Difference Between Flash Memory and Solid State Hard Drive

18 sep 2008

Like flash drives, which in small 512-megabyte or 1-gigabyte sizes have replaced pens as cheap corporate giveaways, solid-state drives should get less expensive and much more common relatively soon.

NYT explores the difference between a solid state hard drive and flash memory that you normally find in USB thumb drives or memory sticks. Apple MacBook Air laptop is available either with regular hard-disk or the solid state hard drive. Excerpts:

"Unlike a traditional disk-based hard drive, which is made of spinning magnetic disks, motors and other hardware, a solid-state hard drive has no moving parts to break down or wear out.

It can better withstand bumps, bangs and other physical realities of portable computing. The downside is that solid-state hard drives are much more expensive than hard-disk drives." Link.

meghana

Our need for back-up memory is a bit like our need for loo roll – no one likes spending money on it, but you’re in trouble if you run out at the wrong time. And like loo roll, every form of storage has its pros and cons.
Memory can be roughly divided into flash and hard disk. While hard disk utilises spinning platters that take a magnetic imprint of the data saved, flash memory is a solid-state memory chip with no moving parts.

When it comes to the question of what memory is best for you, there are several things to take into account. If you’re after a carry-everywhere drive to back up essential documents and files, flash memory offers the best size-to-capacity ratio due to its lack of moving parts. Even the humble USB pen-drive is now available in sizes up to 4GB, which should do most people for starters.

Another feature of flash’s portability is that unlike many external hard-disk drives, it can be powered via USB and requires no mains cable when transferring data. The lack of moving parts also means flash drives can take the odd knock without doing too much damage.

But if it’s sheer capacity you’re after, a hard disk still provides the most economical choice financially, and tends to offer much more storage than its current flash counterparts. Performance-wise, hard-disk drives also tend to give greater read/write times.

Technology, Software and Internet

Difference Between Flash Memory and Solid State Hard Drive

You may also like: