SSD vs HDD in the Data Center: Performance and Cost

Storage is rarely one-size-fits-all. SSDs and HDDs each have a place in a smart storage strategy.

SSDs

Solid-state drives deliver dramatically higher IOPS and lower latency, making them ideal for databases, virtualisation and any performance-sensitive workload. Prices have fallen, but capacity still costs more than HDD.

HDDs

Hard drives offer the lowest cost per terabyte, perfect for backups, archives and bulk storage where capacity matters more than speed.

Tiering

Most data centres tier storage — flash for hot data, disk for cold. Al-Gazelle supplies enterprise SSDs and HDDs from Dell and other leading brands to build the right mix.