Can someone explain to me what "512GB M.2 SSD (Boot) + 1TB 5400RPM (Storage)" means?

[Steven Mal]

I understand that the 1TB 5400RPM is for storage but I've never heard of a "Boot" drive. What does "512GB M.2 SSD (Boot)" mean and what is it /can it be used for? What is the difference between a boot drive and a storage drive?

 

[007agentHP]

it means that the system boots up very quickly. m.2 is one of the fastest boot devices on the market. it just means that you have a 512 GB m.2 SSD there you can store your most used programs so they load up instantly (no joke, loading times dont exist on m.2 ssds). and for the rest of your files, you have the 1 TB hard drive

 

[runswindows95]

A boot drive is the drive with your OS on it, rather it be a SSD or a HDD.

 

[popatim]

an M.2 interface contains both a sata port and pcie lanes (up to 4 lanes) so depending on the actual drive being used it can be very fast or not any faster than any other sata ssd. Some of the newer pcie based m2 ssd's have tested out at about 1800MB/s peak - which far exceeds what a sata3 port could support.

 

[ifIwasarichman]

You have 2 separate drives.
One with your operating system (and usually all your programs) and the other drive is for storing data (example - Folders with music and video) This is so the operating system starts almost instantly (no waiting times) and your can open programs just as quick. Wheres as the stored data, under normal, run of the mill, use, generally only needs to be accessed at a slower rate from a big storage drive. Professional usage may require fast access, but they have high end set-ups to utilize it.
The majority of flash drives ( whether sata, msata, m2 or PCD-E) are 1TB or more commonly smaller, yet it is easy to find hard disk drives a lot larger (up to 6TB). Price has a lot to do with the set up you mentioned. Look up the price of normal (not talking about high end or enterprise drives) 4 TB hdd and compare it to a good, normal 500gb SSD and see which is more expensive.