I can actually remember buying a couple of Samsung platter drives years ago for a small RAID 0 array in a home system at the time. Had no problems that I recall--I only recalled that pair of drives because of this article's mention of Samsung's platter-drive manufacturing days.
I didn't quite understand the statement that Samsung "had" to close its Austin facility--that would have been an interesting angle for a writer to investigate as short of bankruptcy, factory closures are most often due to broader planning strategies of some kind within the larger company. The entire "SSD shortage" situation the article discusses would seem to support Samsung's keeping the Austin factory open, imo--unless Samsung is taking a different approach to the same problems--new factory plans, upgrading of existing plant hardware, securing a guaranteed source for the components its SSDs need that is thought superior to what Austin can make, etc. Seems like some dots in need of connection are missing--but it was an interesting comment to make, certainly!
SSDs are great and a really nice advance in general drive technology for the masses (us...
). But in terms of sheer storage capacities, platter drives have no peer as there are no SSDs that even get close to replacing them. But, as with all technical issues, the
either-or market situations advanced by imaginative article authors do not actually exist ("If you use widget A, you cannot use widget B, as you
must use one or the other because the two widgets are locked in a death struggle and only one shall rise --It's A-li-i-i-i-i-i-ive!--in the end!"..
) Both technologies have clear and undeniable strengths and weaknesses, and each has advantages the other lacks. That's why I use
both...
Three disadvantages I see for NVMe SSDs contrasted with platter drives:
*operating temps (even 7200 rpm platters can be much cooler in use)
*price per GB
*Maximum storage capacities
Clear advantages for (NVMe) SSDs:
*spacial and electrical requirements much less/simpler than what platter drives require
*Solid state design sans moving parts
*performance, performance, performance...yes the sheer performance of near ram-disk speeds in a single stick (well--much closer to the ideal than a platter drive, certainly...)
So I use both and will continue to use both for the foreseeable future. Using both--if you have needs that speak to the advantages of platter drives as enumerated above--would seem to be much better configuration advice than the either-or scenario, imo.
Nice article--always nice to take a peek at these general, atm trends!
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