If you are planning to buy a new laptop or ultrabook, the storage device is one of the vital factors to look for. Most of us are well aware of the most common of the storage devices available and that is a hard disk drive. But now you have SSD (solid state device) as another option for storing your precious data and Operating system. To date, most of the ultrabooks and laptops come with SSD as the only storage device while some are equipped with both SSD and HDD. So there are many questions that come to mind like which storage is better than other? or How much will SSD cost and much more? This article will cover all your queries about SSD and the difference between SSD and HDD
What is SSD
SSD or Solid State Drive is a storage device that stores data on electronics chips. The SSD is just like a memory stick or a pen drive but are larger in size. The SSD does not have any mechanical parts like HDD or FDD which are comprised of the mechanical arm, platter and read-write head to store and retrieve the data.
The data is stored in SSD in memory chip which is nonvolatile or in simple words, the data stored is permanent and will not get erased in case the power goes off. Talking about the physical size, it comes in sizes that include 1.8 Inches, 2.5 Inches, and 3.5 Inches.
SSD can be connected to the motherboard in desktop or in a laptop in following interface types:
- SATA 3 with bandwidth up to 600mb/s
- PCIe ( High-speed PCI express slot)
- M.2 interface for ultrabooks. M.2 SSDs are like memory modules.
Benefits of SSD ( Solid State Drive)
The function of both SSD and HDD is same that is to store the data and boot the OS. SSDs have many advantages over traditional hard drives. SSD are the next generation storage devices which have following unique features to impress you.
- Robust. The traditional hard disks have spinning parts and are often prone to bumps while traveling or in case the laptop is subjected to certain shock. The laptops equipped with SSDs are more solid since there are no moving parts involved.
- Mobility. The laptops with SSD are lightweight and thinner since the SSDs are compact overall. So it is easy to carry SSD-based ultrabooks and offers more mobility.
- Better Battery Backup. The power requirement of SSD is much lesser than conventional hard disk drives since there is no motor or other rotary part used in SSD. Less use of power by SSD means more availability of power backup.
- Faster Response Time. Unlike HDD where data is fetched by moving heads on the platter, the data read/write process in SSD in instantaneous from the electronic circuitry based memory. So if an operating system is loaded in SSD, it will boot much faster than HDD.
Difference between SSD and HDD
| Feature | SSD ( Solid State Drive) | HDD ( Hard Disk Drive) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Expensive. A typical 1Tb 2.5" SSD costs around $300 | Cheap. 1 Tb 2.5" HDD costs only around $50 |
| Capacity | Maximum Capacity is 4Tb | Maximum Capacity: 10Tb |
| Vibration/Noise | Nil, due to absence of any mechanical parts | Yes, due to presence of moving parts |
| Power Consumption | less, max 3 watts | More, Max 7 Watts |
| Form Factor | No limitations. Plenty of sizes available | Limitation in availability of size due to mechanics involved |
| Magnetic effect | Not effected by magnetsim | Possibility of corruption of data due to magnetic effects |
| Read/Write Speed | Up to 700 MB/s | Up to 180 MB/s |
Summary
As we can observe in the comparison table of SSD and HDD, Hard disk drives offer more storage capacity at much cheaper price. At the same time, they are slow in performance and less durable than SSD. If you are not concerned about data space issues but need a faster booting of OS, quick access to applications and do not have any budget issues, you can simply opt for SSD over HDD.
If you are looking for something in between SSD and HDD, there are hybrid drives available that have storage capacities of HDD and a small flash memory that acts as an SSD for caching of applications. These drives are called SSHDs(Solid state hybrid drives). Said that again it depend upon your need whether you need high performance or storage space or a hybrid of both, you can pick the upcoming and popular SSD technology or just be satisfied with the traditional storage device.
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