Western Digital is going to split into two independent companies next year, and both of them will focus on storage. One on HDDs and the other Flash Memory.
The HDD AFR is +0.55%, but if you look at the drive count and drive day numbers, you can see why the SSD AFR varies pretty wildly, and why the confidence interval is way higher.
If you think this is enough to say SSDs reliability is definitively solved, that’s fine, but
HHDs have mechanical parts that make them far less reliable.
HDDs are still useful for bulk storage. The HDD division is the profitable one here. WD lost money on every SSD sold last quarter at -10% gross margin.
Are HDDs still relevant? Have they made any advancements since SSDs/NVMEs took over?
SSDs are still very unreliable compared to HDDs, any bulk or critical data storage is done on HDDs.
It might seem unthinkable to gamers, but speed isn’t the only thing that matters when it comes to storage.
That really isn’t true. HDDs are used for cost, and occasionally cold storage.
HHDs have mechanical parts that make them far less reliable.
It looks like they’ve gotten better recently, but exactly how much isn’t really clear.
Backblaze lifetime annual failure rates for:
HDDs: 1.45%
SSDs: 0.90%
The HDD AFR is +0.55%, but if you look at the drive count and drive day numbers, you can see why the SSD AFR varies pretty wildly, and why the confidence interval is way higher.
If you think this is enough to say SSDs reliability is definitively solved, that’s fine, but
is a bit much.
SSD’s just need good power delivery and cooling, where as a HDD needs those plus a means of dampening vibration for good longevity.
HDD’s are no longer a good choice for mobile devices like laptops as an SSD is more likely to survive a fall than a HDD.
SSD’s however require periodic supply of power to maintain data integrity (power it on for an hour each year afaik), where as a HDD does not.
Bro, tape is still being used, of course hard drives are still relevant
lol
Relevant? Yes, ideal for cold storage or archival stuff where capacity matters and speed doesn’t
Not Western Digital, but Seagate has introduced HAMR HDDs
HDDs are still useful for bulk storage. The HDD division is the profitable one here. WD lost money on every SSD sold last quarter at -10% gross margin.