Internal Drive Advanced Format 4k Sector Size Support and Information

Advanced Format

• Increases the physical sector size from 512 bytes to 4096 bytes.
• Larger sector sizes allow for faster data storage and retrieval.
• Offers 512 byte emulation for backward compatibility with older systems.
  
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Product Data Sheet

The data sheet can be reviewed to check if a drive supports Advanced Format.

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Example 1

The drive has a physical sector size of 4096 bytes if the data sheet shows Advanced Format Yes.
These drives have a logical sector size that emulates 512 bytes.

Example 2

• 512 emulation model number means the logical sector size is 512 bytes and the physical sector size is 4096 bytes.
• 512 native model number means both the logical and physical sector size is 512 bytes.

Overview of Different Sector Sizes

4K native (4Kn)

• Logical and physical sectors are able to hold 4096 bytes of data
• Improved performance
• Better error correction
• Increased storage density
• Faster handling of larger files
• Older systems may not be compatible

The drive can be checked through the OS to see if it is set in a 4K sector size. Need more help? Answer ID 25459: Steps to Check if a Drive is 512 or 4k on Windows and macOS

512 emulated (512e)

• Physical sector size is 4096 bytes while emulating 512 bytes
• Built for use with systems and applications that use 512 bytes
• Backward compatible with older systems
  May not offer same performance boosts as native 4K drives

The purpose of 512e is for new drives to be used with OSes that do not support 4Kn sectors.

512e drives map all 512 logical blocks into the 4K physical sectors.

512 native (512n)

• Sector size of 512 bytes
• The logical and physical sectors of the device hold 512 bytes of data
• Lower storage density compared to 4K native
• 512 native are not 4K drives
• Will not offer same performance boosts as 4K native drives

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