What feature allows SATA drives to be removed while the system is powered on?

Hot swapping (enabled by AHCI)

Why was mSATA introduced, and why is it now largely replaced?

mSATA was designed to provide a smaller, more compact storage solution for laptops and mobile devices, where traditional 2.5-inch SATA drives were too large.

M.2 SSDs replaced mSATA because they are even smaller, faster, and support NVMe (which provides much higher speeds compared to SATA).

Newer motherboards and laptops now primarily use M.2 slots instead of mSATA.

What are the three most common SATA form factors used in computers?

-mSATA was designed to provide a smaller, more compact storage solution for laptops and mobile devices, where traditional 2.5-inch SATA drives were too large.

-M.2 SSDs replaced mSATA because they are even smaller, faster, and support NVMe (which provides much higher speeds compared to SATA).

-Newer motherboards and laptops now primarily use M.2 slots instead of mSATA.

What does AHCI stand for, and why is it significant in SATA-based drives?

AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) is a protocol used for SATA drives that enables features like hot swapping and native command queuing (NCQ) to improve performance.

How does rotational speed impact hard drive performance?

Rotational speed determines how fast data can be read/written because the platters must spin to the correct location before accessing data.

• Faster RPM = lower latency = faster data retrieval.

What are the typical rotational speeds (RPM) for hard drives, and how do they affect latency?

• Common RPM speeds:
  • 5,400 RPM → ~5.5ms latency (slower)
  • 7,200 RPM → ~4.2ms latency (standard for desktops)
  • 10,000–15,000 RPM → ~2ms latency (high-performance drives)
• Impact: The faster the RPM, the quicker the drive can find and transfer data.

Why is SATA III not ideal for modern SSDs compared to NVMe?

NVMe is much faster because it connects directly to the PCIe bus, whereas SATA III maxes out at 600 MB/s, limiting SSD speed.

What is the main difference between an M.2 SATA SSD and an M.2 NVMe SSD?

• M.2 SATA SSD still uses the SATA interface, so it has a 600 MB/s speed cap.
• M.2 NVMe SSD uses PCIe lanes, allowing speeds up to 4+ GB/s, making it much faster.

What is the purpose of the B key and M key in M.2 SSDs?

• B Key: Supports SATA or PCIe x2
• M Key: Supports PCIe x4 (faster)
• Some drives support both (B+M key), but true NVMe SSDs use M key for higher speeds.

Which of the following answers refer to common battery types that can be found in modern portable devices? (Select 2 answers)

Lithium-ion (Li-ion)

Lithium-ion Polymer (LiPo)

Which laptop feature allows to overcome standard keyboard size restrictions?

Fn Key

Which of the answers listed below refer(s) to internal data storage device type(s) used in laptop computers? (Select all that apply)

SSD's
Magnetic Disks

Which of the following statements refer to the characteristic features of magnetic drives? (Select 3 answers)

High Capacity
Low Device Cost
Low Performance

Which of the answers listed below describe the features of Solid-State Drives (SSDs)? (Select 3 answers)

Relatively high device cost

Lower capacity in comparison to magnetic drives

High performance

A technology implemented in modern laptops that enables data transfer and authentication features between the laptop and another portable device at a very close range is known as:

NFC

Which of the following answers refers to a display technology most commonly used in modern laptops?

LCD

What are the characteristic features of In-Plane Switching (IPS)? (Select 3 answers)

High Color Quality
Wide Viewing Angles
Slow Response Times

Which of the following answers describe the Twisted Nematic (TN) technology? (Select 3 answers)

Low Viewing Angles
Fast Response Times
Low Color Quality

Vertical Alignment (VA) display technology can be characterized by: (Select 3 answers)

High Contrast Ratios

Good Viewing Angles
Good color quality

What are the characteristic features of an OLED display? (Select 3 answers)

-Works without backlight
-Lower light output in comparison to LCDs
-Better contrast ratio and color representation in comparison to LCDs

(True or False) PS, TN, VA, and OLED are all implementations of the LCD display technology.

False

Which of the following answers refers to a device capable of providing both input and output functions?

Touch screen

Which of the answers listed below describe the function of a laptop's inverter? (Select 2 answers)

-Used for supplying voltage to backlights in older types of LCD panels

-Converts DC power into AC power