Forgotten Tech
Windows ReadyBoost: The Flash Drive Cache Era
This used to be a thing. And it worked. You'd plug in an SSD (flash drive) and Windows would prompt you to use it as cache for your slow HDD.
This was a cool tech. But flash drives are not meant to be under a load constantly. They got REALLY hot.
You see, HDDs are workhorses.... slow workhorses.
Why HDDs are slow
They are mechanical. And to read/write data, a magnetic head must move to the spot on the disk where the info is stored.
And that is a slow (in terms of computing) process. Any SSD is 10x faster than any HDD.
So systems used to use a type of caching. Wherein you would store a small bit of info (usually frequently accessed info). And that would enable your PC to operate super duper fast.
Intel Optane Memory
Literally a mini SSD that used proprietary Intel storage tech to cache your system. Same concept as using the Flash Drive, just used the M.2 SSD port instead (M.2 ports are insanely fast compared to USB ports btw).
This one came out of my old gaming laptop.
This is a tech of the past. Because SSDs became so cheap. There was no longer a need for this kind of storage boost.
SSHDs an old tech that is about to make a comeback
SSHDs are the best of both worlds. They took an SSD and installed it on an HDD. It was a wonderful little concept. I had one in my old workstation and it was a night/day difference.
As of now, SSDs are STUPID expensive. And because of this, I predict that SSHDs are gonna make a comeback.
