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Why SSDs are Not A Threat to Hard Drives

December 11, 2012 by 43 Comments
Peter Lee

Peter Lee

Peter Lee founded and blogs regularly on ComputerHowToGuide.com. A fun loving person, he is a technology enthusiast who writes about computers and technology. He can be contacted and followed on all his social media accounts below.
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Peter Lee

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yle="text-align: justify;">Solid State Drives or SSDs have increased in popularity in the past several years as they have also become more affordable for the average consumer. These handy NAND-based flash memory chips have proven to be an excellent storage option, providing computer users with easier mobility and lower power requirements compared to the average hard disk drive.

Many believe that the current trend concerning storage devices will eventually lead to the demise of the hard drive. As notebook computers, smart phones and tablets have become commonplace, the SSD has been a more preferred option, thus encouraging notions about the decreasing popularity of the hard disk drive. Once again, new technology makes the old increasingly obsolete – or so it seems.

Will SSDs replace Hard Disk Drives? I don’t think so! For all the convenience and practicality it provides, flash memory does not quite outdo the hard disk. It is more likely that hard drives will continue to be in use, and SSDs utilized alongside them.

Out With the Old, In With the New?

It is commonly believed that flash memory is the new technology created to supplant the “older version” – which, in this case are the hard disk drives. In truth, both these technologies have been around for more than thirty years. These two have been used alongside each other and they may easily keep on doing so.

Furthermore, “old technology” isn’t always simply done away with. In a lot of situations, they continue to be utilised, especially if they serve a purpose that the “new technology” can’t quite furnish. Take magnetic tape, for example. The emergence of digital media was thought to be the end of tape recording, but here we are two decades later, and we have still not witnessed its demise.

The Irreplaceable Hard Disk

Despite popular perception about SSDs, the need for the hard disk drive has actually been constantly increasing. Consumer trends reveal that the HDD has been growing in demand at up to 40 percent each year.

Although the SSD is suitable for the various mobile devices now in fashion, there is still a need for large-capacity primary storage. Especially with the numerous applications and social media, massive amounts of content are created and stored by users daily.

Since data is now transmitted wirelessly, users feel the need for centralized storage to enable consistency and synchronization. Cloud storage meets this need in part, with a few limitations – such as congestion, to say the least. Thus, external hard drives are still very much important.

In addition, though the SSD is commonly thought of as more practical and more affordable option, flash memory with a capacity over 100 GB is much more expensive than the hard disk. SSDs also happen to be costlier to produce, debunking the belief that many hold about how high performance SSDs will eventually be manufactured, drop in price and replace the hard disk.

What the Cloud Points to

Although security issue is still a major concern in cloud storage, it is clearly an emergent option; the ever-growing demand for it prompts cloud storage providers for improved, more efficient service. Those who believe that HDDs are on the way out seem to overlook the fact that data stored in the cloud are warehoused in hard drives. HDD technology will therefore proceed to evolve and advance as it continues to meet users’ increasing storage needs.

Commensal Technologies

It’s apparent that hard drives will continue to be useful as primary storage devices, and SSDs will be used alongside for retrieving smaller amounts of data. In this case, the old and the new technologies coexist to complement each other, not compete with one another.

 

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Comments

  1. Googma Sansar says:
    December 11, 2012 at 9:05 am


    Twitter:
    Hi Peter Lee ! Thank you for sharing a concise and excellent post. i really appreciate your work out.
    Googma Sansar recently posted..Earth Body Mind Kiaf 2012My Profile

    Reply
  2. Christa says:
    December 11, 2012 at 11:49 am


    Twitter:
    I never knew that SSDs and HDDs existed for more than 30 years altogether and also, I wanted to ask if SSDs consume more power as compared to HDDs if deployed in some device like laptops, desktops etc.

    Reply
  3. Jeff says:
    December 11, 2012 at 12:32 pm

    I agree, while SSDs might not ‘replace’ traditional harddrives – especially in the form that they are today, and particularly given the high cost associated with solid state drives – I do believe that ultimately, hybrid drives (that have started to become more common over the last year or so) which are essentiall HDD-SSD hybrids, will replace traditional hard disk drives. These hybrid drives combine the best of both worlds, and hard drive technology, which has now been around for quite a while now, is simply too unreliable and slow compared to solid state drives.
    Jeff recently posted..7 Traits of Highly Successful BloggersMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Rich Donahue says:
    December 11, 2012 at 12:42 pm


    Twitter:
    Hello Peter! Thank you for the nice article. You made some very interesting points and I have to agree with you, hard drives aren’t going to become obsolete. I just ordered my first 1TB drive and it happens to be an external one that I’ll use for back up. I’m probably a little behind on those larger drives but I’m getting there. I don’t have a SSD yet, but most likely soon. Thanks and Happy Holidays!
    Rich Donahue recently posted..Best Type Of Juicer For YouMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Rahul says:
    December 11, 2012 at 1:54 pm

    awesome peter first time i listen about SSD very nice post thanks for sharing
    Rahul recently posted..How to Make Online Money from Forum PostingMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Aalto says:
    December 11, 2012 at 2:29 pm

    Although techniques improves fast in daily life, harddrives still plays an important part in daily work. So I also think the SSDs will not replace traditional harddrives.
    Aalto recently posted..eBook Give Us More FunMy Profile

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  7. Jacko says:
    December 11, 2012 at 6:17 pm


    Twitter:
    …well the legacy hard drives will keep on turning until they burn out.

