage is a more diverse area than ever,
so to accompany this month’s superguide, we’ve
put together a short and sharp guide on which
options to use where in your storage matrix.
SOLID-STATE DRIVES
With their higher cost per gigabyte, SSDs are internal storage disks that are best
used in high-demand situations: as your OS drive and where you install your games
and other applications. If you have multiple SSDs, use your fastest one for your OS;
additional units can be used as secondary drives for apps and games. SSDs come in
multiple types: there are models that connect to the Serial ATA (SATA) interface and
look much like 2.5-inch internal hard drives, but there are also newer types that
connect directly to a desktop computer’s PCI-Express (PCIe) slot, or plug into the
newer M.2 socket in a similar fashion to RAM. You’ll need to carefully check what
connectivity options your PC has before buying one.
INTERNAL HARD DRIVES (MECHANICAL)
The most common form of storage for desktop and laptop PCs, mechanical SATA
drives come on two main physical forms (known as 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch) and these
are best used for general storage: for media files and other large space-consuming
content. Of course, they’re also perfectly serviceable if you want to run your OS,
apps and games from them — but doing so will result in a less responsive experience
than on an SSD.
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES (MECHANICAL)
External hard drives take two main forms (portable and desktop) and are often just
internal hard drives wrapped in a USB enclosure. Most commonly, they use the USB
3.0 interface, with the odd unit offering Thunderbolt or FireWire connectivity.
They’re good for moving around very large files, performing system backups (if you
don’t have a NAS) and you can even work on files directly from them if your PC
doesn’t have much onboard storage, though doing so will generally be slower and
less responsive than on an internal drive.
WIRELESS HARD DRIVES
This newer category typically combines a portable external hard drive with a
built-in Wi-Fi hotspot and battery, meaning you can take it on the road with you
and connect directly with a laptop, or via dedicated apps for iOS and Android
smartphones and tablets. In the latter two cases, the app is often what defines
exactly what you can and can’t do on your mobile device — that can range from
syncing your photos to streaming music and movies from the device.
NAS BOXES
A network-attached storage (NAS) device is something we reckon every home and
small office should have: it creates a convenient and affordable central storage
location for sharing and backup. Accessed through your network (either wired or
wireless), today’s NAS boxes can actually do far more than just store files — they
can download from the net (and even BitTorrent), stream media files to your TV or
games console, and some will even let you run your own cloud services, like remote
photo backup or document editing. These are incredibly flexible and powerful
options, perfect for multi-user environments.
CLOUD STORAGE
Online (aka cloud-based) storage is great for quickly sharing small files, allowing
anywhere access to critical content and backing up your photos on the go. Most
services offer a small to medium allotment of free gigabytes (anywhere from 2GB
to 100GB), then options to pay a subscription fee to add more. The limited upload
speed of most Aussie broadband connections means that cloud storage is less
flexible than local options (uploading multi-gigabyte files through a 1Mbps ADSL
uplink can take days, for example), so you do need to approach how you use it with
that limitation in mind.
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