If I should place a snail and a cheetah in front of you, what exactly comes to your mind?
Slow vs fast right?
Ok. What if it is now SSD vs HDD, what will be your very first thought?
I will leave you to come up with the answer!
You will probably agree with me that except you are a tech geek, you may not really know the difference between them.
This is further compounded with the fact that whenever it comes to creating a website, you have a lot of options, from choosing between VPS, dedicated, and shared hosting to determining which content management system to use.
Many considerations must be considered when choosing a dedicated hosting solution. Choosing the correct form of storage is one of them.
Then there’s the matter of content: do you include video, photos, and other visuals on your website?
How many texts do you have, and how many pages would you require? Then there’s also the website’s navigation, the theme/colors, and so on… There are so many things to keep in mind!
Then there’s the question of how to make your website faster so it can rank on Google.
There is a slew of strategic decisions to make while also, one of which is whether to go with SSD or HDD hosting.
Hard disk drives have historically become the most popular form of storage. These drives have been in use for decades and are capable of storing vast volumes of data at a low cost.
Solid-state drives (SSD) have risen in popularity over the years, particularly for dedicated hosting.
Making the distinction between SSD and HDD storage when choosing a hosting service will assist you to make an educated decision that ideally suits your business interests.
If you’ve been contemplating this issue, this post should be able to assist you in making the best decision between SSD vs HDD for your business.
Quick Comparison
| SSD | HDD | Winner | |
| 1. Speed | 100 times faster than HDD | Slow when compared to HDD | SSD |
| 2. Data security | Less likely to fail due to absence of moving parts | Has a high risk of failure as a result of moving parts | SSD |
| 3. Power consumption | Consumes less amount of power | Consumes more power because it requires power to spins its machanical parts | SSD |
| 4. Durability and reliability | Last longer and has a failure rate of around 0.5 percent | Not too reliable and has a failure rate of around 3-5 percent | SSD |
| 5. Cost | More expensive | Less expensive | HDD |
| 6. Search engine rankings | Since it is faster, it has a potential of ranking higher | Not too fast and will not outrank SSD | SSD |
| 7. Capacity | Comes in lower capacity | Usually comes in higher capacity | HDD |
| 8. Weight | Light weight due to no moving parts | Heavy as a result of moving parts | SSD |
| 9. Heat generation | It generates less heat | Generates a lot of heat due to mechanical parts | SDD |
SSD vs HDD – A Detailed Comparison
1. Speed
When it comes to pace, SSDs are indispensable.
Since speed is so critical for websites, we suggest SSD hosting to all of our customers.
SSDs can provide 100 times the performance of hard drives, including faster file transfers, almost instantaneous data access, faster boot times, and a faster overall computing experience.
The accessibility time to data is incredibly low as a result lack of a removable factor and rotating disks and is usually about 0.1 milliseconds for a standard SSD.
SSD stands for solid-state drive, and it is the most recent variant of storage drives.
HDDs, on the other hand, use rotary disks with a head that reads and writes data; as a result, they are slow, but data can be accessed instantly, resulting in a faster access time.
This could result in a long time for your website to load, particularly if it’s a database-driven site.
Owing to their rotating system, HDDs need approximately 5 and 8 milliseconds for data access in ideal conditions.
Winner:
In terms of speed, the SSD clearly outperforms the HDD. This is due to the fact that it is much faster than a hard disk drive.
To this end, if you want fast hosting, you should choose a web host that offers SSD hosting.
2. Data security
Safety should be one of your top priorities when making that decision regarding your website hosting requirements.
It may cost a little more to protect your information as safe at all times, but it is critical in an age when cyber-attacks are common.
Because HDDs have mechanical components, the possibility of failure is always present.
Data corruption and loss can occur as a result of a drive failure.
Overloading hardware, which can occur whenever the processing ability isn’t very good, is also one of the leading causes of server failure.
Most hosting companies mitigate these risks by implementing backup systems, which adds to the overall complexity of the system.
Even so, there is still a risk of data loss, particularly for dynamic sites and those with high traffic.