    I don’t know who would opt to replace what is working as long as power is not a concern. The old school servers HOG power like a mofo so this is one reason to justify buying new servers with SSDs.

    What do you have in your computers? SSD or regular SATA or IDE?

    Reply
    • Brian Rock says:
      December 11, 2012 at 11:49 pm


      Twitter:
      Some day, maybe. I don’t see servers replacing raid arrays of spinning discs with SSDs for a while, though. You’d need to have a (reasonably affordable) 1-2tb capacity SSD for that to be feasible. Considering how quickly storage has grown, that could happen in a few years, though. A decade ago, flash drives were 128mb or 256mb, and now I’m walking around with a 16gb flash drive that cost $10.

      In the short term, though, I think SSDs are going to replace HDDs as the main drive in consumer PCs (especially laptops). A reasonably sized SSD (128gb or 256gb) is more than enough for most people’s storage needs. And someone who wants a lot of storage is better off getting a giant external HDD (or a secondary HDD) as an add on. I do a lot of photography (and use a lot of space), so I already store all of my photos on an external HDD. And that means the main drive in my next laptop will definitely be an SSD.
      Brian Rock recently posted..$99 Chromebooks, Available for a Brief Moment Through Donor’s ChoiceMy Profile

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  8. Luis Valadez says:
    December 12, 2012 at 2:34 am


    Twitter:
    you never know, technology is moving so fast, but it also depends on each user and how much storage they need. As long as it gets smaller and faster im all for new technology :)
    Luis Valadez recently posted..Is Jenni Rivera Really Dead?My Profile

    Reply
  9. Robert says:
    December 12, 2012 at 4:30 am


    Twitter:
    Heya Peter, interesting post. I believe ssd drives have their place in the computing world, but it certainly isn’t to replace the old standby. I’ve though about getting a ssd to use as a type of cache system to access data from my hdd faster. This seems to be the best way they compliment each other. But I’ve heard horror stories of people burning up their ssd’s or their life span being quite short when used as a primary drive. Any thoughts on this?

    Thanks,
    Robert
    Robert recently posted..Do We Really Have to Wear Socks?My Profile

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  10. Fahad says:
    December 12, 2012 at 6:18 am


    Twitter:
    On server side, web-hosting or the cloud hosting I can not predict anything but I strongly believe that in laptops and in desktop PCs, hard disk drives are definitely going to be replace by the solid state drive.

    Reply
  11. Ali zia says:
    December 12, 2012 at 4:30 pm

    Hi Peter,
    I have listen first time about SSD.The point you have mentioned here is very nice and informative.
    It seems to be unique drive
    Thanks for shraing this nice article
    Ali zia recently posted..How to get free images for your blog postsMy Profile

    Reply
  12. Faiz says:
    December 12, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    hi
    I couldnt agree with the point however, SSDs are becoming increasingly popular and will overcome HDD in 5 years or so methinks.
    When comparing two products, growth rate of one should be compared with the same of the other, which was not done in this article. Of course I understand that you are entitled to your predictions and opinions.
    anyway, nice reading!!

    Reply
  13. Mario Smith says:
    December 12, 2012 at 9:41 pm

    Well, honestly. None of this suprises me. Solid state is absolutely nothing new and is just an extension of old technology, with a larger capacity. It’s just become more and more affordable to manufacture it in larger capacities. Hard Disks will always serve their purpose and so will solid states.

    Reply
  14. Ray says:
    December 13, 2012 at 8:05 am

    I was reading an article about SSD’s not too long ago. The guy talking about them did imply that they were or should be replacing regular hard drives in the future. Of course he didn’t provide any thoughts on when in the future. They do seem to have potential, but as you mentioned they are costlier to produce. I think if the storage size and price were competitive with regular hard drives they would be much more popular. I don’t know if the regular big name hard drive producers make these things too or not. If not they probably should start working on some.

    Reply
  15. Rehmat Alam says:
    December 13, 2012 at 10:37 am

    Nice post Peter, SSDs may become popular in coming days but the traditional hard disks are still dominant. We can’t expect any big revolution in near future.
    Rehmat Alam recently posted..CommentLuv for Blogger Blogs-How to Install?My Profile

    Reply
  16. Ram Kumar says:
    December 13, 2012 at 1:11 pm

    Nice article. I agree with you that SSD can be used only as an addon for conventional HDD computers.
    Ram Kumar recently posted..How To Host A Website for Free In DropboxMy Profile

    Reply
  17. Giannis says:
    December 13, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    These days most people are buying laptops for their computing needs and you have to make decision between getting either a solid state drive (SSD) or hard disk (HDD) as the storage component. So which is best to get, a SSD or HDD?
    Giannis recently posted..Andy Law 2My Profile

    Reply
  18. Paul Lee says:
    December 13, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    I think you are right… but only for now. Solid State drives are still new and being developed. In the coming years I think SSDs will completely replace other forms of storage devices because of their size and lack of moving parts. Much more stable and reliable. The technology is just not quite there yet. In the near future however, it will be.

