What is 3.5 SSD? Why are there few of them & some examples? And, how to transfer system to it while ensuring bootable?

1. Title: [Overview] 3.5 SSD: Basic Info and How to Migrate OS to It
Keywords: 3.5 ssd,3.5 inch ssd, 3.5 ssd hard drive, 3.5" ssd, 3.5 solidstate drive
Description: What is 3.5 SSD? Why are there few of them & some examples? And, how to transfer
system to it while ensuring bootable?
URL: https://www.minitool.com/partition-disk/3-5-ssd.html
Summary: This article will tell you what 3.5 SSD refers to, why there are few such drives while
giving some examples of them, and how to easily migrate a computer system to it and ensure the
system bootable at the same time. Learn more information on MiniTool.
What Does 3.5 SSD Mean?
3.5 SSD referstosolid-state drive(SSD) of 3.5-inch(3.5") size.Actually,accordingtoindustry
standards,a 3.5-inchSSD is 4 inches (101.60 mm) inwidth,5.75 inches(146,05 mm) indepth,and 1
– 1.63 inches(25.40 – 41.40 mm) in height.
The 3.5" SSD typicallymakesuse of the serial ATA (SATA) orserial-attachedSCSI (SAS)totransfer
data to and fromthe computersystem. Itfitsintothe save drive bayas a hard diskdrive (HDD),that
isidentical informfactor,on the computermotherboard.
SSDs andHDDs are mainlyintwokindsof form factors,mostin 2.5 inches(small formfactor,SFF)
and some in3.5 inches(large formfactor,LFF). And,the 3.5-inchand 2.5-inchmeasurements
representthe approximate diameterof the drive platterwithinthe driveenclosure.Thatiswhya
3.5-inch solidstate drive isof fourinchesinwidthand5.75 inchesof depth. The widthanddepth
are the sizesof the diskenclosure.
Tip: 3.5 SSD can also refer to SSD in a 3.5" bay.
Relatedarticle:DoSSDDrivesFail:A Complete AnalysisonSSDTechnology

2. Why Are There Few 3.5 SSDs?
Whenyouplan to buya 3.5 inch SSD andsearch itonline,youcansee manyretailerslistedinthe
searchresultincludingAmazon,Newegg,eBay,Ebuyer,etc.yet,whenyouclickintothe page,you
may findamongthe listeditems,feware actuallySSDor evennoone matchesyoursearch.Instead,
mostof the resultsare HDDs or 2.5" SSDs. Since the searchfunctionof those online retailershardly
fails,itmustbe the reasonthatthere are actually a few SSDof 3.5" size.Then,whyisit so?
Why are there so few3.5-inchSSD? Isit justbecause the demandforthiskindof drive islittle?Or,is
it that2.5-inch SSDsare mostlyneeded onlaptops?The probablyreasonsare as the followingones:
1. Demand of Consumers
In general,laptopssale more thandesktops.Since laptopsare compatiblewith the 2.5-inchsize of
hard drives,tomeetmostcustomers’needs,harddiskmanufacturerswillproduce more 2.5SSDs
than 3.5 SSDs.
2. Compatibility
Comparedto2.5" SSD, 3.5" onesare lesscompatible.Evenif yourharddrive bayisfor a 3.5-inchdisk
and youhave a 2.5-inchdrive,youcan mountyourcurrent 2.5-inchdrive withmountingkitadapters
and the adaptersare relativelyinexpensive comparedtobuyanew 3.5-inch SSD.
What’smore?A lot of newdesktopandservercasesare designedtohave at leastone native 2.5-
inchdrive mount.To install anSSD,if it is2.5 inches,insome situations,itisjustamatter of
installation;inothersituations,itissimplyamatterof densityandyouare able to fit more 2.5" SSDs
inthe same space as 3.5" SSD. This happensmore inservercasesthandesktopcases.
3. Matter of Physical Space
Since there islittle demandfor3.5-inchSSDs,will they disappearin the harddrive market? No,itwill
not.One of the reasonsisthat theyallow for largerplatterswitha largerdiskenclosure.Thus,a3.5"
hard drive generallyhas a largerdiskcapacity.Yet,a large enoughSSD requiringa3.5-inchdesign
will be extremelyexpensive,whichwon’tbe acceptedbymostusers.
4. Manufacturing Problem
It costs lesstobuildone enclosure designthantwo.Tosave cost,manufacturerswouldlike to
produce the mostpopularhard drive enclosure of 2.5"size insteadof the 3.5" one. So, there are few
companies thatproduce 3.5-inchSSDs.
https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/2-5-vs-3-5-hdd.html
Is It Possible to Buy 3.5 SSD?
Since there are fewSSDsof 3.5 inches,amI able topurchase one somewhere?Manycomputerusers
may asksuch questions. Let’sdiscussthistopicindetail.
For laptops,youcan findmany3.5-inchSSDs inthe market.Yet,for desktops,there are few butthey
do exist.Bysearching“3.5 inchinternal solidstate drive”onAmazon,youcanfindseveral itemsthat
match yourrequirements.And,itseemsthatmostof the matchesare fromthe brand OCZ.
Eventhere are 3.5" SSDs for youto buy,theyare veryexpensivecomparedtoconsumerSSDs.The
large formfactor SSDs are forlarge businessenterpriseconfigurations.
Some 3.5 SSDs on the Market
Thoughthe 3.5-inch SSDsare few,theydoexistandbelow are some of them.

