Stage 2įile C is deleted, but the SSD has no idea that the data is now useless. The pink cells at the bottom of the data block are empty, meaning that new data could be written to those pages. In most real-world cases, files are large enough that each one takes up multiple blocks, but this is a simplified view. #Mac trim enabler seriesFrom the SSD’s perspective, each file is just a series of data pages that are written together within a single data block. This hypothetical situation starts out with four files on your harddrive.Īs far as you’re concerned, they could be any kind of file at all, of any size. This is what four files on your computer looks like to you and your SSD. This is how a basic deletion and creation of files works on an SSD. When you delete a file on your computer, the operating system doesn’t actually remove any data, it simply removes the virtual link between the former file and where its data was stored on the drive. This process is known as Garbage Collection. Running a computer means lots of writing and rewriting of data, so SSDs have to constantly move blocks around to consolidate the valid data, and delete invalid blocks to keep plenty of empty space available for when it’s needed. Instead, the SSD moves all the good pages into a brand new block and the old block is erased, making room for future data. This means that when only some of the data pages in a block become outdated, they can’t be selectively deleted. But at that point, if you want to draw something new, you have to shake the Etch-a-Sketch and erase the entire screen-the Etch-a-Sketch is like a block of data on your SSD. You can doodle wherever you want on the Etch-A-Sketch when it’s blank, and keep doodling until the screen is full. They can write new information at the page level, but old data can only be deleted at the block level. The problem is that SSDs can only write new data to empty regions-they can’t overwrite data directly like hard disk drives can.įurther, SSDs are unable to delete individual pages of data. This simplified view shows how data is structured on an SSD.Įvery file on your computer has a number of these blocks reserved for its use. Blocks and pages are the fundamental structure of data storage on SSDs. Pages and BlocksĪny file on your computer is just a collection of data, and a solid state drive writes that data onto a series of pages, each of which is assembled into a number of blocks. To understand what TRIM actually does, you first need to understand just a bit about how solid state drives actually store information. Sidenote: Although it’s often written in all caps, TRIM is not actually an acronym for anything! It’s written that way because commands transmitted through the ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) interface for connecting bus adaptors to storage devices (like SATA-Serial ATA) refer to their commands in all caps. Nevertheless, there are ways to maximize that lifespan, and that’s where TRIM comes in. You’re far more likely to replace your computer first. This is often blown way out of proportion though, so if you’re feeling panicky about this, consider the following: even with heavy usage, it would take you more than ten years to wear out your average solid state drive. Because flash memory cells can only be written to a certain number of times, solid state drives technically have a limited lifespan, moreso than their disk drive predecessors. This leads me to address the elephant in the room, which is longevity. But now that those prices are dropping, SSDs come standard on most new computers, and even more people are replacing their old hard drives with modern solid state alternatives. The advantages of SSDs are clear: they’re exponentially faster, they’re entirely silent, they’re more durable, and they’re immune from issues like fragmentation.Īs with any new technology, they were fairly rare until recently because of their high prices. Unlike their disk-based predecessors, SSDs are more like a series of very high performance USB keys squished together. It’s like having a series of very high performance USB keys squished into a box. #Mac trim enabler how toThis is broadly true, and I will show you how to check for and enable TRIM support on your drives, but first it’s important to take a step back and understand what we’re talking about.Īn HDD encodes data onto a magnetic coating on a spinning disk inside the drive.Īn SSD, on the other hand, is just a network of flash memory cells assembled into a drive enclosure, meaning it has no moving parts. You’ve probably heard that SSDs have a lifespan, and that you can prolong that lifespan by enabling something called TRIM. #Mac trim enabler macHow to Check and Enable TRIM on a Mac SSD SSDs vs. How to Check and Enable TRIM on a Mac SSD
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