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NVMe vs SSD Storage

NVMe vs SSD Storage
Bhuban Mishra
Technical writer
Infrastructure

Fast data retrieval is a need for the 21st century. The data transmission rate can greatly impact application response time, especially when it involves gaming, video editing, website hosting, AI, and machine learning. 

SDDs evolved to overcome the shortcomings of hard drives. SSDs, in contrast to HDDs, utilize flash memory, which translates to performance. However, because of the SATA connection, standard SDDs failed to deliver high-performance storage solutions. That’s where PCIe and NVMe came in.

This guide provides insights on NVMe vs SSDs. Is SATA a suitable option? Is NVMe good for server and hosting needs? What are the different variants? 

SSD Variants

There are several variants of solid-state storage, each with its unique characteristics and use cases.

Solid-state drives come in different forms utilizing different hardware interfaces ie. IDE/PATA, SATA, and PCIe. 

Here are all the different variants of SSD available in the market:

  • IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) / PATA (Parallel ATA): These SSDs are found in legacy systems. They use 40- or 80-pin connectors and are relatively slow because they are based on older technology.

  • SATA(Serial ATA): In early 2000, the SATA became the industry standard. It uses 7-pin data and a 15-pin power connector. The generation of SATA interfaces matters. SATA I can offer 150 MB/s or 1.5 Gbit/s. SATA II and SATA III can offer 300 MB/s (~3 Gbit/s) and 600 MB/s (~6 Gbit/s) respectively. SATA SSDs are available in three distinct form factors: 2.5-inch, 3.5-inch, and mSATA.

  • mSATA: The compact size of mSATA makes it a perfect fit for notebooks, laptops, and tablets.

  • SCSI/SAS: SCSI can connect multiple devices to a single host adapter. It finds its application in legacy server racks. SAS is the recent version of SCSI. SAS can offer transmission rates up to 12 Gbps or 24 Gbps. Such speed enhancements make it suitable for data centers and enterprise storage.

  • PCIe: PCIe establishes a fast connection directly to the CPU and underlying storage device, bypassing traditional interfaces. This direct connection makes high throughput possible. NVMe, utilizing PCIe, delivers ultrafast data transfer and improves application response time. NVMe can offer up to 2 GB/s or 4GB/s per lane. For instance, a 4-lane interface can reduce the transfer time almost by 4 times. 

NVMe vs SSD

Standard SSDs are designed to interface through SATA, whereas NVMe SSDs leverage PCIe ports for enhanced performance.

PCIe transmits data through lanes, with each lane capable of transmitting data in both directions simultaneously (full-duplex). 

Performance

An NVMe SSD can be 20 times faster than a normal SSD. The ‘e’ in Non-Volatile Memory Express refers to a PCIe bus. 

Gen 4.0 NVMe SSD can deliver up to 7500 MB/s while Gen 5.0 NVMe SSD can double that speed reaching 14500 MB/s. Contrary to this, a SATA SSD can deliver up to 500 MB/s.

Despite the significant data transmission rate gap, it barely affects personal computing. However, in cloud and hosting solutions, it matters. When a server handles 1k simultaneous requests, high-speed SSDs shine with their I/O efficiency, boosting performance and ensuring smooth service even during peak demand.

Power

NVMe SSDs can consume more power than SATA SSDs, typically around 4-8 watts under load and 1-3 watts under idle conditions, due to the power-intensive PCIe interface. 

Cost

Despite the slightly higher price of NVMe-enabled SSDs, this reflects their superior performance capabilities compared to SATA III SSDs.

NVME Advantages over a Normal SSD

  • Parallel Data Transfer: NVMe leverages multiple lanes to transfer the data, unlike serial communication protocol, where only one bit of data can be transferred at a time. This in turn, improves data bandwidth and throughput.
  • Occupies Less Space: NVMe comes in M.2 and U.2 form factor.  M.2 drives are 22mm wide x 80mm long while the majority of standard SSD comes in a 2.5-inch form factor and has dimensions 69.85mm wide x 100mm long x 7mm (or 9.5mm) thick. With modern laptops and motherboards, you can connect two M.2 drives at the same time.
  • Faster Speed: In the previous section, we already made a comparison of speeds offered by NVMe in contrast to normal SSD.

What to Look for in an NVMe Storage

It's important to note that NVMe SSDs can vary in performance, endurance, and functionalities, which can have a substantial impact based on the specific use case.

PCIe Gen 3 vs Gen 4 vs Gen 5

PCIe has evolved, with newer generations offering faster data transfer speeds and improved performance. 

PCIe Gen 3 provides a maximum data transfer rate of 8 Giga transfers per second (GT/s) per lane, while PCIe Gen 4 doubles this to 16 GT/s per lane. PCIe Gen 5, the latest generation, further increases this to 32 GT/s per lane.

