This article has been updated since it was originally published in 2023. Solid state drives (SSDs) continue to grow in popularity, and no wonder. Compared to hard disk drives (HDDs), they are faster, smaller, more power efficient, and sturdier since they have no moving parts to jostle around. And, they are becoming available in larger and larger capacities while their cost comes down. But are they really as dependable as they claim to be? SSDs still have vulnerabilities, and storage tech that lasts thousands of years isn’t commercially viable (yet!).  In this post we’re going to conside ..read more

Editor’s note: Since it was published in 2019, this post has been updated in 2021 and 2023 with the latest information to help you take advantage of SSDs. Solid-state drives (SSDs) have become the norm for most laptops and desktops, replacing the older hard disk drives (HDDs) that had been in use for decades previously. If your computer still relies on an HDD, it might be time to consider upgrading to an SSD for improved performance. Upgrading to an SSD can give your computer a significant speed and responsiveness boost, especially if your machine is more than a few years old. However, befor ..read more

This post was originally published in 2016. We’re sharing an update to this post to provide the latest information on how to wipe your Mac. You’re about to upgrade your Mac. Maybe you want to sell it or trade it in, and maybe you’re just throwing it out—either way, you likely still have plenty of personal data on your old computer. Getting rid of that data isn’t straightforward, and it is important. Sure, you could live out the famous printer destruction scene from the movie “Office Space” and smash the computer to pieces. As satisfying as that might be, there are better ways to wipe your Ma ..read more

This blog post was originally published in March 2016 and was updated in September 2018. Since then, HDD and SSD drive technology continues to improve, so we’re sharing our latest update to this post. Between all of the different computer drives available, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the differences between them. The two fundamental drives you should know the differences between are hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs). You might be wondering, what’s the difference between a HDD and a SSD? Which drive is best to use? What kind of drive is more likely to fail? We spend a l ..read more

In Part 1 of HDD vs SSD: What Does the Future for Storage Hold?, we looked at the primary differences between HDDs and SSDs and the history of both of these types of data storage. We also considered the best uses for each. In Part 2, we take a deeper look at the differences between HDDs and SSDs, how both HDD and SSD technologies are evolving, and how Backblaze takes advantage of SSDs in our operations and data centers. The first time you booted a computer or opened an app on a computer with a solid-state-drive (SSD), you likely were delighted. I know I was. I loved the speed, silence, and ..read more

This is part one of a series. Part Two is posted here. Customers frequently ask us whether and when we plan to move our cloud backup and data storage to SSDs (Solid-State Drives). That’s not a surprising question considering the many advantages SSDs have over magnetic platter type drives, also known as HDDs (Hard-Disk Drives). We’re a large user of HDDs in our data centers (currently 100,000 hard drives holding over 500 petabytes of data). We want to provide the best performance, reliability, and economy for our cloud backup and cloud storage services, so we continually evaluate which drives ..read more

Solid state drives (SSDs) are fast and efficient. More new computers than ever come with them, and many of us have upgraded our existing PCs and Macs to them to get better performance or to replace dead or dying spinning hard drives. With prices dropping on larger SSDs, those of us who have outgrown our current models are ready to upgrade. What’s more, SSDs die and need to be replaced just like everything else. When it comes time to hand down, recycle, or get rid of your SSD, what do you do? Read on for details. Don’t Bother Degaussing, Drilling Holes, or “Zeroing Out” an SSD First, let’s foc ..read more

Need help troubleshooting a problematic solid state drive (SSD)? Here’s a list of problems SSD users commonly run into, along with some suggestions on how to fix them. SSD Failure Let’s go over some of the warning signs of a potential SSD failure. Any of these could be indications that an SSD is on its way out. Files can’t be read from or written to the drive. The computer runs excessively slow. The computer won’t boot, you get a flashing question mark (on Mac) or “No boot device” error (on Windows). Frequent “blue screen of death/black screen of death” errors. Apps freeze or crash. Your dri ..read more

Seagate just introduced a 60TB SSD. Wow. As Backblaze scurries about upgrading from 2TB to 8TB hard drives in our Storage Pods, we just have to stop for the moment and consider what a 3.6PB Storage Pod would look like and how much it would cost. Let’s dive in to the details… What We Know About the Seagate 60TB SSD A number of sources (Engadget, Computerworld, Mashable, and Tom’s Hardware, to name a few) covered the news. From the Backblaze Storage Pod point of view, here are some important things to know. The Seagate 60TB SSD comes in a 3.5-inch form factor. It uses a 12 Gbps SAS interface an ..read more

Editor’s note: Since it was published in 2019, this post has been updated in 2021 and 2023 with the latest information to help you take advantage of SSDs. Solid-state drives (SSDs) have become the norm for most laptops and desktops, replacing the older hard disk drives (HDDs) that had been in use for decades previously. If your computer still relies on an HDD, it might be time to consider upgrading to an SSD for improved performance. Upgrading to an SSD can give your computer a significant speed and responsiveness boost, especially if your machine is more than a few years old. However, befor ..read more