A-DATA N002 USB 3.0 and SATA II 128GB SSD Review :: Features

• Capacity :  128GB
•  Dimension : 10x7x1 cm (LxWxH)
•  Weight : 13g
•  Dual Controllers: a SATA controller by Indilinx and an ASMEDIA controller, which outputs to a USB 3.0 Interface.
• USB 3.0+SATA II Dual Interface
•  8 channel present outstanding performance
 
• Seq. Read:200MB/s
 
• Seq. Write:170MB/s
 
• Available for customized design  

So what is a SSD drive anyway? Generally the modern computer system has used a Hard Disk Drive that used a spindle that consists of platters of disks that spin at a speed of around 7200 rotations per minute. The SSD drive on the other hand is made out of NAND Flash memory of either Multi-Level Cell or Single Level Cell design.

The advantages of a SSD drive include: Faster start-up times, faster random access because there is no read/write head, little file fragmentation, silent operation, high mechanical reliability, shock resistant, vibration resistant and unlikely to fail due to mechanical issues, twice the data density of HDD, and failures occur less frequently when writing/erasing data.

The disadvantages of a SSD drive compared to the traditional HDD include: more expensive per Gigabyte, lower capacity compared to the HDD, Asymmetric read versus write performance, limited lifetimes, degradation with use, slower write speeds for SATA SSD drives, and defragmentation is not allowed on flash based SSD drives due to wear leveling.

The A-DATA N002 is an interesting drive in many respects in that it supports both the SATA II and the USB 3.0 standard. The USB 3.0 standard has recently been adopted by motherboard manufacturers replacing the USB 2.0 standard. USB 3.0 has 10x the theoretical bandwidth between the host controller and the USB 3.0 device at 5Gbits/second compared to 480Megabits/second on USB 2. They changed the port on the USB 3.0 device so you require a new cable.

The N002 drive has a sequential read speed of 200MB/second and a sequential write speed of up to 170MB/second. Those are one of the hallmarks of the SSD drive, asymmetrical read and write speeds. The N002 has storage space of 128GB which is about typical for a SSD drive today with some going as high as 512GB but most drives falling within the 128 or 256GB range.

The N002 drive has dual controllers one for the SATA interface by Indilinx and a USB controller by ASMEDIA. You can install this drive with the SATA interface or USB 3.0 interface it’s your choice. For those wanting this drive as an internal drive the SATA II interface makes the most sense as there isn’t a motherboard yet on the market with USB 3.0 internally. If you on the other hand want to install the drive externally, you can use the USB 3.0 interface for the drive.