HDD Vs SSD: Differences And Advantages Of Both Types Of Hard Drive

Solid state drives or SSDs (Solid State Drive) are an alternative to hard drives. The big difference is that while hard drives use moving mechanical components, SSDs store files on microchips with interconnected flash memories. Therefore, we could almost consider them as an evolution of USB memories.

SSDs usually use NAND-based flash memories, which, as they are also non-volatile, keep the information stored when the drive is disconnected. They do not have physical heads to write the data, instead, they include an integrated processor to perform operations related to reading and writing data.

These processors, called controllers, make the “decisions” about how to store, retrieve, cache, and clean data on the drive, and their efficiency is one of the factors that determine the overall speed of the drive. In addition, by not relying on the spinning of a physical component, it also results in a quieter drive than mechanical drives.

In terms of size, these drives are usually 2.5″, and have an almost identical design to mechanical hard drives, which helps them fit into the same casings and slots where conventional hard drives are mounted on a computer. computer.

HDD vs SSD: main differences

MAIN ADVANTAGES	SSD	HDD
ABILITY	Typically between 256 GB and 4 TB	Typically between 1 and 10TB
CONSUMPTION	lower consumption	higher consumption
COST	much more expensive	Much cheaper
NOISE	Quieter due to no moving parts	Slightly noisier due to moving parts
VIBRATIONS	Does not vibrate because it has no moving parts	The rotation of its discs can cause slight vibrations
FRAGMENTATION	Does not have	can occur
DURABILITY	Your cells can be rewritten a limited number of times	With mechanical parts that can be damaged by movements
OS BOOT TIME	7 seconds	16 seconds
DATA TRANSFER	Typically between 200 and 550 MB/s	In general between 50 and 150 MB/s
AFFECTED BY MAGNETISM	No	Magnetism can delete data

In this table, you can see the main differences between both storage technologies. The main difference has to do with maximum capacities and price. It must be borne in mind that SSDs are much more modern, so it is normal for their price to be significantly higher. As of today, a 250 GB SSD can be worth the same as a 3 TB HDD.

Being storage units with no moving parts like their predecessors, SSDs have some notable advantages such as lower noise and vibration. It must also be made clear that we cannot say that mechanical hard drives are not extremely noisy either, so it is not a significant difference.

The one that is a notable difference is that speed. In our comparison between the two technologies, we saw how an SSD started an operating system in less than half the time of a 7,200-rpm HDD, and that it more than tripled its data read and write speeds. In our test, we used an HDD that read and wrote data at 150 MB/s and an SSD that read and wrote at 545 MB/s and 525 MB/s.

These specific data for writing and reading data always depend on the different models on the market. But in general, SSD hard drives are always much faster than mechanical ones. Hence precisely its high price.

The great concern around SSDs has always been around their durability, especially because of the few that the first drives to hit the market had. The useful life of solid-state drives directly depends on the amount of data you write to it since each cell in a bank of flash memories can only be written a certain number of times.

A study by Tech Report found that a fairly standard SSD, specifically a Samsung 850 Pro, could last up to 2.4 Petabytes of data written, which is equivalent to 2457.6 Terabytes. Therefore, the duration of one of these disks depends on how long it takes to write and rewrite the hard drive until you reach that amount, which is surely more than the 3 to 5-year warranty that manufacturers usually offer.

One of the drawbacks of SSDs compared to HDDs in terms of durability is that they have a higher failure rate. Even so, this is improving generation by generation and has other advantages such as better resistance to blows. remember, HDDs have mechanical parts, so a hit could cause them to break or wear out sooner, shortening their useful life.

In any case, and to avoid surprises, both in SSDs and in HDDs that can last around 10 years or more, it is best to regularly monitor the health of your hard drive. Here’s a collection of tools you can do it with, so you know when you might be about to experience an error that puts your data at risk.

Which hard drive to choose?

If you usually download a lot of content from the Internet and need large amounts of storage, or if you have a low budget, it is recommended that you continue to use HDDs. They are also a good resource for external hard drives, where storage capacity tends to take precedence over speed.

On the other hand, SSDs are recommended if you want to have a much faster computer. Its speed can make a PC that is a few years old go much faster without having to invest in other components. It is also recommended if you usually work editing multimedia content or are a video game lover since loading processes will speed up thanks to them.

In most cases, however, it is advisable to combine both types of hard drives. In a home tower, for example, you can use an SSD on drive C: to install the operating system there and make everything go faster. You accompany it with an HDD as a secondary disk and you will have a perfect unit in which to store all the heavy files that you have on the computer.

SSD FAQ

1. What does SSD mean?

SSD stands for Solid State Drive, which translated into Spanish means Solid State Drive.

2. What is an SSD hard drive?

SSDs are a new type of storage device that replaces conventional hard drives. They are capable of storing data in a much faster way, which makes the computers that use them much faster.

3. How much does an SSD cost?

SSDs are usually always more expensive than hard drives, and there are several types of them with different price ranges. They also depend on your storage capacity. They can range from 25 euros for a classic 240 GB SSD to 200 euros for a 2 TB PCIe NVMe type.