Hybrid hard drives: are they worth buying? What is a hybrid hard drive and what's inside it?

Hello admin! I want to buy a 1-2 TB hard drive, one computer geek I know advised me to buy an SSHD drive (a hybrid of a hard drive and an SSD solid-state drive), since it works noticeably faster than a regular HDD, but is not as expensive as an SSD. What can you say about such discs?

Hello friends! Very good question. Yes, the SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive) hybrid hard drive is 30% faster than a conventional hard drive, and about the same amount more expensive. If a regular 1 TB hard drive costs 4,000 rubles, then an SSHD can be bought for 5,400 rubles. Such disks are produced both for regular computers and for laptops.

Firstly, What is a hybrid hard drive?

The technology for the production of hard drives (the only component of a computer that has moving mechanical parts) has long been at a dead end and it is almost impossible to increase the performance of a hard drive through production, as evidenced by the appearance on the market of solid-state drives SSDs and hybrid hard drives SSHD. But if a solid-state drive is a completely non-mechanical storage device based on memory chips, then a hybrid hard drive is, first of all, a regular hard drive with an MLC fast flash memory card (8 GB capacity) soldered onto it, used in the production of solid-state drives. that is, it turns out that SSHD is a hybrid of a regular hard drive and an SSD..

Secondly, why is an SSHD hybrid hard drive faster than a regular hard drive?

Seagate SSHD hybrid drives use self-learning technology - Seagate Adaptive Memory, which examines the operating system installed on the disk from the first seconds of operation, as a result, the most frequently used programs and files are copied to the flash memory of the SSHD disk, such files include, first of all, the elements involved in loading the operating system, which means that Windows will be installed from the second or third time boot faster, because Windows will be loaded from flash memory. For example, on my computer, loading Windows 8.1 installed on a regular HDD takes 35-40 seconds, on an SSHD it takes 20 seconds, and on a regular SSD it takes 15 seconds. The same applies to applications you constantly use; they will launch a little faster. Let’s take, for example, a modern game that requires computer resources and that you constantly play; according to my observations, such a game will load three times faster than on a regular HDD.

Hybrid SSHD hard drive is the golden mean

In general, the ideal configuration of drives in the system unit of an ordinary home user looks like this: buy two drives, the first is an SSD (volume 120-240 GB) for installing the operating system, and the second is a regular HDD for storing files (capacity) 2-3 TB , you need about 10,000 rubles for all this. And if you purchase one 1 TB SSHD hybrid drive, it will cost you 5,400 rubles, and a 2 TB SSHD will cost you 7,000 rubles. Of course, everything won’t fly (as is the case with an SSD), but maybe you don’t need such speeds. A hybrid SSHD drive is coming out, this is the golden mean - for little money you get good performance and a large amount of disk space.

Which SSHD to buy

Until recently, SSHD hybrid drives were produced by the company that developed them - Seagate. In total, there are currently three Seagate Desktop SSHD models on the market with capacities of 1, 2, 4 TB.

Seagate Desktop SSHD ST1000DX001 1 TB

Seagate Desktop SSHD ST2000DX001 2 TB

Seagate Desktop SSHD ST4000DX001 4 TB

Also, recently Western Digital began to produce SSHD, but they are few on the market, and the model that I came across - WD Blue SSHD, WD40E31X with a capacity of 4 TB, was no different in speed characteristics from the similar model Seagate ST4000DX001 4 TB.

In today’s article, I suggest you consider the Seagate Desktop SSHD ST2000DX001 2 TB model and here’s why. If we take the Seagate Desktop SSHD 1 TB model, then 1 TB of disk space is no longer enough for a modern computer user. If we take the Seagate Desktop SSHD 4 TB model, then on the contrary, not everyone needs a large volume of 4 TB of disk space, and its price is quite high (11,500 rubles), and what is also important is the spindle speed of this drive: 5900 rpm, that is, it is slightly slower than other SSHDs with a capacity of 1 and 2 TB (spindle speed 7200 rpm) and this will certainly affect the performance of the operating system.

So, I persuaded you and we have a model in front of us Seagate Desktop SSHD ST2000DX001 2 TB

Upon closer inspection, the Seagate Desktop SSHD ST2000DX001 2 TB hybrid drive turned out to be an ordinary hard drive, only it says SSHD on it.

Disk space - 2 TB

SSD buffer capacity - 8 GB

Cache memory size - 64 MB

Spindle speed - 7200 rpm

On the back of the drive we see a special Adaptive Memory printed circuit board, with 8 GB of fast MLC memory and a “hybrid” controller soldered.

It’s very easy to install the drive into the system unit.

SMART hard drive in the CrystalDiskInfo and Victoria program.

The hybrid drive is new and has been used for 0 hours.

Read and write tests

To make sure that our disk is really good, let's perform several tests on reading and writing using special programs: CrystalDiskMark 2.0, ATTO Disk Benchmark and SiSoftware Sandra. These utilities will sequentially read and write information to our hybrid disk in small blocks, then show us the result.

CrystalDiskMark 2.0

The simplest and most frequently used program in this regard, you can download it on my Yandex.Disk

The utility is very simple, select only the desired drive letter (in our case E:)

And press AII, the SSHD disk performance test will begin.

1. Test of sequential reading and writing of large blocks of data;

2. Test of random reading and writing in 512 KB blocks;

3. Test of random reading and writing in 4 KB blocks;

I can say that the result is very worthy, especially the recording in 512 KB and 4 KB blocks.

ATTO Disk Benchmark

Let's test the hybrid disk with another program - ATTO Disk Benchmark.

Select the drive letter of the SSHD hybrid drive and click Start.

Result.

SiSoftware Sandra

A global program capable of diagnosing all computer components and having its own official rating.

As a result, our disk is ahead of 94% of the results. Excellent performance.

Disadvantages of SSHD

In my opinion, the only disadvantage of the SSHD is the small amount of built-in flash memory 8 GB, it would be great if its size increased to 32 GB, then more running programs would be placed in the solid state cache and the performance of Windows would be exactly the same as if it was installed on the SSD.

Well, it's time to sum up. The Laptop Thin SSHD line didn't show anything special. Using a spindle rotating at 5400 rpm significantly reduced the speed of the drive. The drive demonstrates good results when reading and writing sequentially, although they are far from even budget SSD models. But with random reading/writing, as well as working with small files, the SSHD from Seagate literally fails.

In my opinion, SSHD TOSHIBA look much more interesting. The presence of a Marvell controller makes itself felt. Random read/write, small data - in these conditions, both MQ01AF050H and MQ01ABD100H demonstrate excellent performance. Yes, the 1000 GB model (depending on the reseller) is 500-1000 rubles more expensive than the ST1000LM014, but it’s worth it. I think so.

Another interesting model is Seagate ST2000DX001. The drive demonstrated impressive speed capabilities for sequential reading and writing. Although working with random data, as well as small files, in comparison with the same SSHD TOSHIBA leaves much to be desired. However, if you need a large storage drive, but there is no way to install an SSD in your desktop, then the ST2000DX001 will be a good choice.

The Seagate ST4000DX001 model is, for obvious reasons, inferior to the ST2000DX001, and is also quite expensive.

To summarize, I would like to note the following:

• Hybrid solid-state hard drives have every right to exist: despite the fact that they are more or less comparable in price to classic HDDs, this type of device really speeds up the system. Of course, you shouldn’t expect the speed and efficiency of an SSD from an SSHD, but the most frequently used programs will run faster;
• Still, in our time volume decides a lot. There is a category of users (far from small, I must admit) who are not satisfied with 120-256 GB as a disk subsystem implemented in the form of an SSD. The realities of the market are such that a 1000 GB solid-state drive will cost the user, at best, 17-18 thousand rubles, and an SSHD costs between 3000-5000 rubles. And this is a strong argument in favor of hybrid hard drives.

Solid-state drives (from the English solid-state drive, abbreviated as SSD) have come to replace traditional information storage - hard disk drives (HDD). SSDs do not use magnetic disks that rotate (as in HDDs), but stationary flash memory chips, similar to USB flash drives. However, despite having numerous advantages, solid state drives have not yet been able to completely replace hard drives even in laptops, let alone desktop PCs. The main disadvantage of SSDs remains their high price: a gigabyte of their capacity costs significantly more than that of an HDD. Therefore, we will tell you in which cases it is better to choose an SSD, HDD or a hybrid solution.

Benefits of SSD

The main advantages of solid-state drives over hard drives are:

• high performance;
• resistance to physical impact.

For example, the sequential reading and writing speed of a 2.5-inch laptop HDD is 100 MB/s, and a 3.5-inch desktop HDD is 150 MB/s. The speed of random read-write (files are scattered over the entire surface of the disk) in an HDD can be ten times lower than the sequential one.

Another thing is SSD: even when connected to a motherboard with an outdated SATA II interface, the speed of linear data reading will be less than 250 MB/sec. And once you upgrade to SATA III, performance will increase to 400-500 MB/sec. In turn, the linear write speed of an SSD, depending on the model, can be either equal to the reading performance or be half as low (but still higher compared to the HDD). And thanks to minimal delays in accessing data (SSDs, unlike HDDs, do not need to move the read head across the disk surface), the random read-write speed is also significantly higher.

Without moving elements (electric motor, read heads), solid-state drives are not afraid of exposure to strong vibration and shock. This allows, for example, to work on a laptop while driving a car on a bumpy dirt road. However, it’s not worth crash testing the SSD, so that you don’t have to mourn the information that was stored on it later. SSDs are less afraid of overheating: the permissible operating temperature is up to 70°C, while HDDs are limited to 60°C.

Advantages of HDD

Good old hard drives also have their advantages, namely the ability to rewrite data multiple times and a favorable price-to-capacity ratio. With very active use of SSDs (server PCs), memory blocks can be “worn to holes.” Depending on the type of flash memory - TLC, MLC or SLC (second mass storage) - blocks can be rewritten thousands to hundreds of thousands of times. Worn out blocks are automatically blocked, causing the SSD to lose capacity over time.

Traditional hard drives allow you to rewrite data a much larger number of times – the number goes into the millions. Therefore, it is not so much the magnetic disks that fail in HDDs (although bad sectors also sometimes appear on them), but rather the mechanical elements. However, on home and office PCs, data is not overwritten as often as on servers. Unless the registry of the Windows operating system reads and writes data continuously (it is not surprising that bad sectors on the surface of the HDD most often appear precisely at the location of the registry).

But when it comes to price, it becomes impossible to argue with the victory of hard drives. Currently, for $100 you can buy a 120 GB SSD, a 2.5-inch 1 terabyte HDD or a 3.5-inch 2 terabyte HDD. The difference in volume between an SSD and a HDD for the same price is tenfold, which is why it’s worth paying attention to hybrid solutions.

Advantages of hybrids

Hybrid is a PC disk subsystem that combines the advantages of SSD and HDD - high performance and large capacity at a reasonable price. There can be three options for a hybrid disk subsystem: an SSD with enough capacity to install the operating system and programs (60-120 GB) plus a large HDD for storing photos, videos, music and games; large HDD plus a separate small SSD (20-32 GB) for caching frequently used programs; and finally a hybrid one (HDD plus a small SSD in a single case).

The first version of the hybrid disk subsystem is, of course, the best, but also the most expensive - it will cost a good $200 (HDD+SSD). Those who want to save money should choose the second option - a small SSD for caching costs only $50. However, for SSD caching to work, a motherboard that supports Intel Smart Response Technology (Intel Z68, H77, Z77, H87, Z87, H97 and Z97 chipsets) is required. Hybrid drives (SSHD) are best suited for laptops, where you have to sacrifice a DVD drive to install separate SSD and HDD.

SSD form factors

Not all solid-state drives are made in the popular 2.5-inch format (additional mounting is required for installation in a 3.5-inch slot). In addition to the 2.5-inch models, there are 1.8-inch models with a SATA connection. They are used, however, in so-called embedded systems, for example, on-board computers of premium cars. For thin laptops (ultrabooks), extremely compact SSDs of mSATA and M. 2 form factors have been created. And for computer enthusiasts who are willing to pay any money for the most powerful components in the world, solid state devices are offered in the form of PCI-Express 3.0 expansion cards (linear reading speed -recording reaches an impressive 1000-1500 MB/s).

Let's migrate to SSD!

Installing an SSD speeds up your PC much more than, say, upgrading your processor, even if it has all eight cores. Reducing the loading time of the operating system, falling asleep and waking up the PC, and launching programs (even a web browser and text editor) is difficult to miss. And you can transfer Windows from HDD to SSD along with all installed and configured programs with literally two mouse clicks using the free utility EaseUS Partition Master Free. Or just contact ours for help.

Two-in-one devices have always attracted buyers because combining technologies in one device often improves the performance of the devices. Naturally, the price for the set will be decent. Take, for example, a video dual device, a laptop-tablet or an MFP. Manufacturers of hard drives also decided to resort to crossing the two technologies, introducing inexpensive SSHD drives to the market. The article focuses on the hybrid hard drive, the pros and cons of the device, as well as reviews from happy owners.

A holy place is never empty

The expensive technology of very fast SSD drives and affordable but very slow HDD magnetic disks have created a huge gap in the hard storage media market, both in the price and speed categories. There was an urgent need for a golden mean that could satisfy the user not only with its characteristics, but also at an affordable price. This is how a symbiosis appeared - SSHD disks. Nothing depends on the user in the operation of the device. Everything works automatically. In fact, for the owner the process of operation of the hybrid drive will be invisible in terms of installation and installation. There is no need to install any drivers; the controller is detected and controlled by the computer's BIOS. You can only see the result - a significant increase in performance, which is noticeable when loading the system and launching resource-intensive applications, including games.

How it works

The principle of operation is quite simple and is somewhat reminiscent of the operation of a central processor. Magnetic hard drives have long used caching technology, where frequently used information is read from a magnetic disk and written to the memory of the built-in chip on the hard drive. The chip size is disproportionately small (8-128 MB), but this is quite enough for the system to operate. Naturally, the chip is able to communicate with the processor at enormous speed. The technology used by hybrid hard drives involves the presence of another chip created using SSD technology, but with a larger capacity. As a result, the processor turns to the hard drive for information.

1. If the information is in the level 1 cache, it is provided instantly.
2. If the information is not in the 1st level, the access is transferred to the 2nd level cache. Since the second level uses an SSD, information is also quickly provided to the processor.
3. Information is read from the surface of the magnetic disk, which slows down the operation of the entire system.

Feasibility of installation

At first glance, it may seem that the main consumers in the market for these drives are owners of personal computers. After all, for a laptop, devices without rotating components are preferable for safety and shock resistance reasons. However, judging by numerous reviews from owners, hybrid hard drives are purchased specifically for laptops. Portable devices require volume first and then performance. And if for a personal computer it is not problematic to install several storage devices of different form factors, then a laptop has a serious limitation. In addition, installing an SSD is impractical due to limited capacity and high price.

Reasons to buy a new drive

For most laptop owners, the main problem in their work is the failure of the hard drive with the loss of important information for the user. As an alternative solution, the seller offers three options.

1. Install the same HDD drive, for example a 500 GB hard drive, but with increased shock resistance of 1000 G. In this case, the purchase costs will be minimal, as will the performance.
2. Install an SSD, losing capacity, spending a lot of money, but gaining in performance.
3. Install a hybrid SSHD drive, getting high performance, affordable cost, and large capacity.

Naturally, thanks to this approach of sellers, judging by the numerous reviews from happy customers, hybrid drives have conquered the portable device market.

Two hard drives in a laptop?

It is not necessary to install a hybrid hard drive for a laptop instead of a standard device. Due to the presence of a mass of various adapters on the market, it is possible to install an additional hard drive in the system. There are many options. Starting from the USB and eSATA interface, ending with the desoldering of unused SATA ports on the motherboard of a portable device. And only one option deserves special attention from users. We are talking about a device called Second HDD Caddy, which resembles a pocket for connecting hard drives to a running personal computer.

Due to its size and interfaces, this pocket should be installed instead of a standard DVD optical device. Naturally, it can only be installed in laptops where this drive is preinstalled. As a result, the user receives a second hard drive, which, in addition to a huge amount of storage capacity, provides excellent performance at an affordable price.

Priorities for PC

A hybrid hard drive for a computer will be more useful for game lovers. After all, most synthetic tests on office computers show that the weak link is the processor or video adapter, but not the magnetic disk. And only in gaming systems, when there is a powerful video card, a strong central processor and fast RAM, does the hard drive become the culprit of all the problems.

Installing an SSD can solve performance problems, but the high price and small amount of memory do not suit half of potential buyers. Judging by numerous reviews, the hybrid device is also used under the system. The 8 GB Level 2 cache can accommodate a working Windows system with all its services and drivers, including the page file. This offload will not only allow games to run faster on the processor and memory, but will also significantly speed up the work of applications related to video encoding and working with flash.

How to see performance

Hybrid hard drives are the only drives that allow you to see first-hand system performance, as well as measure and compare the results before and after improvements. It sounds fantastic, but it's a fact. Everything is very simple. After mounting and installing the operating system, the controller on the drive needs time to capture frequently used files, which it will place in the second-level cache. Sometimes you have to perform 5-7 system reboots for the drive to start working in the desired mode, providing high performance. If the SSHD disk was purchased as an additional drive, for games, for example, then you need to launch the game, play, exit, and restart the computer. The result of the controller's operation will be noticed immediately when the operating system or favorite game loads several times faster.

What's on the market for PC

When choosing, the user may encounter the problem of selecting the required device. We are talking about the assortment - it is too small for the huge market of computer components. Market leaders Seagate, Western Digital and Toshiba introduced devices with SSHD technology to the world. But only Seagate provided the buyer with a choice; the rest were limited to a couple of models. Judging by numerous expert reviews, all developed countries have long replaced magnetic drives with SSDs. And only in third world countries, where not every buyer can afford a device at a high price, are such hybrid miracle devices sold. The manufacturer Seagate offers customers SSHD drives in all sorts of variations, ranging from memory capacity and cache sizes of the 1st and 2nd levels, ending with spindle speed.

Decent model

Hard drives with a capacity of several terabytes will not surprise anyone today. In pursuit of volumes, the user loses sight of many other factors.

1. Speed ​​of chaotic reading from disk. The larger the volume, the more difficult it is for the read head to find information. Even though this parameter is measured in milliseconds, the result is quite noticeable in a synthetic test.
2. Rationality of purchase. Reading reviews from many buyers, we can conclude that there is no point in purchasing a drive larger than 1 TB. Having spent a large amount for excess space, the user is not able to fill it with data.

Apparently, the manufacturer Seagate also came to the same conclusions, focusing on a 500 GB SSHD hard drive with a spindle speed of 5400 rpm. It is the ST500LM000 model that participates in all synthetic tests to compare performance with other hard drives; judging by the results, it has few competitors in terms of operating speed.

To take or not to take?

In any case, the rhetorical question will concern the buyer when choosing a hard drive. After all, SSHD technology is not the best hard drive for PC and laptop owners. The goal of producing a hybrid drive, first of all, was to saturate the market with devices that combine large capacity and fast NAND memory at a low price. You need to stop here and make decisions based on the needs of use.

1. A high-capacity drive that was always full to capacity failed - an SSHD drive will be an excellent replacement. With a difference of 300-500 rubles, the buyer will receive increased productivity.
2. You need an ultra-fast computer for games, and the information on the hard drive rarely exceeded 100 GB - you can’t find a better SSD. It may be more expensive, but it's worth it.
3. There is a need for additional storage media for documents and multimedia - a regular, cheapest HDD drive will be the best purchase.

Finally

By summarizing the information, it is possible to draw conclusions, thanks to which any user will make his own decision, as did specialists from popular computer publications. And judging by numerous reviews, these findings are quite interesting.

• For users who have a gaming computer with high-performance components, buying one or two SSD drives will not hurt their pockets, because for them the FPS (frames per second) in the game is more expensive than any banknotes.
• In search of an inexpensive magnetic drive, very often the buyer resorts to buying it on the secondary market. In our country this is a fairly common option.
• Only a handful of people who are looking for compromises, eager to get maximum performance and who know how to count their money will look at hybrid hard drives.

Hi all.

It's time to get acquainted with the concept of a “hybrid hard drive”, as it is increasingly being heard. Would you like to increase the speed of your computer? I have no doubt that yes. And at the same time, naturally, you want to save money? Then read on.

Hybrid drive - what is it?

A hybrid hard drive, or in English SSHD (solid-state hybrid drive), is a cross between the old hard drive that is in your computer and a comparatively new technology - a solid-state drive. To make the situation clearer, you need to understand what one and the other are.

The one we are used to consists of plates and read heads that spin at incredible speeds.

Such a mechanism takes up a lot of space, makes noise and is prone to breakage when shaking.

Therefore, manufacturers came up with an improved version - which does not have any rotating elements, but consists only of a memory chip.

Despite the fact that solid-state drives appeared in the 80s, they are still not going to become cheaper. True, the high price is justified by the ultra-fast work. To balance the situation, the developers created a hybrid version between the first and second - SSHD. And yet, what is it?

It looks like the same simple screw, that is, it also works thanks to the plates and heads. Only they added flash memory to it, like in a solid-state drive.

How did you come to this decision?

To understand the cause-and-effect relationships, let’s look at the operating principle of the drive. When you give it a command with the keyboard and mouse, it first accesses the data in the first level cache. This is the area where the information you use most often is temporarily stored.

Depending on the HDD model, its volume varies between 8-64 MB. Catastrophically few, right? Therefore, the computer freezes (or rather, the screw itself freezes) if it suddenly does not find the necessary information in the cache and begins to select it from what it has in stock.

In order to prevent the computer from slowing down, we added a level 2 hard cache in the form of flash memory. Its volume can reach 8 GB. That's better, right? And although the additional cache has a lower speed than the main one, with a hybrid hard cache you are unlikely to have to worry about waiting for a response from the computer to your request.

After all, SSHD can add much more information to its temporary storage than HDD. True, there is no way to interfere with the election process: the drive itself decides what is more important to you.

For this, self-learning technology is used, which, from the first seconds of work, examines on the disk those files that have already been used several times, and if you reuse them, they will launch faster. That is, only the most frequently used files work quickly on such drives.

But the buffer size is known to be limited, therefore the disk will not process all your files faster (the files are replaced by others you use).

Advantages and disadvantages

Like everything in our world, this device has pros and cons. Let's start with the good:

1. Works faster than the old screw by about 30%;
2. Costs less than SSD;
3. Flash memory and screw have a single housing.

The hybrid drive has only one drawback - a small cache size. But this is temporary, as technology develops. By the way, do not confuse the cache with memory intended for storing multimedia and other data - its volume can be calculated in terabytes.

Do you need an SSHD?

As you can see, when buying a hybrid propeller you can only win. But is it worth buying this hard one while the old one works flawlessly? The answer is yes if you want to speed up your computer.

I can say the same to those whose propeller has broken. I mean, you'll have to buy a new one anyway, so why not a hybrid? The price is not much more expensive than a regular disk, but it works much faster.

If you decide that you need a drive, when choosing, pay attention to the following main features:

• Form factor - size.

Initially, these screws were intended only for mobile gadgets, so they were produced in a 2.5-inch form factor (size).

But manufacturers also took care of owners of desktop computers by releasing 3.5-inch devices.

• Interface - a way to connect the drive to the motherboard. The data exchange speed also depends on this parameter. The most common one now is SATA. The first and third generations of this bus are found in many computers. Do you have very old hardware? It may have an obsolete IDE interface. PCI Express is considered the most modern development.
• Capacity. In this case, choose according to your personal needs.

My conclusion is this: since this disk generally works faster only with frequently used files, it would be more rational to buy it to install the OS on it. I just don’t see the point in using it for regular files.

That's all, friends, subscribe to the update and don't forget to bookmark the link to my blog.

Good luck with the upgrade.