Solid-state Drive vs. Hard Disk

[axxaxaxx]

I am going to buy an external hard drive and i was wondering what is best, A Solid-state Drive or a Hard Disk.

What are the advantages and disadvantages.

which one (Solid-state driev or hard disk) is overall the best?

Thanks.

[Qwaxalot]

http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/108886-solid-state-hard-drives/

[_frost_]

If you want to archive your data then I would suggest a standard hdd.

SSD is currently too expensive. It's only useful as (os-)boot-drive, cause of the high transfer rates (read/write) and the short access time (in general 0,1 ms <> hdd ~8ms).

The disadvantages are:

1. the thing with long-term stability (if you write and delete things too often on your ssd - I wouldn't trust the manufacturer's data hehe)

2. as said very expensive (cost per GB)

 

 

_frost_

[LHammonds]

You did not say what the reason for having an external drive was for...and without that, any advice might be worth ziltch if it does not meet the needs of what you are trying to accomplish.

 

Are you doing this because you want to run apps off it and you don't have enough drive bays in your PC?

 

Are you just wanting a way to backup your data?

 

Are you wanting it for offsite backup? If so, you'll want two...one to always remain offsite at any given time and one to sync with the PC between rotations.

 

SSD's can be very fast but when you are talking about EXTERNAL, then it all boils down to what kind of connection you are going to use. USB 1.1? USB 2.0? Firewire 400? Firewire 800? ESATA?

 

LHammonds

[axxaxaxx]

You did not say what the reason for having an external drive was for...and without that, any advice might be worth ziltch if it does not meet the needs of what you are trying to accomplish.

 

Are you doing this because you want to run apps off it and you don't have enough drive bays in your PC?

 

Are you just wanting a way to backup your data?

 

Are you wanting it for offsite backup? If so, you'll want two...one to always remain offsite at any given time and one to sync with the PC between rotations.

 

SSD's can be very fast but when you are talking about EXTERNAL, then it all boils down to what kind of connection you are going to use. USB 1.1? USB 2.0? Firewire 400? Firewire 800? ESATA?

 

LHammonds

 

 

 

i was going to use it to backup my data and run afew apps of it, i also going to use USB 2.0 or eSATA.

[LHammonds]

i was going to use it to backup my data and run afew apps of it, i also going to use USB 2.0 or eSATA.

To backup data, especially if it is a LOT of data, it is recommended you go with the larger capacity drives which are currently mechanical drives (not SSD).

 

If you are going to run apps on it, then you really need to use eSATA....USB is too slow.

 

Also, you will want to be careful with applications since they generally expect to run from the exact same drive letter and path. So if you disconnect your external drive and later re-connect it, make sure it is still the same drive letter. If not, you will need to manually configure the drive letter via Computer Management.

 

I would recommend keeping your data backup separate and stored in a different location. If you ever have a lightning strike or your computers power supply gets fried, EVERYTHING connected to the PC is at risk from overvoltage and can be physically destroyed. The backup is also just as useless if your house catches fire or is flooded or robbers loot the place. If you really want to retain your data, you need to keep a copy offsite somewhere.

 

I have two 500 GB external hard drives with a USB connection. I use them to backup my data. I have one at my home that is always connected to my PC and backs up my data frequently. About once a month or so, I take that hard drive to work and swap it with the one I had in storage. I then take the other one home and hook it up to my computer...which will handle my normal backups for a month or whenever I have data on it that I really want secured at my offsite location. A simple rotation and if a disaster should ever occur, I won't have to worry about my family pictures and documents.

 

Something else to consider in regards to backup is longevity. The current medium that is expected to outlive any other medium is flash drives...you know, those USB Sticks. You can put your most sensitive or important data on those suckers like living wills, family medical records, etc. and store it at a bank or with a lawyer and be fairly confident that your data won't become corrupted or impossible to retrieve a few years later.

 

Almost every floppy disk I have has problems with sectors on them (including Zip drives!). (yes, I'm dating myself here). People thought that burning to CD-ROM or DVD-ROM was the ultimate long-lasting media but they too have problems depending on the environment or if you touched them with your oily fingers. Storing them flat is not even recommended anymore. They now say it is best to store discs standing on their edge to help keep them from blending / flexing which causes retrieval issues. Hard drives store data based on magnetic arrangement and that will degrade over time and will immediately become corrupt if it comes into contact with a magnet. I suppose even the EM blast from a lightning strike would be enough to scramble a mechanical hard drive.

 

Anyways, it is something for you to chew on. Oh, I also have an article written on Backing up your Data Files.

 

LHammonds

[AWarGuy]

A solid-state Drive is much better and faster but way to expensive, although they are releasing larger SSD which is making the smaller SSD cheaper (I'm talking the 20GB-40GB SSD)

But in the end a Hard disk is the option to choose.