3. #1 HP 653122-B21 3.5-inch Solid State Drive
Alt=HP 653122-B21 3.5-inchSolidState Drive
ThisHP 3.5-inch SSD adoptsa 3.0 Gb/s SATA data transferinterface,MLC(multi-level cell) NAND
flashmemory,andwire device connectivity. Itscapacityis100 GB and its currentprice is301 pounds
on Amazon. The productdimensionsare 15.24 x 27.97 x 22.86 cm, that’s6 x 11 x 9 inch, and weighs
480.81 grams.
#2 OCZ Vertex 2 3.5-inch Solid State Drive (OCZSSD3-2VTX360G)

4. Alt=OCZ Vertex 2 3.5-inchSolidState Drive (OCZSSD3-2VTX360G)
Thisblack 3.5 SSD hard drive isequippedwithSATA II3.0 Gb/s interface with amaximumread
speedof 285 MB/s, max write speedupto275 MB/s, sustainedwrite speedupto250 MB/s. Its
dimensions are 5.8 x 4 x 1 inch,and capacityis 360 GB.
#3 Lenovo 5300 480 Gb Solid State Drive
Alt=Lenovo5300 480 Gb SolidState Drive
The 5300 EntrySATA SSDis a newSSD forLenovoThinkSystemservers.Itmakesuse of Micro 96-
layer3D NANDflashmemory technology,aSATA 6 GB/s interface,andprovidesanaffordable
solutionforread-intensiveapplications.The drive offers480 GB data storage, a high-readspeedof
540 MB/s, and a high-writespeedof 410 MB/s.

5. #4 HPE P07924-B21 3.5" SATA Internal Solid State Drive
Alt=HPE P07924-B21 3.5" SATA Internal SSD
This3.5-inch SSDproduced by HPE offershighperformance,exceptional reliability,andefficiencyfor
fasterbusinessresults.Itisideal forbigdata analytics;achieveshigherIOPstoenhance datacenter
performance;maintainsdataaccuracyby full data-patherrordetection;aswell asadopts12 Gb/s
SAS,6 Gb/sSATA & NVMe.

6. #5 Imation S-Class 27523 3.5" Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Alt=ImationS-Class27523 3.5" Internal SSD
ImationS-Class3.5 SSDenablesitsuserstooperate fasterwithsustainedsequentialreadspeedup
to 130MBps, and write speedupto120MBps, guaranteedby the SATA IIinterface. Designedto
withstandwearandtear,thistype of drive featuresaruggeddesignforextremeendurance and
performance in aharsh environment,suchas 0-70°C (32-158°F).
How to Manage 3.5 SSD?
By managing3.5 solidstate drive,here itmeansto manage itsstorage space andmake use of it.
Usually,usersuse anSSD in orderto gainbetterperformance likefasterdataread& write speed,
secure data storage environmentaswell aslowerpowerconsumption.Therefore, theytendto
install acomputeroperatingsystem(OS) onthe SSDor relyon itto store crucial data backup.
Then,howto install OSonan SSD, especiallythe currentsystemyouare using?Actually,itiscalled
migrate or transferOSfrom an oldhard drive (usuallyHDD) to a new SSD.To achieve thismigration
or transferring,youneedaprofessional andreliable programsuchas MiniTool PartitionWizard.Its
Migrate OS to SSD feature isspeciallydevelopedforsystemmigrationwhile ensuringabootable OS
aftertransfer.
Before startingsystemtransferring,youneedtoconnect(install) yournew 3.5SSD withyour
computereitherviaUSB wire orby installingittothe extrahard drive bayonthe motherboard.
Then,downloadandinstall PartitionWizardonyourcomputerbutnot on the new SSD.Next,just
followthe below stepstocarry outOS migration.

