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Digital Literacy Computer Basics Computer Basics Hardware

Posted by Aimee Glembotski
Aimee Glembotski
Courses Plus Student 1,460 Points

Do you have a resource to show me a teardown of a steady state hard drive? I'm just curious of the differences. Thanks

I know there are different types of hard drives. Can you refer me to a resource for a tear down of a steady state hard drive? I'd love to see what the difference looks likes, just out of curiosity.

Thanks!

3 Answers

Greg Kaleka
Greg Kaleka
39,021 Points
Greg Kaleka
Greg Kaleka
39,021 Points

Hi Aimee,

A solid state drive (or SSD) essentially uses memory sticks (like a thumb drive), while a conventional hard drive uses a spinning magnetized disk and a reader arm. Because SSDs don't have any moving parts, they are much faster, and aren't prone to mechanical failures (like the arm breaking).

Google "ssd teardown" and you'll find lots of pictures and videos.

Cheers,

-Greg

Aimee Glembotski
Aimee Glembotski
Courses Plus Student 1,460 Points

Thanks Greg! :)

Phil Pickering
Phil Pickering
49 Points
Phil Pickering
Phil Pickering
49 Points

Here's what a Samsung SSD looks like inside:

https://youtu.be/eBAq8HeyyHM

As you'll see there is no large spinning disk and no moving parts at all. Looks more like a set of RAM chips.

jason chan
jason chan
31,009 Points
jason chan
jason chan
31,009 Points

SSDs are made from flash memory, they don't move. Samsung and Micron are the major producers of solid state drives.

For regular hard drives they are magnetic discs that spin. WD and Seagate.

I've been in the computer hardware biz far too long.

If your planning to buy a SSD highly recommend samsung or micron (crucial). Basically everyone is buying their nand flash chips from them. I hope it helps.

SSDs are 5x faster than standard metal hard drives.

Aimee Glembotski
Aimee Glembotski
Courses Plus Student 1,460 Points

Thanks Jason. I was just searching for a tear down because my curiosity was running strong after seeing the spin disc drive on the video on my track.

Joe M
Joe M
Courses Plus Student 66 Points
Joe M
Joe M
Courses Plus Student 66 Points

Hi Jason How do I identify which company SSD the Mac pro use? I just ordered a apple Mac Pro with 512 GB SSD.