Financial records, customer information, project records, client files: they’re all digital and they all need to be stored somewhere. Plus, the amount of data is increasing with each passing year. Being able to access all your company information when you need to depends on having a dependable storage system. The method your organization uses can have a big impact on company productivity, and as storage technology is developing, it’s a matter of determining which approach is best for your company.
In-house Choices: Hard Disk vs. Solid State
Traditionally, the tried-and-true method for a business’s storage needs has been the spinning hard disk drive (HDD). It can store a great deal and isn’t that expensive, yet in-house storage has undergone developments much like any other aspect of the IT world. Cloud storage is one storage possibility, yet this doesn’t mean that an in-house approach should be abandoned. It’s all a matter of looking at what’s available and making the best decision.
As in-house storage capabilities have evolved, hard disk storage has recently been outpaced by what solid state storage (SSD) can offer. Here we’ll examine how in-house storage plans can be done using SSD and the advantages it provides.
SSD Advantages: It’s All in the Flash
What gives SSD an advantage over a hard disk system? Since SSD has no moving parts, it doesn’t rely on a spinning disc or internal motors. Its flash memory eliminates that internal machinery and allows the following benefits:
- Faster performance: Speed is a huge factor in why SSDs are being chosen over hard drives, and we’re talking nearly 100 times faster. If you’re a trading or financial institution and need to have quick access to stored data, SSD may be your best option. There’s also none of the fragmentation that takes place in a hard drive either, which also plays a part in the faster speeds.
- Easier maintenance: A room full of hard disk drives not only consumes a lot of power, but it generates a great deal of heat from the mechanical activity, and a lot of noise as well. SSDs also take much less room and have a much longer shelf life than a hard drive, which can reach its end after a few years. In comparison, SSDs can last for decades.
- Reliability: Although physical abuse hopefully won’t be something your equipment will be subject to, the lack of internal machinery inside an SSD means it has a ruggedness that an HDD can’t match. If you travel with an SSD card inside a laptop, being accidentally dropped or shoved around in an overhead bin doesn’t mean you’ll have to worry about a loss of data. Plus, the failure rates for a SSD system are much lower than a hard disk.
Meeting Your Storage Needs
Making the best decision for an in-house storage strategy that fits your requirements can be done once a few points have been clarified. Solid state storage is proving itself as a great choice for those who require quick access and low maintenance due to its flash-based infrastructure. It’s also gradually being recognized for what it
has to offer beyond the limitations of a hard disk approach, and it can enable a significant difference in the quality of your organization’s storage performance.
Image credit: renjith krishnan on Freedigitalphotos.net
Originally posted on July 30, 2013 @ 6:50 pm