longterm storage Are SSD's or HDD's Better for long term storage?

[tolerablepeach]

Hey guys!

 

I was planning on getting a 1TB ssd to replace my 2TB hdd drive for long term storage, but when i was looking online, I saw alot of forms saying "HDD is the way to go".

 

I couldn't find a video from Linus talking about this and someone may have already made a form on here (almost 2000 posts so hard to look through it all) but my main question is which is better for long term storage you do a full backup to once than never touch again (except for the odd times you turn it back on just to add more files)

 

My original understanding on this is SSD is the way to go, since it's just memory chips and no moving platters, you just save to the ssd and you're good to go.

 

ps - Linus, if you're reading my words, please help and make a video on this!

 

Thanks to all who can help!

[Helpful Tech Witch]

HDDs are more cost effective, you can get hdds for half teh price or less than a ssd, so its said to be better

But if you can gety a ssd inst, go go for it

[AbydosOne]

5 minutes ago, tolerablepeach said:

which is better for long term storage you do a full backup to once than never touch again

HDD.

 

SSDs rely on trapped charges that can (very very slowly) leak when off and not being refreshed by the controller and corrupt data. HDDs rely on magnetic alignment of bits in platters, and can last more or less indefinitely.

[aisle9]

If you're using it for storage only, you have SATA ports to spare and room in your case, a HDD is a better value than an SSD. It's also just better suited to long-term data storage.

[casualpasser]

6 hours ago, tolerablepeach said:

Hey guys!

 

I was planning on getting a 1TB ssd to replace my 2TB hdd drive for long term storage, but when i was looking online, I saw alot of forms saying "HDD is the way to go".

 

I couldn't find a video from Linus talking about this and someone may have already made a form on here (almost 2000 posts so hard to look through it all) but my main question is which is better for long term storage you do a full backup to once than never touch again (except for the odd times you turn it back on just to add more files)

 

My original understanding on this is SSD is the way to go, since it's just memory chips and no moving platters, you just save to the ssd and you're good to go.

 

ps - Linus, if you're reading my words, please help and make a video on this!

 

Thanks to all who can help!

The main reason to get SSD rather than HDD is it's speed. Also, theoretically, SSD doesn't have moving parts, so it should last longer. 

If money is no object and you just want the best chance that this drive will last for decades, then I guess an SSD is fine.
But otherwise, I would just use a HDD

[tolerablepeach]

On 7/22/2021 at 10:03 PM, AbydosOne said:

HDD.

 

SSDs rely on trapped charges that can (very very slowly) leak when off and not being refreshed by the controller and corrupt data. HDDs rely on magnetic alignment of bits in platters, and can last more or less indefinitely.

But i thought hhd's had a shelf life, so if i download everything once, dont touch it for like 12 years you think it would be fine? Also do you have a link on more info regarding ssd leak since i've never heard of that concept before in my life Thanks for the reply!

[casualpasser]

8 hours ago, tolerablepeach said:

But i thought hhd's had a shelf life, so if i download everything once, dont touch it for like 12 years you think it would be fine? Also do you have a link on more info regarding ssd leak since i've never heard of that concept before in my life Thanks for the reply!

Not an AbydosOne, but here you go:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2921590/death-and-the-unplugged-ssd-how-much-you-really-need-to-worry-about-ssd-reliability.html
 

Quote

NAND can’t retain data forever, or even as long as other types of media (hard drives, optical) because it stores data as tiny, trapped electrical charges. The cages that contain these charges aren’t perfect—they leak, or de-trap in industry lingo. True, they leak extremely slowly, but they leak nonetheless.

Also, as shown in the JEDEC specifications, the warmer they get, the faster they leak, and the faster operations wear them out. Cell degradation occurs whether an SSD is in use (powered/operational) or stored (unpowered/non-operational). That’s a simplified explanation. If you really want to dig into it, there’s plenty of info online.

 

[Daethz]

I have had so many hdd's fail on me over the years, I don't trust them at all.

While every ssd i have ever owned in my life, still works today, some of them are sitting collecting dust because I have no reason to plug a 128gb ssd in, etc.

 

I back up important files on a couple of large-capacity flash drives, Just swapped them out for newer larger faster ones.

[AbydosOne]

12 minutes ago, Daethz said:

I have had so many hdd's fail on me over the years, I don't trust them at all.

While every ssd i have ever owned in my life, still works today, some of them are sitting collecting dust because I have no reason to plug a 128gb ssd in, etc

If we're running on anecdotal evidence, I'm currently on 0 HDD failures, 1 SSD failure (in 15 years *knocks on wood*). I've also had SD cards go wonky after sitting, so I don't trust flash near as much as I trust a (non-powered) HDD for long term.