What is Computer RAID? – RAID Levels. 
Computer circuit board or Motherboard. 
Computer security – mobile and computer safety. 
Computer storage – What is the difference between SSD and HDD 
Computer hardware maintenance – Improve performance. 
What are mobile phones about? 
What is computer mediated communication – How does it help? 
How to create a bootable USB drive. 
What are the pros and cons of digitalization? – Is it worth it? 
When it comes to computer storage devices. There has been a lot of advancement since the commercial use of a floppy disk in 1971. And hard disk drives in 1957. Ever since then, the sizes and compactness of storage devices has been seen to reduce in size. With an increase in speed, capacity and improved performance.
Types of computer storage devices
Due to our daily usage of computers and looking at how vital the type of information we handle. Storage becomes the question of the day as to how we can preserve that information for future usage. (Please don’t forget to do regular hardware maintenance and backup). Now to store data with regardless to the form or size, storage devices become important. They are mainly two categories of secondary storage devices which can be used to store data. And these are direct storage and network based storage. Since primary storage cannot be used for data storage. As it loses information when a computer or machine powers off.
Direct storage: sometimes referred to as direct-attached storage (DAS). Are storage devices that are directly linked with the machine that access data to and from. And can provide decent local backup services, although sharing maybe limited to some point. These include hard drives, floppy disk, magnetic tapes, optic discs, flash drives and solid-state drives.
Network-based storage: these are storage devices that offer off-site storage capabilities. That make it suitable for data backup and protection. It also allows more than one computer to have access to data. As it is better for sharing and collaborating. Network-based storage can further be subdivided into network-attached storage (NAS) and storage-area network (SAN). Network- attached storage mainly consists of a file storage system. With a single storage device that has limited users, speed and expansion options. Despite that it is a low cost and easy to set up, with TCP/IP Ethernet network.
Unlike the NAS, the storage area network is normally designed for large cooperatives or organizations. As it supports multiple devices due to its optimization for multiple users with faster performance. Through the use of fiber-channel network which interconnects. Using wide area network (WAN) and local area network (LAN) with switches and directors. It is highly expandable, quite expensive in cost too and its also complex to set up. Although, network based storage offer off site storage space similar to cloud storage services. They all mainly constitute direct storage devices which may be located far from the servers.
What is the difference between SSD and HDD
Of all the storage devices. The most prominent ones that users today’s most frequently use are the Solid state drive and the hard disk drive. Although the two use different designs and technique. Their main purpose is to store data for future use. The hard disk drive is one of the earliest storage devices to be designed. It uses a spinning disk inside were data is stored magnetically. With an arm that extends containing several transducers or heads that read and write data on the disk. The arm extends to access data on different sectors of the disk as it spins.
Solid state drives sometimes referred to as flash memory are considered the new generation. Because they don’t contain moving parts hence, the name “Solid state”. Data is normally stored in integrated circuits. Making them faster and more efficient with higher performance. Since they don’t have to wait for a platter rotation to start up in order to access data from different storage addresses.
Comparison between SSD and HDD
Technically both are storage devices used to store data and have factors that may facilitate preference. And when it comes to overall performance the SSD out stand the HDD model. As they are more reliable due to them not containing moving parts. Which are not affected by vibrations or issues related to thermal. That can lead the device to a corrupted state. Making them less latency to delay in accessing data or information. And hence consuming less power. As they are idle most of the time. SSD is just optimal for the best gaming experience. Such as video games contain enormous amount of assets such as high graphic resolution texture, audio, models and more. Requiring high speed and capacity paramount.
Unlike SSD, HDD model requires a lot of power. When starting up to spin the disks causing an increase in latency and delay. And also causing them to be easily corrupted due to the vibration and thermal issues. Due to requiring a lot of power they tend to reduce the lifetime of batteries in laptops. Despite HDD being at a disadvantage when compared to the SSD. They have a considerable amount of capacity or storage space that can range from 250GB to 15 TB. While SSD can only range from 120 GB to 4 TB.
Verdict
A hybrid of SSD and HDD would be preferable, considering a balance of performance and affordability. Helping to lower the total cost and meeting workload demands. By combining the ideal mix of flash and traditional spinning drivers. Achieving faster performance across disk drive and flash memory storage. By moving the most frequently used data to your highest speed flash storage and keeping the less frequently used on the disk drive. As it can accommodate more data than compare to the capacity of the flash memory. A good network always begins with a good design that can enhance network availability, system manageability and accessibility to data.
