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All you need to know about SSD & HDD

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Difference between HDD and SSD

Well how often people get confused over selecting either a Computer or Laptop with SSD or HDD storage and which one is better. Well both of them have equal advantages and disadvantages and it totally depends on your necessity, budget, and requirements. So it differs from person to person on either to choose SSD or HDD after reading this article you will be able to distinguish the differences and evaluate yourself which one is the right choice for you.

What is an SSD?

SSD stands for Solid State Drive(sometimes it is also called as Solid State Disk). The SSD is more like the USB memory sticks but bit more sophisticated. The memory is stored in microchips using the integrated circuits as memory. The SSD does not contain any mechanical arm to read or write data like HDD does which makes it run faster. And it even allows you to retrieve the data even without power as there is not lot of mechanism involved in working of a SSD.

SSD uses NAND-based flash memory which is a non-volatile type of memory. Being the non-volatile type of memory it means when you turn off your device it won’t forget what was stored on it. This is of course essential for any permanent storage device.  The Data storage life in SSD is very high and surely outlive you.

Working of SSD:

As discussed earlier the SSD doesn’t contain any mechanical arm to read or write data it uses the embedded processor to read or write the data which is called the Controller. A controller is what determines the speed of the SSD. There are lot of factors involved in evaluating the controller and which one is better. Few factors like error controlling, encryption and garbage collection. The SSD controller sends a signal on which data block to select and either read or write data.

Advantages of SSD:

  • Speed: Without any moving parts to read or write data. You can store or retrieve data faster in SSD when compared to HDD where a mechanical arm is required to read or write data.
  • Durability: SSD’s are more durable than HDD as it can sustain a higher level of shocks and temperature.
  • Form Factor: SSD products are the thinnest of all as there are not many moving parts in it. This is the reason why SSD’s are more common in the slimmest notebooks.
  • Battery Life: There won’t be much of difference in power consumption but when compared SSD are more power efficient than HDD.
  • OS boot time: The systems with SSD boot up faster than HDD with the average boot up time being 10-13 seconds.
  • Noise andVibration: As there are no moving parts the noise and vibrations compared to HDD are less and even little amount of heat is produced.

Disadvantages of SDD:

  • Cost: The SSD’s are very expensive when compared to the HDD as they are almost 4 times costlier than the HDD when compared the cost per gigabyte in both of them.
  • Storage Capacity: If you would like to store huge amount of data then SSD is not the right choice for you as SSD would cost a lot.

What is HDD?

Well most of you are aware of what is an HDD. If you’re not or if you would like to know more about it continue reading else skip this and check out which is the best for you at the end of article.

HDD stands for Hard Disk Drive, they are the data storage devices that store the data on the platters coated with magnetic materials unlike SSD. The data is stored or retrieved with the help of magnetic heads. They have been in the market since late 1950’s. The HDD’s are nearly 60 years old technology but they have been upgrading and getting better since then.

Working of HDD:

The data is stored on the platter which is a rapidly rotating disk coated with magnetic material. A magnetic head is placed on either of the sides of the rotating platter. The faster the platter rotates the quicker the data is processed. So make sure to check the RPM speed of the HDD before buying.

Advantages of HDD:

  • Cost: The HDD are very much cost effective when compared to the SSD and SSDH. It only costs around 0.06$ per gigabyte on average.
  • Capacity: As it costs less you can get high amount of storage with your laptop.

Disadvantages of HDD:

  • Power Consumption: HDD’s consume more power when compared to the SSD’s
  • Noise: HDD’s produce lot of noice because of the moving objects during the operation
  • Form Factor: As the HDD’s have rotating disks and heads they consume a lot of space so in thinner laptops it’s a drawback.

When to buy SSD:

  1. When you don’t want to compromise at its performance and speed.
  2. When you deal with more of online data than the data on local drive.
  3. When you can afford the high price for faster processing and durability.

When to buy HDD:

  1. When you store a lot of multimedia files in your drive. You need lots of storage so it is better to go with HDD than SSD.
  2. When you’re not very particular about the speed of a system.
  3. When you want to spend only limited amount for a system.

So, it all depends on your usage and purpose on which is better as discussed SSD is better performance wise whereas HDD’s are cost effective and high in storage. Choose the one which is best for you.