HDD or SSD better?

Always access or seldom?
If always, ssd
Else HDD for cold storage...

Store in cloud as primary then save in ssd. Don’t bother with hdd coz it will die faster than ssd

HDD if you need a ton of storage like RAW format. else just use cloud for ease of access... SSD is good for frequent accessed files like programs or the files you're working on.

just my 2cents...

SSD need to power ON every few years otherwise the NAND will lose power means lose data. HDD magnet disk can cold store for much longer.

HDD better for bulk storage, cheaper too
storing photos doesnt require the speed of SSDs

First choise = Cloud, with encryption. zip with password or 7z with AES will do
then HDD with RAID level 1 or higher.

SSD RAID 10 if your daddy prints money or have gold mine

SSD last much longer and price has gone down considerably low,
mechanical stuff like HDD are bound to fail, and especially consumer grade HDD is bottom tier stuff.

SSD better. Life cycle is longer compared to HDD. Another option considered print the photo as album...

For cold storage where it only needs to spin up when storing pics, it is not so disadvantageous for mechanical drives.

Raid 1 or higher level preferred for redundancy,
Or just cloud, you could saved yourself a lot of headaches

If long term storage there is also MDisc that supposedly can last 1000years.

You have to consider whether the reader can last 1000 years, or what interface can support the reader after 1000 years

Keep a spare drive. I archive my long term stuff in DVDs and have a spare unit in storage as well. Maybe in 10-20 years time I mass move to another storage media.

My kind of m-disc, traveling in space
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record

The 1000 years is kind of gimmick, just look at the PC storage io interface changed how many times, and storage media from magnetic to flash.

Wen don't know what next generation storage medium is, but right now best bang for buck is still cloud storage.
Unless you already own a PC.

Inside a NAS with RAID1 or higher.
Also a backup of the photos on other device

Of course its a gimmick who can predict 1000years. But as a long term storage using discs are the most stable with least to maintain and $$ per GB is dirt cheap. Put it somewhere safe then 10-20 years later can bring out and migrate to another stable media. Cant really do the same for HDD or SSD, need to repower every once a while.

Cloud storage got lotsa caveats. Unless your paying subscription, terms & conditions changes a lot over the years, free used to be unlimited now gets shrunk every change, even storage can be closed down, account lost, hacked, if you forget password then good luck, and with LLM your uploaded photos/whatever can be AI mined (this is happening even now).

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Jul 27 2024, 11:23 AM

SSD lifespan is shorter than HDD. I still have Seagate 80MB hard disk that still running until today.

Get NAS Storage and i use Synology to sync my phone, my pc. never regret.

don't want hassle, just save it on cloud, pay subcriptions.