Now that we have looked at all three types of secondary storage, it's time to compare them.
Table 1 shows the comparison of Magnetic Storage, Flash Storage, and Optical Storage.
Table 1
| Magnetic Storage | Flash Storage | Optical Storage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read/Write Speed | Middle (~3Gb/s) | Best (~6Gb/s) | Worst (~50Mb/s) |
| Cost | Middle (<5p/GB) | Worst (~10p/GB) | Best (<5p/GB) |
| Capacity | Best (~16TB) | Middle (~8TB) | Worst (~25GB) |
| Durability | Middle | Best | Worst |
| Portability | Worst | Middle | Best |
What are some other factors for SSDs that weren't mentioned in the table?
SSDs have a lower power consumption and run cooler than HDDs. However, they deteriorate over time.