Have you ever wondered how your device saves your documents whether or not you press the “control S”? I mean you may have typed a long document and your computer accidentally switches off and yet, your document is intact when it comes on. Could that be magic? No, it’s not, that device that stores those documents and files on your computer is either called a Hard Disk Drive, Solid State Drive or a Cloud Storage. And in this review, we will be discussing all you need to know about a storage looking closely into the hard disk drive comparing it with a solid state disk and also a cloud storage with a focus on its meaning, history, and differences between cloud and physical storage in reference to their benefits, popularity, and technology.
Meaning of Hard Disk Drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), also known as a hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk, is an electro-mechanical data storage device that uses magnetic storage and one or more rigid quickly rotating platters coated with magnetic material to store and retrieve digital data. The platters are paired with magnetic heads that read and write data to the platter surfaces, which are normally mounted on a moving actuator arm. Individual blocks of data can be stored and retrieved in any sequence since data is read in a random-access way. HDDs are a sort of non-volatile storage that keeps data even after the computer is turned off. Modern hard disk drives are often shaped like compact rectangular boxes.
History of Hard Disk Drive
The 350 disk storage, IBM’s first manufacturing hard disk drive, was released in 1957 as part of the IBM 305 RAMAC system. It was the size of two medium-sized refrigerators and held five million six-bit characters (3.75 gigabytes) on 52 disks (100 surfaces used). The 350 had a single arm with two read/write heads, one facing up and the other facing down, that moved horizontally between neighboring platters and vertically from one set to the next. The IBM 355, IBM 7300, and IBM 1405 were all variations of the IBM 350.
Subsequently, over the years models like the IBM 1301, 1311, 1302, and 2305 came to life in different years with improved features on the hard disk drives before the release of the first model of their “Winchester technology” drives which featured a removable disk module, including both the disk pack and the head assembly, leaving the actuator motor in the drive upon removal. Further reductions in disk diameter to 3.5″ and 2.5″ were proven to be optimal as recording density was considerably improved throughout time. During this time, powerful rare earth magnet materials became more inexpensive, complementing the swing arm actuator architecture and allowing current HDDs to have more compact form factors. As the years went by the capacity of the hard disk drive increased and today the capacity of a drive is at 20 terabytes for the maximum capacity.
Market Research Future (MRFR) has presumed the global hard disk market revenue to reach USD 93.88 billion at a 6.5% CAGR from 2014 to 2026 (forecast period).
Two Types of Hard Disk
There are two types of Hard disks- solid state and normal hard disks.
An HDD is a traditional storage device that uses mechanical spinning platters and a moving read/write head to access data. While SSDs are newer, faster drives that store data on instantly accessible memory chips. The main difference between a solid state drive (SSD) and a hard disk drive (HDD) is how data is stored and accessed.
Many individuals and businesses prefer SSDs as they significantly shorten access time without waiting for platter rotation to begin. What makes SSDs an increasingly popular choice is their speed. Across the board, SSDs outpace HDDs because they use electrical circuitry and have no physical moving parts. This leads to shorter wait times when you’re starting up and fewer delays when opening apps or doing heavy computing tasks.
SSDs are more expensive per gigabyte (GB) and a terabyte (TB) of storage than HDDs, although the gap is decreasing as SSD prices fall faster than HDD prices year after year.
For example, the Intel SSD D5-P5316 is a 15.36TB enterprise-grade SSD that offers over 7000 MB/s in bandwidth. The 14TB Seagate Exos 2×14, a compatible HDD, offers only up to 500 MB/s in bandwidth. That’s a difference of 14x!1
These faster speeds lead to performance benefits in several areas, such as when logging in and waiting for apps and services to start up, or when performing storage-intensive tasks such as copying a large file. With an HDD, performance slows significantly, while an SSD can continue to work on other tasks.
When it comes to capacity, SSDs for computers are available in 120GB to 30.72TB capacities, whereas HDDs can go anywhere from 250GB to 20TB.
When measuring cost per capacity, HDDs come out on top, but as SSDs drop in price, this will become less of a differentiator for HDDs. However, with SSDs, you get much more work done per server which results in fewer devices deployed to get the same output as an HDD. The result? SSDs have a lower TCO (total cost of ownership).
Reliability is defined as whether data is stored as intended, in an uncorrupted state. SSDs in general are more reliable than HDDs, which again is a function of having no moving parts. That’s because, without movement, SSDs aren’t affected by vibration or related thermal issues.
SSDs commonly use less power and result in longer battery life because data access is much faster and the device is idle more often. With their spinning disks, HDDs require more power when they start up than SSDs.
Hard Disk versus Cloud Storage
Over the years, people shifted from the traditional hard disk drive for storage to the cloud storage, it was because of the lack of durability in the hard disk drive which attracts the need to carry the hard disk drive around and the fact that if there was any sort of damage to the hard disk drive it would have the files stored in it to be lost.
The global cloud computing market size was valued at USD 368.97 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.7% from 2022 to 2030.
As part of the evolution of technology in general, and information and communication technology (ICT) in particular, the world is heading toward cloud computing. In its most basic form, cloud computing refers to the use of a computer to store and access data through web-enabled devices rather than storing information on a computer’s hard disk. The major purposes of cloud computing include data management, storage, and processing through the internet.
In 2019, more than half (53%) of internet users used storage space on the internet (cloud storage) to save files (such as documents, pictures, music, videos, etc.), an increase of four percentage points on the same period in 2018.
As of 2022, over 60 percent of all corporate data is stored in the cloud. This share reached 30 percent in 2015 and has continued to grow as companies increasingly shift their resources into cloud environments in the hope of improving security and reliability next to advancing business agility.
Due to the increasing failure of hard disks and recovery issues that stemmed from excessive heat, malware attacks, and power failure, cloud computing has offered a better option for businesses to keep their information in the cloud without being bothered by possible disasters.
Storing information on the cloud is cheaper, transparent, and safer than hard disks and it ensures easy sync of data without losing the most recent ones. With cloud storage, there’s almost no danger that your data will disappear. The majority of providers duplicate your data on multiple servers throughout the world. You may also save your data with record keeping and advanced recovery options. If you mistakenly delete a document, you can quickly recover it.
For some people, the main goal is to find the cheapest backup option. As a result, hard drives may appear to be the more appealing option. Since terabytes of storage can be had for a little around $100. Then there’s cloud storage, which typically requires a month-to-month subscription.
As far as we’re concerned, cloud storage is without a doubt the best way to back up your data. True serenity is significantly increased. It also allows you to back up your data regularly from any device. To be honest, it won’t be long until actual hard drives become yet another obstacle in computational progress.
Here is a few cloud storage to consider when choosing cloud storage services, such as DropBox, iCloud, Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive, IDrive, Mega, Box, pCloud, and Amazon Drive to mention a few.
Some Of The Most Popular Hard Disk Drive Brands
We shall now be looking at the two most popular brands that produce hard disk drives; Seagate, Western Digital, Transcend, and Toshiba
1. Seagate Technology
Seagate Technology (then called Shugart Technology) was incorporated on November 1, 1978, and commenced operations in 1979. In 1980, Seagate released the 5-megabyte ST-506, the first 5.25-inch hard disk drive (HDD). During the 1980s, they were a prominent microcomputer supplier, notably with the release of the IBM XT in 1983. The HDD market is currently dominated by Seagate and its competitor Western Digital. Their purchase of competitors has contributed significantly to their growth. Control Data Corporation’s Imprimis division, which makes CDC’s HDD products, was purchased by Seagate in 1989. In 1996, Seagate purchased Conner Peripherals, in 2006, Maxtor, and in 2011, Samsung’s HDD division.
2. Western Digital
Western Digital Corporation (WDC, also known as Western Digital or WD) is a San Jose, California-based computer hard disk drive manufacturer and data storage corporation. It creates, manufactures, and sells storage devices, data center systems, and cloud storage services.
HDDs and SSDs for computing devices (such as PCs, security surveillance systems, gaming consoles, and set-top boxes); NAND-flash embedded storage products for mobile devices, notebook PCs, and other portable and IoT devices; and NAND flash memory wafers are among Western Digital’s offerings. The iNAND product line and custom embedded products are among Western Digital’s embedded storage devices. Only for automotive and industrial applications, Western Digital sells microSD and SD card products to OEMs.
3. Transcend
Founded in 1988, Transcend Information is one of the leading tech companies in the world that majorly produces storage devices. It was launched by Chung-Won Shu and has its headquarters in Taiwan. The brand manufactures top-notch flash drives, memory cards, SSD, HDD, bodycams, etc. All of its products are ISO certified and you will get full value for money by investing in them.
The Transcend TS1TSJ25M3S StoreJet is a good option if you are looking for a durable hard disk. It comes with a silicone rubber case and offers a slim form factor. It comes with a one-touch auto-backup button that instantly backs up your data at the press of a button. It supports the USB 3.1 Gen 1 interface and offers transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps. It comes with a three-stage shock protection system and offers military-grade shock resistance.
Conclusion
The disk drive has quite a number of brands that produce good quality hard disk drives, some of which even produce cloud storage. Also, hard disks avail individuals and businesses to store their data within their reach and business environment. But unfortunately, it is more costly and offers users a single point of failure that exposes their data to attacks. However, the solid-state disk has been proven to be more effective than the hard disk drive and also faster, and this has stirred some people to shift focus to it.
Notwithstanding, over the years lots of people have discovered the best means of storage in cloud storage which guarantees your files and documents are safe with the use of backups, it is designed to reduce costs, simplify IT management, improve user experience, and allow employees to work and collaborate from remote locations.
Now, the majority of the HDDs manufacturers have started to include cloud storage services in their offerings to enable businesses to make an easy transition into the cloud without losing any data. In other words, there is no excuse for not using the cloud as an alternative drive to preserve your data. To begin your journey into the cloud World, sign up with any of the above-mentioned service providers and start securing your data.