What is a computer hard drive?
A computer hard drive is a storage device that stores all the instructions for all the programs when your computer is off. When you first turn on your computer, it retrieves all of the instructions for Windows and any other programs you open from the hard drive. Then it puts those instructions into the computer’s Random Access Memory (RAM) so it can use them in real-time. The hard drive is where you store Windows and all your trading programs, as well as your workspaces, documents, movies, and music when the computer is off. It stores everything when the computer is off. It’s important not to confuse it with the computer’s memory (RAM) because RAM is where your computer puts all the instructions it needs to operate when the computer is on. When your computer shuts down, all the instructions in RAM disappear. Every computer needs to have a hard drive. As traders and power users, we want the fastest ones available because a slower computer hard drive can cause a speed bottleneck. Until recently, all computers came with an old-school standard magnetic hard drive. These old drives have spinning disks inside and a read/write head that moves across the disk to read and write information. The biggest issues with these old drives are that they are slow and they have moving parts. The problem with moving parts is that they wear out and are sensitive to getting bumped around. For example, if you have one of those old drives in a laptop, it's more likely to fail. Have you ever experienced a hard drive failure? It can be a frustrating experience.Best Hard Drives
Solid State Drives (SSDs) are a breakthrough technology that uses flash memory to store information. The biggest advantage of flash memory is that it uses Silicon chips that have no moving parts whatsoever, making them more reliable and durable than traditional hard drives. Think of your smartphone. It has flash memory inside of it and stores all of your apps, pictures, and music. There are no moving parts so they are way more reliable and can actually take a bit of a beating. Think how many times you’ve dropped your cell phone. The next great thing about SSDs is that they are radically faster than standard hard drives. The latest versions of SSDs are called NVME drives, which are up to 50 times faster than old-school magnetic versions. Since the hard drive is a major speed bottleneck of your computer, you definitely want an NVME solid state drive in your computer. The best hard drives for traders, NVME SSDs are a major improvement in your trading and your overall computing experience. With an NVME, your computer will boot up in just a few seconds, and your trading applications will load nearly instantaneously.A quick word of warning
Be careful of computer vendors that sell machines advertising just plain SSDs. Make sure it’s an NVME SSD because the first generations of SSDs were definitely slower. And, as traders, we want the fastest and most reliable technology available.* * * * * *
Thanks for watching, and if you haven’t already, please feel free to download our Complete Guide to Trading Computers by clicking the link. This guide is packed with great tips so you can totally optimize your trading experience. Lastly, if you are in the market for a new trading computer, go ahead and check out our latest sale. My name’s Eddie Z. Thanks for watching. And I’ll see you in the next video.
