The partition format of solid state drives (SSDs) is mostly the same as that of mechanical hard drives (HDDs), as the operating system and file system do not specifically distinguish the physical type of hard drive. The main partition formats include the following:
1 MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table:- MBR is a traditional hard disk partitioning scheme that supports a maximum hard disk capacity of 2TB (when using 512 byte sectors)- The MBR partition table can only support up to 4 primary partitions, or 3 primary partitions plus 1 extended partition (multiple logical partitions can be created within the extended partition)- The MBR partition format is relatively outdated, but it performs well in terms of compatibility, especially in some old systems or scenarios that require booting DOS/Windows 9x and other systems.
2 GPT (UUID Partition Table) partition table:- GPT is a modern hard disk partitioning solution that supports hard disk capacities greater than 2TB, theoretically up to 8ZB (Zettabyte)- The GPT partition table can support almost unlimited numbers of partitions (limited by the operating system and file system)- The GPT partition format has stronger error detection and recovery capabilities, and supports advanced features such as EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) system boot- GPT is the preferred partition format for modern operating systems such as Windows 8 and above, macOS, Linux, etc.
3. File System: Partition formats not only involve partition table types (MBR or GPT), but also file system types- In Windows systems, common file systems include FAT32 (primarily used for USB drives and small storage devices) and NTFS (used for most internal hard drives and storage devices)- In Linux systems, common file systems include ext4, XFS, Btrfs, and so on- SSDs are usually recommended to use NTFS (in Windows environments) or ext4/Btrfs (in Linux environments) because these file systems optimize the read and write performance of SSDs.
For SSDs, it is recommended to use GPT partition tables as they provide greater capacity support, stronger error detection and recovery capabilities, and are compatible with EFI system boot. When choosing a file system, factors such as operating system compatibility, performance requirements, and data integrity should be considered.
Before changing the partition format or re partitioning, be sure to back up important data to prevent data loss.