Great information on computer storage. I had heard of the term SSD and that is what is in a home computer usually right? Or am I wrong LOL. I get a bit confused. I just know I like to retrieve things from memory fast, but thought that depended on the RAM memory and not the SSD. Am I partially right?
Its not normally a guarantee that every home computer has one, some do contain HDD. But due to the latest development of SSD most modern computers made today contain SSD storage. You are right on RAM being the determinate on how fast you can retrieve things from your secondary storage.
If you have less RAM storage and a large SSD, performance can be a bit slow. As RAM is second from cache memory. While SSD and HDD are secondary storage. You might also find how to compare CPU’s useful if you want to learn more.
A nice concise post, with clear explanation of the two systems.
I used to build media pc’s before the streaming side got going and I wished ssd’s had been available then, the constant worry of a hdd failing and having to build in redundancy looks like it’s pretty much gone using ssd’s.
Hi David, it would have truly been great if they come earlier, they would have saved the hustle of having fear of losing information once your HDD drops.
Very useful information on computer storage , also you have used some very interesting images which makes it look very attractive . I always thought HDD was better then SSD , but i guess i was wrong after i went through this article . It was good to know that SSD requires lesser power as compared to HDD which reduces the overall cost and enhances the performance . Good to know this , thanks for sharing .
Thank you for taking time reading through this article. And finding the information resourceful and getting to know the difference between HDD and SSD.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I have often seen the both definitions used, especially when dealing with webhosting online storage but was never quite sure what they meant and what they were. So i’m glad i come accross your article here which cleared a few things up. Thanks for this
You are most welcome Kwidzin. Aam glad you found it useful and it cleared out a few things.
The coming in of technology has made life more convenient for us all. In fact it is a daily improvement as we see with the 2 types of storage devices. While the hdd has its limitation., ssd is an improvement with the use of solid state devices like integrated circuits. Where storage no longer needs to wait for moving part. I very much agree with your advice on storage–moving less frequently used data to disk drive
SSD is truly an improvement of HDD, with improved performance and consumes less power. The mean ideal behind an SSD was to replace the traditional way of hard disk storage with flash storage.
Your article gave me an appreciation into the world of data storage. Appears it’s a universe within itself! I am an avid computer user creating media content; and never have given much thought to storage. I have a hard-drive, and back-up everything on Google. However, a friend informed of the risk to my data and suggested also using SSD’s drives for my media content data. I am amazed at the complexity and in-depth research around storage devices and what they can do today.
This is a far cry from the old days when I used floppy diskettes. Today, I prefer SSD because of reliability and affordability. However, what I really liked learning that helped be better organize my data; was the concept you discussed about keeping the data I used most often on the highest speed flash storage and keeping the less frequently used on the disk drive. It makes a lot of sense and allows me to store my media files in accessible SSD’s. Great article that has helped me improve the quality of my workflow.
Hello Terryiching, there has been a tremendous development when it comes to storage. Moving down from punch card to Hard drive and now flash memory. And considering you have used floppy disk before, gives me an awareness that you have witnesses this drastic change when it comes to storage devices.
The concept of keeping most frequently used data onto flash memory is to simplify workflow and for easy accessibility. The time taken to locate and retrieve data from its stored address is lessened when is comes to SSD and unlike HDD.
This post offers concisely practical and useful knowledge of how to save your data . I would like to add these few lines to help it.
1. HDDs ’ve been around longer than SSDs. In general, they are lower in cost and are practical for data that does not need to be accessed frequently, such as backups of photos, videos or business files.
2. Consumer-grade SSDs are more expensive than consumer-grade hard drives. Due to the unique file system structure of an SSD, data extraction can be an extremely difficult and lengthy process. Because the data recovery process is so difficult and takes so long, it can be quite expensive.
3. SSDs offer shorter boot times for your computer, more immediate data transfer and higher bandwidth.
4. SSDs commonly use less power and result in longer battery life because data access is much faster and the device is idle more often. With their spinning disks, HDDs require more power when they start up than SSDs.
I agree with the verdict of having both for data storage for your day-to-day use.
Thanks Anusuya for that add up and most importantly that you found this post useful. Feel free to surf through the other articles, you might find something of your interest or new to read.