SSD vs. HDD Explained

In Recent years, Solid State Drives (SSDs) are being shipped in more computers out of the box and hence are more popular. However, The question lies… What is a Solid State Drive? In this blog, I explain the basics of SSDs, the different types, and the difference between SSD and HDDs

What are SSDs

SSDs (Solid State Drives) are a type of storage device which is faster in transferring data and can fit more amounts of data in a small size. Solid-state drives store data in Bits (0,1,0,1) and stores data using integrated circuit assemblies. SSDs are more resistant to shocks, run silently, and have lower latency.

Types of SSDs

SSDs are available in various formats:

a) SATA SSD

A SATA SSD is capable of running on the same interface as most Hard Drives. SATA SSDs were developed such that it would be easy to upgrade from a Hard Drive. However, due to the limitations of the SATA interface, an SSD can only transfer at a certain speed for a certain duration. This means that the transfer speed and time will always be higher than claimed.

b) NVMe SSD

NVMe SSDs are able to take full advantage of the SSD inserted as it supports all types of transfer types and speeds. An NVMe SSD is smaller than a SATA SSD and can hold more information. It is available in different sizes including a smaller version in the form of a square and is used by manufacturers in small laptops.

c) IDE SSD

The Rarest of all the types is the IDE SSD. The IDE Interface was used for the older Hard Drives in the late 80s and early 90s. The IDE interface cannot exploit the full speeds of SSDs are usually flashcards in an Interface conversion board. These SSDs are usually used by Retro Computer users to make the computer faster for their needs. IDE SSDs are usually rare to come by and very expensive

d) USB SSDs

USB SSDs are the SSD version of portable Hard Disks. These SSDs are either a normal SATA SSD with a conversion cable or are developed on the USB-A or USB-C Platform. These SSDs are very common and are now becoming popular by replacing their Hard Drive Counterparts.

e) SSHD/ Apple Fusion Drive

The SSHD or Apple Fusion Drive is a type of SSD that combines both a Hard Drive and SSDs. These SSHDs have a normal disk platter to store the unused data. Whereas, The SSD part is used to store the frequently used data and recently closed ones. These SSHDs were meant to be more economical and could hold more data. But, They were plagued with reliability and transfer issues. The most common example is the Apple Fusion Drives in the 21/27” iMacs. These disks had a lot of reliability issues and Apple had to issue recalls for the first batch of them.

HDD vs SSD: Differences

Should you buy a Solid State Drive?

If you are facing issues with your hard drive and want to increase the performance, then, yes do buy one.

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