SSDs, on the other hand, do not have any moving mechanical parts, making them far less likely to fail.
You won’t have to worry about data security with SSD hosting because it is more resistant to physical damage.
While SSDs can wear out and lose performance over time, they have a much longer lifespan than HDDs.
Yes, the SSD servers are made of long-lasting microchips that are less susceptible to mechanical failures.
In addition, most SSD web hosting providers have a dual firewall system and a strong hack scan failsafe mechanism in place to stop virus attacks.
Winner:
SSD is the winner in this category. This is due to the fact that you can be certain of the security of your data and files, which is not always the case with HDD hosting.
3. Power consumption
To function, any mechanical device requires a significant amount of energy.
SSDs, on the other hand, are not mechanical because they do not consist of any moving parts. Chips and solid-state are used to construct it.
Data storage uses a lot of energy, especially when dealing with large amounts of data.
As a result, in the higher energy consumption levels of HDD, the cost of powering servers can be quite high.
The lower energy consumption needed by SSDs in operating conditions can save web hosting companies and private cloud owners money over time while also reducing the sector’s environmental impact.
Solid state drives outperform hard disk drives since they spend a lot of time idle than hard disk drives.
This implies that an SSD has a larger improvement in performance per watt than a hard disk drive.
According to standard testing, an average solid state drive (SSD) consumes 0.38 watts per hour when idle, 0.68 watts per hour when reading, 2 watts per hour when processing database functions, and 3.01 watts per hour when writing at maximum speeds.
A traditional hard disk drive (HDD) consumed around 15 times more power whilst also idle and 2.5-7 times more power during heavy operations than SSD equipment.
It can be stated that SSD hosting is an eco-friendly web hosting service that uses energy-efficient data centers to reduce the carbon footprint and thus minimize the environmental impact.
Winner:
SSD is still the clear winner in this case. This is due to the fact that SSDs consume less power.
4. Durability and reliability
Solid state drives outperform HDDs in terms of performance and reliability because they don’t have any moving parts to wear out or break.
Furthermore, SSDs improve data security and endurance by retaining data even when the computer is turned off.
Depending on the use case, the total SSD lifespan can be less than ten years.
SSDs have a failure rate of around 0.5 percent, while HDDs have a failure rate of about 3-5 percent.
Uptime is a critical factor in website success and if your website is down for extended periods of time, it can create issues for your users.
If the website is unavailable, visitors will not return to see if the problem has been resolved; instead, they will seek out the easiest remedy, which would be to locate another website that provides the very same products or services.
Winner:
It’s time to crown a champion in this category, and the winner is…
…wait for it… SSD
Choose SSD hosting over HDD hosting if you want to experience high levels of durability and reliability.
5. Cost
The only positive aspect of HDD hosting is the price, which is fair.
The cost of HDD hosting is low because HDDs are simple to configure with servers.
HDD server hosting costs about $0.05$/1GB and is ideally suited for a new website with a small number of visitors.
SSD hosting is not that expensive. However, in aspects of money spent per GB, SSDs are more costly than HDDs.
Though SSDs have become less expensive in recent years, they are still more than twice as expensive per gigabyte of storage as HDDs, which is observed in SSD hosting plan pricing.
For example, InMotion VPS, the best SSD hosting company, offers 75 GB for $30 per month. This price is reasonable for an active business website.
Nevertheless, as SSD acceptance rates rise, the cost disparity has begun to narrow.
Major hosting companies such as DreamHost and InMotion have already made the transition and now provide SSD hosting.
We at WebHost Bros assume that as technology advances and costs decline, SSD hosting might become more accessible and common.
SSD would undoubtedly replace HDD as the standard that other web hosts will begin to follow, according to our predictions.
If you’re on a tight cost and website speed isn’t vital to your success, or if storage space is more important to you than speed, HDD hosting might be the way to go.
Winner:
Although SSD has taken the lead in most categories, HDD is the clear winner in this case when it comes to cost.
6. Search engine rankings
The fact that Google recognizes website load speed as being among the search engine ranking variables is well-known.
Furthermore, quick websites can provide the best user experience, resulting in increased conversion.
