PC Storage

A hard disk drive (HDD) uses spinning magnetic disks to store data. HDDs have been around for decades and have historically been the de facto method of computer storage although are now starting to be phased out by SSDs. The benefits of HDDs compared to other forms of storage include higher base and maximum capacities and lower costs. On the downside, because they contain moving parts, HDD are more prone to failure and consume more electricity than SSDs. If you need a lot of budget storage space for data you don’t need to access frequently (e.g. backups or archiving), a traditional HDD might be a good option.

Solid state drives (SSD) use flash memory for storage rather than metal platters. The lack of moving parts means they can read and write data much faster, consume less power, are less noisy and more durable than HDDs. SSDs are generally more expensive than HDDs per gigabyte of storage (although the gap is closing) and cannot match HDDs in terms of maximum capacity size. Pick an SSD drive if you need storage for an operating system or for files or programs that need to be accessed frequently.

Hybrid drives (SSHD) combine an HDD with an SSD to give you the benefits from both types of storage. You get the speed, silent operation and improved efficiency of an SSD for your most commonly accessed files plus the economic storage for the rest of your data. Hybrid drives are a good option for shared or mixed use PCs where the storage requirements are mixed.

Another choice to make when evaluating PC storage is whether to go for internal or external storage. The main advantage external storage devices offer is portability. They typically connect via a USB cable so can easily be plugged in and unplugged and shared between multiple computers or locations. External drives are a great option for data backups and transfers between devices for these reasons. In all other cases though, an internal drive makes more sense.

Whichever type of drive you decide you need, there is a wide range of capacities to choose from. It’s a good idea to look ahead and try to predict how your data will grow in the years ahead before settling on a specific capacity as you ideally want a certain amount of room for expansion.

Before buying a drive, make sure you pick one with the right form factor (ie physical size) for your PC chassis. There are five main form factors; 2.5 inch, 3.5 inch, PCI-E, mSATA and M.2. Most desktop HDDs are 3.5” and most laptop drives are 2.5” but there are a growing number of micro PCs that use 2.5” drives due to their compact size. The remaining three form factors connect directly to the PC’s motherboard for faster data speeds and better reliability. Check your PC has a suitable free slot available before buying one of these drives.

Other criteria to consider when drive shopping include the drive’s transfer speed (for HDDs only) and cache size. A hard drive’s transfer speed is measured in revolutions per minute (RPM) and the faster the speed, the faster data can be transferred to and from the disk and therefore the better the overall performance. For SSDs, look at the drive’s read and write speeds instead. A drive’s cache (sometimes called a buffer) is a temporary storage area used to temporarily store data it’s currently working with. The bigger the cache, the faster data transfers will be.