7. Pw-pro-demo
Tip: Utility MigrateOSto SSD is a paid function.You can only see the demonstrated operationsfrom
the abovedemo version.To really carry outthe systemmigration,you need to purchasea license
code to unlockthe feature.
Step 1. In the maininterface of the software,select Migrate OS to SSD/HD Wizard onthe leftpanel
underthe Wizardcolumn.
Alt=SelectMigrate OS to SSD
Step 2. In the pop-upwindow,choose the rightmethodtomigrate yoursystemdisk. Then,click Next
to continue.
A. I would like to replace my system diskwith another hard disk. This methodwill copyall the
partitionsonthe source diskto the destinationdrive.
B. I would like to move my operatingsystemto another hard disk. And keepthe original hard
disk inmy computers. Thismethodwill onlycopysystemrequiredpartitionstotargetSSD.

8. Alt=Choose a Way to Migrate Your OS
Step 3. Pickdestinationdisk.Here,youshouldfindandselectthe connectednew SSDasyour
destinationforreceiving acopy of the OS. Then,click Nextto go on.
Note:The dataon the destination diskwill be destroyed.Thus,if there is importantdata there,you
should,firstof all, copy themto anotherplaceor makea backup of themwith MiniToolPartition
Wizard Copy DiskWizard or Copy Partition Wizard.

9. Alt=SelectDestinationDisk
Step 4. Reviewthe changesyouare goingto make to the destination3.5SSD. The defaultcopy
optionisthe firstone below.
Copy Options:
1. Fit partitionsto entire disk. Thisoptionwill occupythe whole storage space on the
destinationdrive.
2. Copy partitionswithout resizing. Thisoptionwill only occupythe same size of source disk
on the destinationdisk. Itisan exactduplicate of the original drive.Therefore,if youchoose
thismethod,yourdestinationdisk mustbe nosmall than the source disk.
If you are notsatisfiedwiththe layoutandof yournew drive,youcanswitchthe copy option.

10. Alt=Review ChangesandChoose CopyOptions
Step 5. If youwant to bootfrom the destinationdisk,remembertoconfigure itas the defaultboot
drive inBIOSaftersystemmigration.Readthe notice andclickFinish.

11. Alt=Configure TargetDiskas DefaultBootto Bootfrom It
Step 6. Previewthe changesespeciallyonthe destination3.5SSD.If that iswhat you wish,justclick
Apply onthe bottomleftcornertosave the changes.Youcan view whatoperationsthisOS
migrationwill bringtoyourdestinationdrive inthe leftOperationsPendingpart.
Tip: The last pending operation “UpdateDiskx BootConfigure”is to makesurethe target is bootable
afterthe systemmigrating.

12. Alt=Apply SystemMigration
Step 7. Wait until the operationsfinish.Finally,close the applicationandyouhave successfully
migratedthe operatingsystemtoyournew drive.
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3.5 SSD FAQ
Is there a 3.5 SSD?
Yes, there is!Thoughthe typesare few,there doesare 3.5-inchsolid-statedrivesonthe market,and
youcan findthemonfamousonline retailerslike AmazonandNewegg.There are several 3.5"SSD
brandssuch as Lenovo,OCZ,Imation,etc.
Will 2.5 SSD fit in3.5 bay? And how about vice versa?
For the firstquestion,the answerisyes.There are 2.5 to 3.5 SSD adapters or mountingbracketsto
mount 2.5 SSD in3.5 bay. Vice versa,forthe secondquestion,the answerisno.
Is 2.5 or 3.5 SSD better? (2.5 SSD vs 3.5 SSD)
Compare 3.5- and 2.5-inchSSD, as for the difference between2.5 and 3.5 SSD, the biggest
difference istheirsizes.And,3.5"SSDs are mainlyusedonDesktopwhile 2.5"onesare for laptops.
Also,the twosizesof drivesare different instorage capacity,powerconsumption,cache size,RPM
(RevolutionsPerMinute),datatransferspeed, etc. Formore differencesbetweenthese twosizesof
disks,youcan referto 2.5 VS 3.5 HDD: What Are the DifferencesandWhichOne IsBetter?
In general,itishardto say whichone isbetter.It all dependsondifferentusingsituations.