Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Solid State Hard Drives vs Mechanical Hard Drives
PapaBear

Posted on 05/18/2020 5:59:01 PM PDT by ducttape45

This post is an inquiry. I am investigating whether to purchase new solid state hard or mechanical drives for our company laptops.

Solid state hard drives are faster, of course, but I thought I saw somewhere that they have a limited predetermined life span. The older mechanical hard drives are of course slower but I'm more comfortable with them and if you find a good one they can almost last forever. Plus they are easier to retrieve data from if the O/S goes haywire.

The hard drives in our laptops now are 5400 RPM, whereas I always use 7200 RPM hard drives for desktops and laptops both. They also only have 8 GBs of memory, whereas I always ensure I can utilize at least 16 GBs of memory, 32 GB if possible.

So my quandary is simply, should I use SSDs or HDDs, and if SSDs have a limited predetermined life span should they even be an option?

Ed and I thank you for your support. (Mega kudos to the person who remembers what commercial that line came from!)


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-96 next last
Thanks everyone!
1 posted on 05/18/2020 5:59:01 PM PDT by ducttape45
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce

ShadowAce, any chance you can forward this via your ping list? Thanks.


2 posted on 05/18/2020 5:59:37 PM PDT by ducttape45 ("Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

Admittedly, I don’t know much about computers, so you might want to ignore my advice. But I always go by the old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”


3 posted on 05/18/2020 6:02:15 PM PDT by EvilCapitalist (Fire Fauci)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

SSDs do have a finite lifespan, but it’s much longer than you need.


4 posted on 05/18/2020 6:03:10 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (Interesting how those so interested in workERS are so disinterested in workING.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

Easy.

It’s a laptop and nobody should be storing their data there for more than a few days before also saving it to the server.

Go with lightweight flash, no reason to be a Luddite. And no reason for your users to perceive you as such.


5 posted on 05/18/2020 6:03:40 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ctdonath2

The laptops in my org stay online 24/7/365, and I’m afraid we’ll reach that barrier a lot faster than most. I’m thinking that if I update to a 7200 RPM HHD and 16 GBs of memory, that would speed them up significantly.


6 posted on 05/18/2020 6:05:38 PM PDT by ducttape45 ("Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

I’ve replaced several in laptops for our company. The end users love it. 10 times faster boot and office apps open on demand. I have had SSD in a server for almost 4 years now and zero problems. Just replaced one in a terminal server over the weekend. As expected apps open on demand and booted up in less than 15 seconds.

If I have an HDD failure those will be replaced by SSD. No going back that’s for sure!


7 posted on 05/18/2020 6:06:50 PM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal the 16th Amendment)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

SSDs, and you shouldn’t be depending on life of the drive given the regular backups of data you are doing. Right?

SSD performance delta over spinny drives matters if your people’s time is worth anything at all.


8 posted on 05/18/2020 6:06:52 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

Go with SSD. Modern, well-known manufacturers (not some backwater no-name from Wuhan) will last—and allow millions of read/writes—longer than the laptop will keep it’s warranty.

Consider an iPad. it doesn’t have a hard drive. Just memory chips. Have you ever heard of an iPad no longer working because it can no longer hold data? Much more likely you toss it because it’s old and you can’t get the latest software version of iOS.

https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/ipad-hard-drive-21129.html


9 posted on 05/18/2020 6:07:33 PM PDT by Alas Babylon! (The prisons do not fill themselves. Get moving, Barr!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

We use SSD’s in all company laptops, as obsolescence issues obviate any need to worry about drive mtbf, primarily for battery life improvement.

Our graphic workstations use SSD’s for OS and graphics programs, with a second conventional disk for all other local storage requirements.


10 posted on 05/18/2020 6:10:16 PM PDT by absalom01 (You should do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, and you should never wish to do less.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

No, they do NOT have a predetermined lifespan. Laptops benefit greatly from SSD since spindle drives are subject to drop damage. SSD also has significantly better performance and can bring new life to older laptops.


11 posted on 05/18/2020 6:11:25 PM PDT by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Have!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

I thought it was surely Johnny Carson or Ed Sullivan. Turns out it was the Bartle and James commercials. At least that is what I found.


12 posted on 05/18/2020 6:11:26 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

SSD. They detect bad blocks and remap them internally. I’ve had the same one in my work laptop for 8 years and no problems.


13 posted on 05/18/2020 6:12:01 PM PDT by jcmccorm
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

pros and cons to both

actually had this discussion with a buddy about a month ago


14 posted on 05/18/2020 6:14:03 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not Averse to Going Bronson.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

Once you use a laptop with an SSD, you will never want to use a old hard drive equipped one again. They are far and away the best performance upgrade you can make. Issues with them wearing out are way over stated, too. The average user could use a machine for more than a decade without wearing out the SSD. The other BIG upside is reliability and drop safety. With a spinning hard drive, if you smack the machine hard enough, the read/write arms in the HDD will bounce off the spinning platter and then your drive is toast. SSDs are far superior in this regard.

My advice is to make the switch. You won’t be sorry. Your data will be safer and your laptops will be usable far longer (in terms of performance).


15 posted on 05/18/2020 6:14:05 PM PDT by Sparticus (Primary the Tuesday group!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

Mechanical drives are fragile, I haven’t bought one and at least seven years. I could not imagine putting on any computer today. They are slow as well. Almost any solid-state drive will have better specs and a longer time between failure.


16 posted on 05/18/2020 6:14:23 PM PDT by Reno89519 (Buy American, Hire American! End All Worker Visa Programs. Replace Visa Workers w/ American Workers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

This should be easy.
90% of laptops supplied by companies to their employees for work use have SSD’s installed.
If its good enough for Intel and IBM, it should work fine for you.


17 posted on 05/18/2020 6:14:45 PM PDT by Zathras
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

I will never go back to HDD. The SDD runs circles around HDD and the cost is below where HDDs used to be not so long ago. Just back up often, which you would do anyway, and keep copies of any critical files in a safe place.


18 posted on 05/18/2020 6:16:35 PM PDT by Kirkwood (Follow your Inner Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

ssd’s do have a limited lifespan the ram architecture is now stacked so heat buildup can wipe out/eventually damage a broader area of the ssd. ram will get worn out start failing after so many write operations.

pricewise for the memory platter drives are superior. they have come a long way preventing physical damage occurring.


19 posted on 05/18/2020 6:17:29 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not Averse to Going Bronson.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ducttape45

It’s not the powered on time that is finite but rather it’s the volume of data that can be written before the memory cells begin to fail. This limit is quantified in terms of DWPD, data written per day, or TWB, terrabytes written. IMHO it’s safe to estimate that a modern SSD will last 4+ years under typical office load. I’ve read that based upon data center usage SSD’s fail less often than HDDs. I say go with SSDs. Good luck.


20 posted on 05/18/2020 6:17:29 PM PDT by Texas_Jarhead
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-96 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson