Hard drives used on servers are known as server hard drives. Considering the server as the core of the data network, the server hard drive is the core of the data warehouse, counting all applications and data. Since a 1.5 TB 2.5-inch HDD 0J34351 – Hitachi Travel star contains a huge amount of data and information, its reliability is vital for the users. Servers use SAS hard drives to ensure that the drive functions absolutely fine as SAS drives have security features, stability, and high speed.
There are several factors to consider when it comes to buying a server, including total storage capacity, available memory, and the number of processors. When comparing the available servers from leading brands, users should closely evaluate these vital features.
- Types of Hard Drives
- Flash Storage (USB drives, Micro SD, SD)
- HDD – Slower than solid state-drive, used for data drives and OS – most frequently used type of drive
- Solid-state drive – these are fast storage drives but are quite expensive in servers
- Non-Hot Swap vs. Hot Swap
The drives are non-hot swaps in the entry-level servers, which means if there’s an HDD failure to swap the drive, you are required to power the system down to swap the drive and then reboot. On the other hand, hot-swap hard drives let you eliminate a drive when the server is running. Moreover, if you need to add additional drives to the server, it can be done without switching off the server.
- Memory
Sufficient server memory is important as the more memory available, the better the workloads are likely to perform. Though, other factors can too contribute to performance, like the memory’s quality and speed. Mostly, server memory is made of in-line dual memory module circuit boards with random-access memory.
Server memory can include features that improve reliability. When evaluating server memory, look at the complete offering by keeping in mind the kinds of applications and workloads you run.
- Connection Types
- PCIe – Not widely used, quicker than SATA/SAS is starting to be a widespread connection type for solid-state drives and provides 12 Gigabytes throughput.
- SATA – inexpensive cost / GB and greater capacities in 3.5-inches versions. They are used mostly for secondary storage, where information is accessed occasionally.
- SAS – reliable and fast drives; used for DATA drives and OS, up to 15k speeds are available.
- PATA/IDE – Legacy connection type, no longer used in the industry
- HDD VS SSD
| Solid State Drive | Hard Disk Drive | |
| Dealing with vibration | SSDs can survive vibration up to 2000 hertz, that is much more than hard disk drives. | Moving parts of hard drives make them liable to damage and crash due to vibration. |
| Weight | These are lighter compared to HDDs as they don’t have the rotating disks, motor, and spindle | 1.5 TB 2.5-inch HDD 0J34351 – Hitachi Travel star is heavier than SSDs |
| Components | These drives don’t have any moving parts. It is ICs (integrated circuits) along with an interface connector. SSD includes 3 basic components – capacitor, cache, and controller | These storage drives have moving parts – a platter which is a motor-driven spindle, holding one or more flat circular disks. Write and read heads are placed on top of the disks |
| Fragmentation | The performance of an SSD is not impacted by fragmentation. Hence, defragmentation is not essential. | The output of a hard drive deteriorates because of fragmentation; that’s why they are required to get defragmented periodically |
| Heat, Electricity, Noise | As no rotation is required SSDs, they don’t generate noise or heat and utilize less power | HDDs consume more electricity to rotate platters, producing noise and heat |
| Speed | The solid-state drive has faster writes/read, lower latency, and supports additional IOPs compared to HDD. | The hard disk drive has higher latency, supports fewer IOPs, and has longer write/read times compared to SSD. |
- IOP performance increases with SSD
- SSDs have a seek time between 0.08 to 0.16 ms
- Cost / GB is higher on SSD
- Capacity is higher on SAS/SATA than SSD
- SSDs have limited write/read limits, SATA / SAS drives don’t
- I/O performance of flash might be 40 – 60 times better than SATA and SAS
- The cost of SSD is higher than SATA/SAS
- IOP (Input / Output Operations / Second)
It is a common performance measurement that is used to benchmark computer storage gadgets such as solid-state drives, hard drives, and SAN (storage area networks). IOPS numbers do not assure real-world application performance. It is primarily used with servers and can be measured with applications.
- Which is the Best Server Hard Drive?
One of the most important aspects of this article is to inform users about the best 1.5 TB 2.5-inch HDD 0J34351 – Hitachi Travel star for servers. Following are some of the top-of-the-line HDDs for servers.
- Seagate Exos X14 drive
- Seagate IronWolf Pro NAS
- WD Black WD10SPSX
- WD Blue WD40EZAZ
- WD Gold WD2005FBYZ
On average, hard drives used to last between 3 to 4 years. Though, many high-end designers of hard drives now provide substantial 5-year warranties, making HDDs an extremely reliable purchase.
Final Verdict
Getting the best server hard drive can be challenging for a new computer user. We have tried our best to guide you about the buying process as well as we have mentioned some of the best available server hard drives. It will be easier for you to make a decision after finding all of your requirements.