3 ms·

Why must SSDs match the capacity of HDDs, but HDDs not have to match the latency and throughput of SSDs? Is it only because of the price premium SSDs carry? I

by sjs 15y ago

Why must SSDs match the capacity of HDDs, but HDDs not have to match the latency and throughput of SSDs? Is it only because of the price premium SSDs carry? I don't really see the 2 technologies in competition at this point. Even if there were 10 TB SSDs today almost nobody would buy them for personal use because of the price. Similarly if you need or want a fast disk HDDs aren't in the running at any capacity. I see the technologies as complementary right now, and probably for several years out. If the price of SSDs ever falls to match HDDs then they would be in competition.

trebor 15y ago
Because I can only afford a 120GB SSD and have at least that much on my HDD already. Plus reliability is an issue. Any improvement of SSD reliability is a huge gain for them.
- heyrhett 15y ago
  You can easily get a 10x gain in SSD reliability by using SLC instead of MLC memory. All for only 10x the cost of MLC.
- sjs 15y ago
  Are there actual reports of unreliable SSDs that are not anecdotal? I have yet to see any evidence that they are worse than HDDs. That doesn't mean it isn't out there but I haven't seen any "reports" that are more than anecdotal FUD. In the consumer space HDDs have a pretty poor track record.
  - trebor 15y ago
    The "safe" lifespan of an SSD, this is just hear-say so don't criticize that, is around 1 year. Any more you get is just a bonus. I think I read that on codinghorror.com... Anyway, I've got a Mac which probably doesn't support the latest, greatest SSD features. And my experience with HDDs says an average of 5 years life is pretty easy to attain. Therefore, for someone who needs cheap space with decent lifespan the HDD is the obvious answer. And at 10x the cost for a reliable SSD ... sorry. I may be a programmer but I do draw the line at expensive stuff (I don't even on an iPad or iPod, my Mac is almost 2gen old...).

by sjs 15y ago

trebor 15y ago

Because I can only afford a 120GB SSD and have at least that much on my HDD already. Plus reliability is an issue. Any improvement of SSD reliability is a huge gain for them.

heyrhett 15y ago
You can easily get a 10x gain in SSD reliability by using SLC instead of MLC memory. All for only 10x the cost of MLC.
sjs 15y ago
Are there actual reports of unreliable SSDs that are not anecdotal? I have yet to see any evidence that they are worse than HDDs. That doesn't mean it isn't out there but I haven't seen any "reports" that are more than anecdotal FUD. In the consumer space HDDs have a pretty poor track record.
- trebor 15y ago
  The "safe" lifespan of an SSD, this is just hear-say so don't criticize that, is around 1 year. Any more you get is just a bonus. I think I read that on codinghorror.com... Anyway, I've got a Mac which probably doesn't support the latest, greatest SSD features. And my experience with HDDs says an average of 5 years life is pretty easy to attain. Therefore, for someone who needs cheap space with decent lifespan the HDD is the obvious answer. And at 10x the cost for a reliable SSD ... sorry. I may be a programmer but I do draw the line at expensive stuff (I don't even on an iPad or iPod, my Mac is almost 2gen old...).