Assuming HDD is still the best answer for photos, documents, etc over SSD correct?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
T

Tex_chappy

Commendable
Nov 15, 2016
11
0
1,510
In a new system I'm looking to build, I'm planning an m.2 NVME SSD for OS and programs. It seems that an HDD is still the best option for storing the rest of the data - photos, documents, music, etc. Am I thinking right?
 
Solution
Boogieman_WD
Hey there, Tex_chappy.

Well, the short answer is - yes. You won't benefit from the SSD's performance by using it as a storage drive, on the other hand, you'd be able get full advantage of the larger capacity an HDD has to offer and this is perfect for storage.
Having a NVMe SSD for your OS and programs will give a great boost to your system so I'd say this setup is quite alright. However, if you value your documents, media files, projects, etc. I'd recommend that you think of a backup option as well. It doesn't matter how reliable a drive might be, there's nothing better than a backup.

Cheers!
Boogieman_WD
Sort by date Sort by votes
Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Hey there, Tex_chappy.

Well, the short answer is - yes. You won't benefit from the SSD's performance by using it as a storage drive, on the other hand, you'd be able get full advantage of the larger capacity an HDD has to offer and this is perfect for storage.
Having a NVMe SSD for your OS and programs will give a great boost to your system so I'd say this setup is quite alright. However, if you value your documents, media files, projects, etc. I'd recommend that you think of a backup option as well. It doesn't matter how reliable a drive might be, there's nothing better than a backup.

Cheers!
Boogieman_WD
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,802
18,140
184,590


Mostly, yes.
Your playlist doesn't play any faster if your music lives on an SSD.

However, nothing says you have to have ALL the relevant drives at once.
My main system has gone from a single 120GB SSD (OS and applications) and a couple of hard drves
to
sVa2WLD.jpg

Drives added and changed over the last couple of years. 500GB SSD is the C drive, and other drives have other purposes.
3TB WD HDD is for backups.

My HTPC/home server, OTOH, is ALL HDD except for the little 120GB SSD for the C drive.
KhnYF5X.jpg

20+TB of SSD space would be a bit tough on the budget...:lol:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
54,397
4,193
174,240
Define "best"
From a performance, heat, noise and reliability point of view, a SSD is best.
From a cost per gb point of view, a hard drive is best.

Photos, documents, and even music are relatively small files.
If yours can comfortably fit on a ssd, I would plan on that. Files and thumbnails will open instantly.
SSD prices per gb have been dropping.

What takes lots of space is video files and backups.
Since they are mostly sequential in nature, a large Hard drive is appropriate for them.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Neur0nauT

Neur0nauT

Admirable
Dec 1, 2014
1,526
1
6,460
I've had more SSD's fail than HDD's over the years. If you are asking in relation to logical choice, then HDD's are best for pure storage, and SSD's for handling workload from the OS.

I currently have a SSHD installed, which benefits from HDD storage, but uses a solid state cache to handle the read/write data. So you get the best of both worlds...i.e. The speed of an SSD, with the storage of an HDD. Although I've recently encountered bad blocks on it after only about 1.5-2 years of use.....so the jury is out on SSHD's for me at present.

If you are worried about losing data, you could consider a 2-bay NAS drive in [strike]RAID 0[/strike] RAID 1, however they get expensive and can fail too. The other option would be cloud-based storage but it is even more expensive per GB than investing in a RAID NAS solution, although it comes with better contingency/recovery options from third parties.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Neur0nauT

Neur0nauT

Admirable
Dec 1, 2014
1,526
1
6,460


Indeed I was USAFRet, Thanks for spotting that. Fixed!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

Tex_chappy

Commendable
Nov 15, 2016
11
0
1,510


I had thought of using a raid 1 as a backup solution in the case in addition to the cloud and nas options.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,802
18,140
184,590


Actually, RAID 1 is not a 'backup'.
It serves one and only one purpose...to allow the system to carry on running if one drive physically dies.

Any accidental deletion, corruption, virus, etc, etc...it just happens on the two drives at the same time.
There are MUCH better ways to actually backup your data. In a manner that is easily recoverable.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

Tex_chappy

Commendable
Nov 15, 2016
11
0
1,510


I actually meant as a more stable solution to not need to use backup hopefully and to store a drive image of the SDD OS/Program drive on.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,802
18,140
184,590


Right. An image, or series of images, is much better.
And that is not a RAID 1.

I have my system create a full drive image of the C every night at 2AM. Keep for 14 days, deleting the oldest. All on a timer, unattended.
I could go back to any day in the last two weeks and resurrect the drive as it was on that day.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom