{"id":1851,"date":"2020-06-17T06:47:26","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T12:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/?p=1851"},"modified":"2026-01-22T08:17:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:17:35","slug":"hdd-vs-ssd-cloud-server-hosting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/hdd-vs-ssd-cloud-server-hosting\/","title":{"rendered":"HDD vs SSD Cloud Server Hosting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first commercial hard drive saw the light of day in 1956<\/strong>. Developed by IBM, this monster of a machine weighed more than a ton and was as big as two refrigerators. All that for the groundbreaking 5MB of space<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, we’ve come a long way since then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As web hosting providers introduced an easy way to get yourself online, server speed and performance<\/strong> became the industry’s hot topics. Every little optimization mattered, and the hardware innovations <\/strong>started pouring in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we are going to take a closer look at two of the most popular storage methods nowadays and see which one is better if you are utilizing the cloud<\/strong>. This is the HDD vs SSD cloud server comparison<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 What is HDD?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"HDD<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The hard disk drive is a type of physical storage device<\/strong> that uses electromagnetism to keep and retrieve data. The typical HDD consists of one or more rotating motors<\/strong> coated with magnetic material. Unlike RAM, it’s a non-volatile storage method that keeps information long-term in structured blocks and sectors<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HDD has been around for more than 50 years and was an integral part of web hosting<\/strong><\/a> services for quite some time. While still widely utilized today, new technologies like VPS <\/strong>and cloud servers<\/strong> have introduced more modern ways of storing data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is SSD?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"HDD<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When solid-state storage (or SSD) became commercially available<\/strong>, it changed the game completely. This method eliminated all mechanical parts from the equation and instead employed flash memory to store data. The lack of spinning disks and movable parts<\/strong> meant the new technology could be much more durable and efficient than the HDD technology.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, hosting providers quickly adopted the technology, and today, there are plenty of companies that offer SSD even on shared hosting<\/strong><\/a>. As for more enterprise-friendly solutions, like cloud platforms, they completely switched to solid-state drives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is that?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let’s see what makes the difference between HDD vs SSD cloud servers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HDD vs SSD \u2014 Which is faster?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Various benchmark tests all reveal SSD is much faster than HDD <\/strong>when reading and writing data. The hard disk drives rely on spinning mechanical parts, which takes a heavy toll on speed. As a result, the average SSD is at least five times faster<\/strong> than a comparable HDD model. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having no rotating parts also means solid-state drives require no power to spin up and thus take less load on the server<\/strong>.  There is no denying website speed is a top priority nowadays, so you better kick it off with a fast and reliable SSD cloud server<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HDD vs SSD \u2014 Which is more secure?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your web server constantly executes input\/output requests<\/strong>. The more requests \u2014 the more your machine and its mechanical parts wear down until eventually your hard drive fails <\/strong>and your project goes offline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reliant on integrated circuits, the SSD drives can take significantly more load without affecting the online status<\/strong> of your server. Sure, this next-gen solution will also deteriorate with time, but its life expectancy is much higher than the standard HDD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HDD vs SSD \u2014 Which costs less?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If there is still something in favor of HDD vs SSD<\/strong>, that would be its cost. That might only be a temporary win, though. The adoption rates for solid-state drives are rising every year, and the technology is getting more and more affordable. That is especially valuable for SSD cloud servers<\/strong> as they are typically more expensive, so anything that makes them more budget-friendly is well-received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Why ScalaHosting for Cloud SSD servers?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ScalaHosting fully adopts the power of the cloud infrastructure and offers<\/strong> enterprise-grade SSD cloud server solutions<\/strong> for all clients. Whether you are looking for a managed VPS<\/a> or an unmanaged VPS platform<\/a>, Scala comes up with fantastic enterprise-grade hardware and feature-packed accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the optimized server setup, you can count on some unique solutions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n