Gen 4 doubles the bandwidth offered by Gen 3. PCIe Gen 4 still holds the bet for consumer markets.

Form Factor

These drives come in different physical sizes.

  • M.2: M.2 are small-size drives that fit directly into the motherboard, ideal for laptops and desktops. SATA SSD also comes with M.2 form factor.
  • U.2: Used in server and enterprise environments, connects via PCIe slots and typically offers higher endurance. U.2 comes with a 2.5-inch form factor
  • PCIe Add-in Cards (AIC): Larger and used primarily for server or high-performance applications, requiring a dedicated PCIe slot.

Heat Sink

Many high-performance drives come with built-in heatsinks to help dissipate heat. Some Gen 4 drives, like the Samsung 980 Pro or Western Digital Black SN850 come with a heatsink for improved performance.

Endurance (TBW or DWPD)

TBW (TerraByte Written) shows the total data that can be written to the drive over its lifespan, while DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) indicates how often the entire drive can be written per day, typically over 5 years.

Hosting Aspect

Opting for NVMe-based SSDs instead of SATA SSDs in hosting and SEO can have a substantial effect on performance and user experience. A bad user experience can hurt SEO rankings and visitor engagement

At Hostman, you can grab NVMe-enabled cloud servers for $2 per month.

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Latency

In a hosting environment, low latency is critical for ensuring fast and efficient data access and transfer. NVMe SSDs offer lower latency than SATA SSDs. This means faster response times for your website, especially in situations with high traffic or complex database queries.

Uptime

A high-performance drive is designed to provide reliable and continuous access to data over an extended period. It is built with enterprise-grade components and features that enable it to withstand heavy workloads and maintain its performance levels even under high-stress conditions. The drive may include features such as power loss protection, which helps ensure that data is not lost or corrupted in the event of a sudden power outage. Here, at Hostman, we provide 99.98% uptime.

User Experience

SEO involves not only rankings but also user experience. Hosting on NVMe-enabled servers can speed up website load times, keeping visitors engaged and potentially reducing bounce rates. For e-commerce stores, this could lead to improved conversion rates.

Conclusion

If you're running a smaller website with minimal traffic or non-resource-heavy content, you might not need to migrate just yet. 

For SEO, speed is a critical factor. Google considers page load time and Core Web Vitals as ranking factors, meaning faster websites are more likely to rank higher. 

If you're seeing slow page loads, frequent throttling, or lag during peak traffic times with traditional SSD hosting, NVMe hosting might be just the upgrade you need to avoid losing users and boost your rankings.

Similarly, if you run a high-traffic website, such as an e-commerce store, media platform, or blog with rich multimedia content, the performance boost from NVMe storage can be a game-changer. 

Upgrading to NVMe web hosting can improve the website’s performance. With Non-Volatile Memory Express hosting, you get top-tier speed, reliability, and efficiency, far exceeding traditional SSD hosting. However, NVMe's power isn’t always necessary for every type of website.

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28 May 2025 · 9 min to read
Infrastructure

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22 May 2025 · 9 min to read
Infrastructure

