IOPS stands for Input/Output Operations Per Second. While they don't always equate to real-world performance, they are used to measure how many tasks a computer storage device can handle, per second. The bigger the number, or the more IOPS a storage drive offers, the better performance the drive has to offer.

IOPS can be measured in a couple of different ways, and it's not the only benchmark when it comes to checking your storage drive's performance. In all honesty, if you've never done so, you should benchmark your PC to make sure everything is running optimally, not just your storage. There are a number of easy-to-use programs to help you benchmark your PC. When it comes to storage, some of the more common benchmark programs are CrystalDiskMark, AS SSD, Anvil and ATTO. If you want to just check on the health of your drive, CrystalDiskInfo is a handy program for this.

Why IOPS are important

Helping to determine the overall performance of your storage

As the name suggests, IOPS measures how many operations (tasks) per second your storage drive can handle. The more tasks that can be done, in the quickest amount of time, the better. Many programs rely heavily on storage, so everything from databases to video editing will benefit from using drives with larger IOPS. However, it's worth remembering that there are a few factors that could influence the resulting IOPS when benchmarking your storage drive.

It is also important to know what type of data you will be using and whether you will need to write to the drive or read from it more. Single, larger, files will benefit from a better sequential read/write speed, whereas databases that may open up multiple smaller files may see improved performance from drives with higher random IOPS. All of this will come into play when you are trying to look for the best SSD for your individual needs.

Careful, not all IOPS are created equally

The same drive can have different results if you are not careful

While IOPS is a great benchmark to see the potential of one drive compared to another, you have to make sure they are measured in the same way. There are several things that could result in different results when it comes to measuring IOPS. Even when it comes to using benchmark programs, you have to make sure to run the same exact tests to make sure the results are like-for-like.

File sizes or the number of files being written to, or read from, a drive can have an impact on the total IOPS. Even if you use the same drive and tests, results can be affected if the interface, such as SATA or PCIe, is not the same for each test. While this sounds like it can be a pain, most companies have standardized testing and will let you know how they got the IOPS results.

It is also worth mentioning that, sometimes, the size of the drive can have an effect on the overall speed and IOPS of the drive. While not always the case, a lot of the time you will notice that a 2TB M.2 SSD will outperform a 500GB M.2 SSD even if they are the same make and model. This is generally due to the larger drive having more chips on it than the smaller, which offers better performance.

Are IOPs really worth worrying about?

SSD performance comes down to more than read/write speeds

Yes, they are, but you need to know which ones you should be worried about. If you are a single user, using your PC for larger file sizes, then you may want to pay more attention to the sequential IOPS of the drive you are looking at. This would be beneficial for someone editing a big video file all at once, or similar. For most of us, and how we use our PCs, random IOPS is going to be more beneficial, as this is similar to opening up multiple programs like web browsers, games and word documents on your PC, all at the same time.

IOPS doesn't always relate to real world performance, but it should give you an idea of which drives are faster than others. Of course, if we all had our way, we would use the drives with the fastest IOPS for both sequential and random operations, but this isn't always achievable. You will also want to consider whether you will be doing more reading or writing on the drive. Generally, a drive's read speed and IOPS are much faster than its write speed and IOPS. Some drives are made to write faster than others and can even have a higher TBW (Terrabytes Written) than others.

A lot of people will even recommend looking at the IOPS of a drive rather than just the standard read and write speeds when purchasing a new drive. Just remember, the more IOPS the better!