

Files can be written sporadically across the cells - and are designed to do so - with little impact on read times, as each cell is accessed simultaneously. With SSDs, fragmentation is not an issue. This phenomenon is called “fragmenting” and leads to files taking longer to read. However, as the disc becomes crowded with data, it’s easy for a file to be written across multiple sections. As long as the file being read was written sequentially, the HDD will skim it. When accessing a file, the “read” part of the read/write head notes the magnetic section’s positioning as it flies over the spinning platters. For HDDs, the speed at which the platters spin helps determine the read/write times.

Fitbit Versa 3ĭrive “speed” is predominantly focused on how fast they can read and write data.
