Magician Software User Manual

DOS

DOS or Disk Operating System is a simple computer operating system that lacks

the now ubiquitous Graphical User Interface (GUI) of modern operating systems,

relying instead on simple text input. Its small size and simplicity allow it to be

easily installed on devices like UBS Flash disks, like the one Samsung SSD

Magician helps format to use in updating the SSD’s firmware or performing a

secure erase.

Firmware

Firmware is a combination of software and hardware. Special, usually small

software is written to read-only memory (ROM). Many firmware chips are

designed to be updated via software updates so that manufacturers can improve

performance and quality.

Garbage Collection

By nature, SSDs are a bit obsessive about how they organize their data. They

prefer to have it neatly stacked together, and they run more efficiently when they

can keep it that way. Everyday use makes this type of neatness difficult,

because the OS is constantly writing and deleting data of various sizes, leaving

data strewn haphazardly throughout the SSD. Garbage Collection remedies

this by combing through the Swiss cheese of data left behind, collecting any

valid data and carefully placing it together.

IDE (or ATA, PATA)

IDE or Integrated Drive Electronics is an interface standard for connecting internal

storage devices (HDD, CD-ROM, etc.) to PCs. It is based on the premise that the

hard drive and its controller should be combined. First standardized by the

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as ATA (Advanced Technology

Attachment), it has evolved into EIDE (Enhanced IDE) and PATA (Parallel ATA).

Up to 4 HDDs or CD-ROM drives are supported by the IDE type interface. IDE

drives may be configured as either “slaves” or “masters.” Configuration options

are available via the BIOS.

Over Provisioning

Over Provisioning refers to the practice of leaving a chunk of free space available

for use by the SSD controller. The SSD will perform better if it has free space

available to use as swap space. Swap space is used to perform routine SSD

maintenance (TRIM and Garbage Collection) in the background during idle time,