What is DevOps: Practices, Methodology, and Tools

A software development methodology is a set of principles, approaches, and tools used to organize and manage the software creation process. It defines how the team works, how members interact and divide responsibilities, how product quality is controlled, and more. A methodology aims to regulate the development process and ensure the project is delivered according to the requirements, timelines, and budget. Various software development methodologies exist, from the Waterfall model to Extreme Programming. One such methodology is DevOps. In this article, we’ll explore what DevOps is, why it’s needed in software delivery, what problems it solves, and the core concepts behind the methodology. We’ll also cover the role of the DevOps engineer and their responsibilities within a team and development process. What is DevOps? DevOps is a relatively new software development concept rapidly gaining popularity and gradually replacing traditional development methodologies. In 2020, the global DevOps market was valued at around $6 billion. By 2027, according to ResearchAndMarkets, it’s expected to grow to $25 billion. The definition of DevOps is broad and not easy to pin down, especially compared to other areas of IT. What is DevOps in simple terms? It’s a methodology where Development, Operations, and Testing intersect and merge. But such a definition raises several valid questions: Where do the boundaries of DevOps begin and end? Which parts of development, testing, and maintenance fall outside of DevOps? Why is it necessary to link these processes? We’ll try to answer those below. The Traditional Software Release Process Development, testing, and operations are the three main phases of the software release lifecycle. Let’s examine them more closely. Whenever we develop software, we aim to deliver a working product to end users. This goal is consistent across methodologies—whether it's Waterfall, Agile, or any other: the end goal is to create and deliver a product. Let’s consider the traditional Waterfall model for application development — from idea to deployment: A software idea is born. The idea turns into a list of business requirements for the product. Developers write code and build the application. Testers verify its functionality and return it for revisions if needed. Once ready, the application needs to be delivered to users. For a web app, this includes building, configuring the server and environment, and deploying. After deployment, users start using the app. Ongoing support ensures the app is user-friendly and performs well under load. After release comes the improvement phase — adding features, optimizing, and fixing bugs. This cycle repeats with each update. One of DevOps’ primary goals is to make this cycle faster and more reliable. Let’s look at the challenges it addresses and how. Problems with the Waterfall Model In the Waterfall model, teams may face several issues that slow down the process, require significant effort to overcome, or introduce errors. 1. Poor collaboration between developers, operations, and testers As mentioned earlier, the release cycle involves development, testing, and operations. Each has its own responsibilities. But without collaboration: Developers may write code that isn’t deployment-ready. Operations may lack insight into how the app works. Testers might face delays due to insufficient documentation. These gaps lead to increased Time to Market (TTM) and higher budgets. 2. Conflicting priorities Development and operations don’t work closely in the Waterfall model. Developers want to innovate, while operations want stability. Since operations aren’t part of the development phase, they need more time to assess changes, creating friction and slowing down releases. 3. Idle teams One of the key characteristics of the waterfall model is its sequential nature. First, developers write the code, then testers check it, and only after that does the operations team deploy and maintain the application. Because of this step-by-step structure, there can be idle periods for different teams. For example, while testers check the application, developers wait for feedback and issues to fix. At the deployment stage, testers might review the entire product rather than a small update, which takes significantly more time. As a result, some teams may find themselves without tasks to work on. All these issues lead to longer release cycles and inflated budgets. Next, we’ll look at how DevOps helps address these problems—and how it does so. How DevOps Solves Waterfall Problems DevOps aims to minimize the above issues through automation, collaboration, and process standardization, making it easier and faster to integrate improvements. DevOps combines approaches, practices, and tools to streamline and accelerate product delivery. Because the concept is broad, different companies implement DevOps differently. Over time, common toolsets and practices have emerged across the industry. One common practice is introducing a DevOps engineer, responsible for creating communication and alignment between teams, and ensuring smooth product releases. What Does a DevOps Engineer Do? A DevOps engineer aims to create and maintain an optimized application release pipeline. Here's how they do that: Automation and CI/CD DevOps's cornerstone is the development, testing, and deployment automation. This forms a CI/CD pipeline — Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment. Key DevOps stages and tools: Code: Managed in a shared repository (e.g., GitLab), facilitating automation and collaboration. Testing: Code changes are automatically tested using predefined test suites. If successful, the code moves to the build stage. Build: Code is compiled into a deployable application using tools like npm (JavaScript), Maven or Gradle (Java). Containerization & Orchestration: Apps are containerized (commonly with Docker) for consistent environments.For small setups, use Docker Compose; for large-scale setups, use Kubernetes. Artifacts are stored in repositories like Nexus or Docker Hub. Deployment: Tools like Jenkins automate app deployment. The result is a process where code changes are continually tested, integrated, and delivered to users. Infrastructure Management Thanks to CI/CD, teams can automatically deploy apps and updates to servers. Cloud platforms are often preferred over physical servers, offering better automation, scaling, and environment management. Monitoring Real-time monitoring ensures application availability and performance. Tools like Prometheus and Nagios track system metrics and availability. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Instead of manually configuring infrastructure, DevOps uses IaC tools like Terraform to automate and standardize environments. Scripts Scripts automate adjacent processes like backups. Tools: OS-specific: Bash (Linux), PowerShell (Windows) Cross-platform: Python, Go, Ruby (Python is most popular) Version Control DevOps uses version control for application code and infrastructure (e.g., Terraform configs). Important: Terraform stores sensitive data (e.g., passwords) in state files; these must not be stored in public repositories. Cross-Team Collaboration A major DevOps goal is to improve collaboration between departments. Shared tools, standards, and processes enable better communication and coordination. For example, DevOps acts as a bridge between development and operations, unifying workflows and expectations. Why Businesses Should Implement DevOps Benefits of DevOps: Speed: Automated testing, building, and deployment enable faster release cycles without sacrificing quality. This improves agility and market responsiveness. Predictability & Quality: Frequent, automated releases mean more reliable delivery timelines and better budget control. Lower Maintenance Costs: Automated infrastructure management and monitoring reduce downtime and labor, improving SLA compliance. Challenges: Organizational Change: Implementing DevOps may require cultural and structural shifts, along with training and adaptation. Automation Risks: Poorly implemented automation can introduce new problems — misconfigured scripts, faulty pipelines — so thorough testing is essential. Investment Required: DevOps needs upfront investment in tools, technologies, and training. Conclusion DevOps enables an automated, collaborative environment for development, testing, and deployment. It helps teams release apps faster, with higher quality and reliability. If you’re considering integrating DevOps into your development process, Hostman offers services like cloud servers and Kubernetes, which can reduce your workload and streamline operations.
21 May 2025 · 7 min to read

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