Suppose I told you that the local car dealership was selling a car that offered double the gas mileage of standard models (or double the top speed for you daredevils). You’d probably say something like “Sure, but what is it going to cost me?” Suppose I told you that the models were identical, but the performance version had just one less seat. In order to double the gas mileage or top speed, all you had to do was give up a single seat. Would you buy it?
If you used you car as a vanpool, and if you were loaded to the gills already, probably not. But what if I also told you that this rule applied to their larger vehicles too—you could get a massive 18-passenger maxi-van with double the typical gas mileage if you were willing to order one with 13 seats instead. Suppose I also told you that this trick worked on every car they made.
What about now? Would you do it? For those of you that think I’ve lost it there is a computer analogy coming (you knew there would be, right?). Suppose I told you that you could as much as double the performance of your solid state drive (SSD) if you gave up 25% of the capacity. Would you do it? Suppose I also told you that the drive will last longer as a bonus. How about now?
You can do all this. How? Overprovisioning.
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