Hi all -

I have a friend who is looking to purchase an external storage drive to perform backups of his computer, and he asked me whether a hard disk drive or a solid-state drive would be a better option.

I know that HDDs can be easily damaged if they are dropped, and that SSDs tend to be more expensive. Read/Write speed would not be as much of an issue, given that the drive would only be run to backup information onto it. Researching the topic online gave me mixed views. Some websites stated that SSDs are not a good option for long-term storage because the flash chips can lose their charges over time. Others said that these charges can be "refreshed" by formatting and re-copying the data onto the SSD periodically, and that breakdown of moving parts in a HDD can cause them to die earlier than SSDs.

Of note is that my friend travels often and would be wanting to bring his drive with him... which could lead to damage of moving HDD parts if the drive happens to be dropped. Right now, I am leaning towards recommending a SSD and doing a format/re-copy of the drive contents about once a year.

Does anybody have any thoughts/experience to share on which type of drive to choose?


Thank you.

Matteo