It is self-evident that hosting servers with SSD storage can provide faster service than those with HDD storage.
The delayed performance caused by the HDD storage device’s rotation is a significant impediment to achieving SEO benefits.
A faster-loading website will increase your SEO and enhance your Google ranking significantly.
In deciding rankings, search engine algorithms consider the time it takes for a website to load.
Faster loading times are rewarded by Google and other search engines because they improve the user experience.
Customers would have a better experience with a quicker loading website because they will be able to navigate without any lag or waiting time.
Similarly, a page loading speed delay of more than a few seconds can irritate your visitors and cause them to abandon your site.
Furthermore, with viewers’ attention spans dwindling as internet speeds rise, you just have a short window to capture a customer’s attention before they move on to another website.
With SSD server hosting, you can improve your SEO and please the search engines for top rankings by loading your site super quick.
Your customers will be happy to visit your site and use your goods or services if you use SSD web hosting.
If you have an E-commerce business site or a popular website with thousands of regular users, having quick SSD hosting would help you outperform your rivals by increasing the pace of your website.
Winner:
Do you want to know who came out on top in this contest? SSD is the champion.
With SSD, the website can load quicker, resulting in higher rankings, more users, and, finally, more sales.
7. Capacity
The issue of storage capacity is connected to cost.
SSDs are more expensive than HDDs, so having the same amount of storage space as an HDD can cost a little more than you thought.
HDDs often have more storage capacity than SSDs, so if you need a lot of space, an HDD is the way to go.
Commercial hard drives have storage capacities ranging from 40GB to 12TB, with much larger business applications.
A 2TB hard drive can be had for a very low price, which is more than enough space for your apps, movies, photos, and files.
SSD drives were once thought to have small storage space, but in recent years, they have become available with several terabyte capacities.
Even so, the highest-capacity commercial solid-state hard drives can only store half as much data as their HDD counterparts.
As a word of caution, if you need to store a large number of files, we suggest purchasing several small hard drives rather than a single larger hard drive.
The main reason is that if the drive fails, you will lose all of your data; however, if you use multiple HDDs, you will not lose anything.
Winner:
Another area where HDDs outperform SSDs is here. As a result, HDD is the clear winner in this group.
This is due to its cheaper cost of obtaining it, as against a typical SSD for the same storage size.
8. Weight
HDDs use many mechanical parts in their technology, which makes them heavier than SSDs.
There is no actual disk spinning inside the SSD, unlike an HDD. Much of the information is stored on microchips.
SSDs use compact and light-weight technology, so goods that use one would be easier to transport.
Winner:
SSD is the clear winner here. Since there are fewer mechanical parts in the SSD, it is lightweight.
9. Heat generation
To read and write information to the disc, HDDs need physical-mechanical motions, which require more time and power.
However, hard disk drives (HDDs) are an outdated technology. It has a larger dimension. It also has rotating components. In a single second, these rotating parts spin thousands of times.
These spinning parts will continue to spin until the server is turned on. As a result, heat is produced by the HDD’s rapidly rotating disk.
Solid-state drives, on the other hand, do not have any moving pieces.
Since there are no moving parts in a typical SSD, it generates less heat.
Winner:
SSD is the clear winner in this contest. Due to the lack of moving parts, the SSD generates less heat.
FAQs
What Is SSD Hosting?
SSD is the abbreviation for Solid State Drive. It is the most efficient method of storing data in Integrated Circuits (ICs).
SSDs, unlike HDDs, was first introduced to the world in 1978 and have no moving parts. They have a faster access time than HDDs, which may have a delay in retrieving data.
SSDs can serve data 100 times faster than HDDs, which means they’re a lot faster, not merely a tiny bit faster.
SSD web hosting is a hosting service that makes use of this non-volatile storage unit.
The solid-state drive is a relatively new data storage system that stores data on memory chips.
SSDs are similar to flash drives in that they use the same technology, albeit on a larger scale.
As a result, there’s no question that an SSD server is the fastest WordPress hosting choice for increasing data transfer speeds and making websites load lightning fast.
What is HDD Hosting?
Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is a type of storage device. Most hosting companies also provide HDD hosting to their customers.
Because of their low cost, HDDs are commonly used in web hosting. The hosting company purchases a huge amount of space at a low price.
This helps hosting companies to purchase a vast amount of space at a low cost. That is why hosting companies provide customers with UNLIMITED space.
There are moving parts in HDD drives. As a result, when opposed to SSD drives, HDD drives have a very short lifespan.
Furthermore, the rates of disk defragmentation, booting time, noise, and disk failure are all significantly higher than those of SSD drives.
Who is SSD Hosting for?
In practice, SSD is most relevant for websites and mobile applications that receive a lot of traffic.
Because Google’s search engine algorithms changed to prioritize page speed over other variables, it’s become much more critical for business website owners, e-commerce websites, and web publishers to run their sites on SSD hardware to gain an edge.
In total, anyone using shared hosting can check to see whether their site is running on SSD hardware and if it is, move to a company with a similar price range if the plan is still using HDD-based servers.
Who is SSD Hosting not right for?
Websites that are mostly made up of static HTML pages and do not use a lot of server resources would not find a significant discrepancy amongst HDD and SSD plans and thus do not require SSD hosting?
Comparably, single-user blog sites with fewer than 1000 to 2000 daily users can make heavy use of free website caching and CDN utilities to stay on a budget hosting plan with unlimited HDD storage for as little as $3 per month and skip SSD hosting altogether.
Furthermore, businesses with big files archives and download services that do not need the highest speeds may well be able to reduce money on storage by opting for HDD options with VPS, cloud, or dedicated server plans rather than SDD options.
How to Choose the Best SSD Hosting Provider?
We know how to choose the right SSD server hosting at WebHost Bros.
Let’s look at a checklist of things to think about when choosing the right SSD hosting service for your company’s website.
- Stability and 99.99 percent uptime
- Pure & Best Solid State Drive Storage Has Been Incorporated
- Affordably priced and backed by a money-back guarantee
- Data Loss Prevention on Several Levels
- Data Centers that are Effective
- Customer service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Many hosts provide SSD website hosting, but you should be cautious when selecting a good SSD shared hosting plan.
How to Migrate to SSD Hosting
There are two simple ways to move to an SSD hosting plan: make the web hosting company workers do it for you or do it manually.
To attract new clients, some businesses have a free website migration service.
The data center workers will need your account login information in order to access cPanel or FTP and download the database and site files to the new server. It helps to look around for a free migration package because certain businesses charge as much as $180 for this service.
Another option is to use FXP to migrate all files across both two hosts without having to download them to your desktop.
Experienced clients can be able to speed up the process by using command-line tools.
All of this is possible with cPanel’s File Manager for zip archives and phpMyAdmin for database exports and imports.
Should you go for SSD?
Yes and no are the answers.
This comparison has shown you the most important factors to consider when deciding whether or not to use SSD in servers and data centers.
It’s worth noting that the Solid is superior to the Solid in terms of energy consumption, pace, and reliability.
If money isn’t a problem, there’s no need to worry about it. SSDs would benefit your servers because of their lightning-fast performance and reduced heat emission and cooling requirements.
Real, their ability is less than that of mechanical disks, but you can almost always make up for it by purchasing more flash drives.
If speed is important to you but your budget is small, you should still use SSDs for the most frequently accessed data. Standard HDDs can still handle lower server levels very well.
What if your budget is so tight that it’s practically non-existent? Then it’s probably best if you wait. SSD prices will continue to fall, hopefully to a point where adoption will be more financially feasible.
However, when it comes to selecting a data storage system for your website, simply choose an HDD.
Overall Winner
There you have it. A detailed comparison of SSD vs HDD.
You might want to conclude that SSD is the clear winner, judging from the details we have above.
If that’s is the case with you, then you are not far from the truth.
Our clear winner is SDD hosting, considering the fact that it won in seven out of the nine categories looked at.
You don’t need to sweat over it!
Some of the web hosts with the best SSD hosting that we recommend are GreenGeeks, InMotion Hosting, HostRocket, and A2 Hosting.