An important consideration in deriving the maximum performance from AF emulation hard drives is optimizing the drive for the operating environment through effective hard drive partition alignment. Partition alignment refers to the starting location of the LBA or sector partition and whether the starting location of the operating system (OS), software applications and computing components match the partition boundary scheme used on the AF drive.
Full performance benefits from AF emulation hard drives may be realized with proper drive-to-system alignment. Several options for ensuring optimal performance through proper alignment with AF emulation HDDs are available today including:
- “AF Aware” software programs including OSs and applications.
- Partition alignment software utilities, which match the drive partitioning scheme to the OS.
- Products which incorporate real-time alignment management firmware on the HDD.
- Fully “AF Optimized” OSs, software applications and programs.
Visit your HDD supplier’s web sites to learn how they are providing alignment solutions for their AF hard drives.
