Question Would you recommend HDD's or SSD's for long-term/hoarding storage?

[Aggressive Combo]

I know SSD's have a lower lifespan. But is it noticeable? I also know that hard-drives are much cheaper, per terabyte.
How would your answer change in 4 years?

 

[USAFRet]

I know SSD's have a lower lifespan. But is it noticeable? I also know that hard-drives are much cheaper, per terabyte.
How would your answer change in 4 years?

All my house systems and workstations are SSD only.
The ~100TB in or attached to my NAS is HDD. $$$

Don't leave anything on a single device, no matter what type.

 

[Grobe]

Don't leave anything on a single device, no matter what type.

cache, page file, log files and OS binaries being the usual exceptions. Except from Windows, preinstalled with license tied to the computer then being the exception from the exceptions. Except when the laptop manufacturer have set the computer up with it's own system for restoring the OS back to factory settings, then it is the exception from the exception from the exception. I think I stop here before the rabbit hole get too deep

On topic: Unless the computer is a laptop, I try to keep the SSD for OS and programs, and all other files (images, videos, documents, etc) I store on a spinning hdd.

It is being said HDD have much longer time of data storage compared to SSD. But there are SMR and CMR variants. I haven't any sources for the claims, but my guess is that degradation of data on a SMR hdd is faster than a CMR drive because of the structure makes the bits between adjacent tracks closer.

 

[boju]

Except from Windows, preinstalled with license tied to the computer

That's why you should have an Ms account to digitalise your license so if you need to reinstall Windows on another drive you can still activate without inputting serial key. Obviously need the key first time installing on any machine but once an Ms account is assigned you no longer need it.

 

[USAFRet]

That's why you should have an Ms account to digitalise your license so if you need to reinstall Windows on another drive you can still activate without inputting serial key. Obviously need the key first time installing on any machine but once an Ms account is assigned you no longer need it.

In a prebuilt system with an OEM license, that does not matter.
That license is tied to that particular PC.

Installing on a new drive, in that same system, incurs no licensing issues.

 

[boju]

In a prebuilt system with an OEM license, that does not matter.
That license is tied to that particular PC.

Installing on a new drive, in that same system, incurs no licensing issues.

Would that be because license is imbedded in a chip? So if lost or serial sticker is unreadable and don't have an Ms account it'll still activate on it's own once online?

 

[USAFRet]

Would that be because license is imbedded in a chip? So if lost or serial sticker is unreadable and don't have an Ms account it'll still activate on it's own once online?

It would in fact activate itself.

 

[MWink64]

I know SSD's have a lower lifespan. But is it noticeable? I also know that hard-drives are much cheaper, per terabyte.
How would your answer change in 4 years?

For long term storage, hard drives, no question. I'm not saying flash won't hold up, just that I'd be far less confident in it. In my experience, hard drives don't often fail when just sitting, unpowered. While I also haven't seen much flash fail while just sitting, I've seen a fair bit degrade and struggle to read. For reasons I don't understand, this seems particularly common (and rapid) in drives featuring SMI controllers.

That's why you should have an Ms account to digitalise your license so if you need to reinstall Windows on another drive you can still activate without inputting serial key. Obviously need the key first time installing on any machine but once an Ms account is assigned you no longer need it.

In a prebuilt system with an OEM license, that does not matter.
That license is tied to that particular PC.

Installing on a new drive, in that same system, incurs no licensing issues.

Prebuilt (embedded in UEFI), (legit) OEM sticker, or retail key is irrelevant (MSDN, bulk keys, etc. may be different). Once Windows has been activated on a machine, that system will be tied to a digital license. If a serial key off a sticker was used, it won't have to be input again. A fresh install of Windows (assuming the right version), even on a different drive (same system), will automatically activate as soon as it can connect to the activation servers. You don't even need a MS account.