Solid State Drives (SSDs), Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) | Electronic Components | Browse Premium Selections

When to use SSD vs. HDD?

Solid State Drives (SSDs) should be used when you need high speeds or to handle frequent reads/writes of large amounts of data, SSDs are a better choice for data analysis or gaming workloads.

On the other hand, if you're dealing with data backups, data archiving, or throughput-intensive workloads, a regular hard disk drive (HDD) is a better choice. SSDs are more cost-effective for storing large volumes of data that are accessed infrequently.

Summary of differences(SSD vs. HDD)

	SSD	HDD
Proxy	SSD stands for Solid State Drive.	HDD stands for normal hard disk.
Working Principle	SSDs store data on electronic circuits.	HDDs store data on mechanically moved disks.
Retrieval process	The SSD controller finds the correct address and reads its charge.	The HDD I/O controller sends a signal to move the drive arm. The read/write head then reads the charge.
Write process	An SSD copies data to a new block and then erases the old block. It then writes new content to the old block by changing the charge.	The HDD moves the read/write head to the nearest available location. It then writes data by changing the bit charge in that area.
Performance	SSDs are faster. They run quietly and dissipate heat better.	HDDs are slower because their disks need to be moved around. They release more heat and are noisy.
Costs	SSDs cost more.	HDDs are cheaper and larger storage capacities are commercially popular.
Durability	SSDs are motorized and therefore less susceptible to damage.	HDDs have movable mechanical parts, so they are relatively less durable.