Until recently, when you went to purchase a laptop or desktop computer, your choices in terms of the type of storage were slim-to-none. Let’s say, for example, you were determined to find a low-cost and lightweight laptop option to distribute to your office employees. Typically referred to as an ultra-portable, these devices typically come built with a solid-state drive (SSD) as the primary storage type. Excluding these now popular digital devices, mostly every other laptop or computer had a hard disk drive (HDD). Fast-forward to 2016 when consumers now will commonly be offered the option of choosing between a HDD or SSD. This article will provide a brief overview of both internal hard disk drives and solid state drives, analyze advantages and disadvantages of both, and hopefully serve as an aid during your decision-making process.
Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
The traditional HDD is the nonvolatile storage of a computer. In other words, information stored on these drives will not be lost when the computer’s power switches to the “off” position. Taking the physical form of a metal platter with magnetic coating, a read/write head on an arm allows for the data to be accessible while the platters are spinning.
Advantages of selecting a HDD include a lower price point, increased storage capacity and purchasing availability. Probably the most obvious disadvantage of selecting this type of drive is the rebooting speed. When doing business, these matter-of-minutes could be the difference between on-time project completion and failure.
Solid State Drive (SSD)
A solid state drive (SSD) is a nonvolatile, ultra secure storage device that stores data on, you guessed it, solid-state flash memory. Solid-state memory takes the form of interconnect flash memory chips which have the capability to retain data without power. These chips can be installed in a few different ways. It’s important to note that these flash memory chips are not the same kind that are used in USB thumb-drives, and typically operate at a faster speed and carry more reliability.
Advantages of selecting this type of drive include quicker operating speeds, ruggedness in terms of the physical design, and the drive’s exertion of virtually no noise. If SSDs were not as pricey and did not lack in storage capacity, they would be the hands-down winner in most cases.
Now that we have provided our honest evaluation, the final choice is up to you. In terms of post-purchase maintenance, ABR Systems Group is willing and available to provide you and your business with day-to-day, small business IT support. Contact us today to take that next step and schedule a consultation. We are here to help.
