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What is a 3D SSD?

Dave Farquhar Hardware June 8, 2017August 1, 20171990s, hp, intel, micron, toshiba, Western Digital

Some SSDs, particularly Western Digital and Sandisk-branded drives, have the words “3D SSD” on the label. This isn’t purely a marketing term. But what is a 3D SSD, exactly?

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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What to look for in a USB flash drive

Dave Farquhar Hardware, security April 17, 2017August 5, 2017AES, micron, samsung, toshiba, USB flash drive, Western Digital

USB flash drives are pretty much a necessity these days. They’re far more convenient for moving files around than optical discs, and they make good backup devices. But not all USB flash drives are created equal. Here’s what to look for in a USB flash drive.

Here’s a tip: I don’t just use USB flash drives for transporting data and backups. I like to keep a modest-sized USB flash drive plugged into my router, turning it into a small NAS. It gives me a convenient, reliable place to back up data from any of my computers.

Dave Farquhar

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What can I do to improve the security of my digital information?

Dave Farquhar security March 11, 2017August 12, 20181990s, Adobe Reader, apple, computer security, Libre Office, Microsoft Office, office 2007, password strength, passwords, toshiba, USB flash drive, Western Digital

On Monday, March 13 at approximately 10:30 AM CST, I will be appearing on KFUO Radio’s Faith and Family program to discuss home computer security with host Andy Bates. One of the questions he’s planning to ask: “What can I do to improve the security of my digital information?”

This, fortunately, may be the easiest question to answer and the easiest step to implement.

Dave Farquhar

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Buying used computer parts

Dave Farquhar Hardware December 20, 2016July 14, 2017amd, asus, intel, micron, Western Digital

Someone asked me the other day about buying used computer parts. I recommend it actually, although I more frequently buy the whole computer. But you can save a lot of money and get higher quality by buying used computer parts.

Dave Farquhar

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HP splits in two.

Dave Farquhar Hardware October 13, 2014September 6, 20241980s, capitalization, compaq, DEC, dell, hp, IBM, lenovo, lexmark, Western Digital

Don’t you feel like trying something new
Don’t you feel like breaking out
Or breaking us in two
You don’t do the things that I do
You want to do things I can’t do
Always something breaking us in two –Joe Jackson

After years of buying up companies, HP is splitting up. While that’s probably more prudent that exiting the desktop PC business, which is another idea they flirted with in the past, it’s anyone’s guess how this is going to work out.

But it’s what all the cool kids are doing, so it’s what the investors want, and that means HP is going to do it. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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The difference an SSD makes

Dave Farquhar Hardware July 2, 2014January 22, 2018chrome, Libre Office, pentium d, samsung, Western Digital, windows 7

Back in the spring I bought a used computer. My wife wanted one, and while I probably could have cobbled something together for her, I didn’t have any extra Windows 7 licenses. So I bought a home-built Pentium D-based machine with Windows 7 on it from an estate sale for $70. The Windows license is worth that, so it was like getting the hardware for free.

When I got the hardware home to really examine it, it turned out not to be quite as nice as I initially thought. It was a fairly early Socket 775 board, so it used DDR RAM and had an AGP slot, limiting its upgrade options. The system ran OK, but not great, and it was loud.

The hard drive was a 160 GB Western Digital IDE drive built in 2003. That’s an impressive run, but a drive that old isn’t a good choice for everyday use. It’s at the end of its life expectancy and it’s not going to be fast. This weekend I got around to replacing it with an SSD. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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The problem with Lifehacker’s computer manufacturer ranking

Dave Farquhar Hardware November 20, 2013October 11, 2019android, apple, asus, black friday, dell, hp, lifehacker, toshiba, Western Digital

Lifehacker posted a controversial computer manufacturer ranking this week. I’m not sure how you can rank anything with Apple, HP, and Dell in it and not be controversial–someone’s going to be offended that their favorite isn’t at the top and their least favorite isn’t dead last–and while I agree with it more than I disagree with it, there are at least three problems with it.

So, let’s go. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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SSDs might be getting less interesting, but that’s not necessarily bad

Dave Farquhar Hardware January 12, 2013November 3, 2025amd, apple, Ars Technica, CES, consolidation, corsair, intel, kingston, samsung, toshiba, Western Digital

Ars Technica has a story about SSD news coming out of CES.

Basically, they’re predicting that the big news this year will be consolidation and lower prices. That may be bad news for someone who writes about SSDs for a living (I don’t), but good news for consumers. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Reduce your RAID failure rate

Dave Farquhar Hardware, security November 5, 2012April 18, 2017compaq, dell, hp, raid array, Western Digital

It’s not often that you end up talking about computer hardware at church. It’s especially not often that you end up talking about a RAID failure at church. But one such conversation got me thinking again about ways to reduce RAID failure rate.

This past Sunday, I talked with the executive director, who told me five of the drives in the 8-drive RAID array failed all at once. “That’s not supposed to happen,” he said.

It isn’t. But I know why it did.

Dave Farquhar

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Speeding up an Acer Aspire One 722

Dave Farquhar Hardware April 8, 2012April 17, 2017acer, amd, American League, cable tv, dell, intel, Kansas City, kansas city royals, pcie, Western Digital, windows 7

I gave my out-of-box impression of the Acer Aspire One 722 last week. It’s completely unacceptable out of the box, and adequate when you do some basic cleanup on it.

Now I’ve installed an Intel SSD in one and clean-installed Windows, and I’m much more impressed with it. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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