    Reply
  19. Krishna Parmar says:
    December 13, 2012 at 5:13 pm


    Twitter:
    Thanks for sharing this article with us! Excellent guide provided here!
    Krishna Parmar recently posted..Bank of Baroda Net Banking (BOB) ApplicationMy Profile

    Reply
  20. julidarmaputra says:
    December 13, 2012 at 9:52 pm

    Thanks peter. This is very useful information about hard ware and computer technology.
    julidarmaputra recently posted..The Relationship Between Angina And Blood PressureMy Profile

    Reply
  21. kevin says:
    December 14, 2012 at 7:34 am

    Have to admit that I know very little about the actual hardware of a cpu, but the way you explained SSD in your article I now have a better understanding. Thanks for sharing your insight.

    Reply
  22. Ly Nguyen says:
    December 14, 2012 at 10:49 am

    Well, i only need SSD to store my OS, so each time i start my PC it will run faster. The rest of my data will be in HDD. Thank for sharing this btw.

    Reply
  23. Christian Johnson says:
    December 14, 2012 at 6:26 pm

    I think we need to use everything together in order to create a good balance Peter. For example, the other day, when I turned on my laptop in the morning, the OS didn’t load because the hard drive was dead. But thank God, I had a full back up on my external hard drive.
    I also use Flash drive when going to friends and copying different things because it’s easy to carry.
    The cloud is used for different things too. So I think if everything is used together, it will make life much easier.

    Reply
  24. Ruchika says:
    December 15, 2012 at 6:05 am


    Twitter:
    I’d take a 120gb ssd over 500gb 5400 or even 7200 rpm HDD any day. evan using an SDD SATA I’d load and do everything faster then any other HDD, I don’t use my notebook for so much, Just basic things.
    Ruchika recently posted..Gujarat Public Service Commission GPSC, Results of Paediatric Class – IMy Profile

    Reply
  25. Rajkumar Jonnala says:
    December 16, 2012 at 1:17 pm


    Twitter:
    People who can afford to buy SSD can use it. The price of hard disk is relatively low when compared to an SSD’s. May be in the future SSD’s price will get low that’s when all people start to use it.
    Rajkumar Jonnala recently posted..Samsung Android 4.0 Ice Cream SandwichMy Profile

    Reply
  26. Ajay says:
    December 16, 2012 at 3:47 pm

    If the price of SSD does not reduces, then it can never compete with general hard drives.

    Reply
  27. Rohit kabdwal says:
    December 17, 2012 at 11:48 am


    Twitter:
    SSD’s are very expensive now a days as we compare it with the normal hard drives., ofcourse it delivers the lightning fast speed for data transfer and reduces the boot time of the system but they are nt still affordable.. i think its the only reason that it cannot replace the hard drive in the present case senerio..:)
    Rohit kabdwal recently posted..How to Install Java in your Computer?My Profile

    Reply
  28. nena says:
    December 18, 2012 at 3:02 am

    I agree, it nice post, If the price of SSD does not reduces, then it can never compete with general hard drives.
    nena recently posted..Hot Girl OlaMy Profile

    Reply
  29. Marquis Keller says:
    December 18, 2012 at 1:33 pm

    I\’m still sticking with the old hard drive because it\’s much cheaper and I can replace it easily. Although for the SSD, I\’ll probably use it to store more important information and carry it with me. Not to mention with the invention of cloud computing I usually don\’t store my information on my computer.

    Reply
  30. Jared Adams says:
    January 2, 2013 at 11:39 pm

    Thanks for posting this Peter! I know very little about computer maintenance and usually leave it to experts. Next time I want an upgrade I might give it a try myself.
    Jared Adams recently posted..How to Get a Confession Thrown Out of CourtMy Profile

    Reply
  31. harshi says:
    February 7, 2013 at 12:54 pm


    Twitter:
    this is a war between SSD and hard drives and i think both gonna become the best in future ! :)
    harshi recently posted..Projector for $5 for any phone !My Profile

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  32. Suraj says:
    April 30, 2013 at 5:06 am


    Twitter:
    I Agree with you…Great Post
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  33. Mahendra says:
    May 17, 2013 at 11:42 am


    Twitter:
    Hello Peter
    It is always very nice to read you.This one is a great article like always I read you in your blog CHTG. Thanks for this nice sharing.
    Mahendra recently posted..Upcoming movies of Aamir Khan 2013-2014My Profile

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