Solid State Drives (SSDs) and Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) are essentially two solutions to the same problem – storing and retrieving digital data. For years people were happy with HDDs, but recently SSDs have been rapidly replacing them as the preferred solution when somebody needs more memory for their computer. The major difference between them is that an SSD has no mechanical parts that move around, and you might wonder whether this makes a big enough difference to warrant their sudden surge in popularity.
The answer is yes, it does make a big difference. Switching from an HDD to an SSD is a simple upgrade that can vastly improve the performance of your system in terms of its speed and reliability. This short guide looks a bit more in-depth at what SSDs are and the advantages they have over hard drives.
What is an SSD?
Like a hard drive, an SSD is simply a computer storage device, but the way that it stores and retrieves data is different. HDDs have inside them a spinning platter that stores the data, and an arm that reads the data off of it. This means that HDDs are like little machines with physical, moving parts. And like any machine with physical moving parts, there is a risk that they will break down or become damaged.
SSDs, on the other hand, don’t have any mechanical moving parts (hence “solid-state”). They use flash memory instead. As you can probably guess from the name, this type of memory is very fast.
The advantages of SSD over HDD
SSDs tend to be more expensive than HDDs, although this has lessened in recent years as they have become more popular. However, for the extra money they do offer a number of advantages over hard drives. Here are the main ones.
Durability
SSDs and HDDs are both types of long-term memory storage. That means that they are where your files, and anything else you want to retrieve again in the future, can be stored. Nothing is worse than turning on your computer and trying to open your files, only to find that they are all corrupted or irretrievable. This is a common experience with HDDs. Over time the heat generated by their moving parts can cause them to become damaged and break down. Without moving parts, SSDs can last a lot longer. They are also more resilient to drops and shakes.
Practical sizing
Because they store data on a spinning platter, HDD sizes increase significantly with the amount of memory they offer. Once you get into terabytes, they start to get quite large. Meanwhile a 2TB (Terabyte) SSD can be as small as a stick of gum, meaning that it takes up far less desk space and is much more convenient to carry around.
No noise
Speaking of convenience, SSDs are also much lighter than HDDs and they make hardly any noise. This is a stark contrast with HDDs, whose parts you can usually hear whirling around, and which can get particularly noisy when they are struggling.
Speed
SSDs can be hundreds of times faster than HDDs. This means they can help your computer boot faster, run large programs more smoothly, and transfer data quickly. They are also very stable, meaning that they are unlikely to suddenly crash during use even when they are working very fast. And while doing all this they are also more energy efficient. Having no physical parts to move saves a lot of energy.
Conclusion
The fact that they are the newer technology means that SSDs can be significantly more expensive than hard drives, but the gap has been reducing lately. As their prices have been coming down, their popularity has been growing as more people have begun to realise that they are superior to HDDs in almost every way.
