Entertainment · Design storage and backups · entertainment-9

Choose between hard drives and SSDs

Each drive type has strengths. Match the type to the job: bulk storage, everyday playback or a portable copy.

How

Hard drives (HDD) are the usual choice for mass storage of films and music into the terabytes, per Kingston.
HDDs have moving parts and are more prone to failure from heat, cold, shock and vibration. A WD Red NAS drive datasheet lists 30 G operating shock and 250 G non-operating shock.
SSDs have no moving parts. Kingston reports SSDs can tolerate up to 1500 G of shock when operating versus 70 to 80 G for HDDs, and quotes about 0.9 percent annual failure rate for a modern SSD against 1.7 percent for an HDD.
Weak point of SSDs for cold storage: a JEDEC table reported by PCWorld shows a consumer SSD left unpowered at about 30 C may not keep its data for much over a year, with retention falling fast as temperature rises. Do not store your only shelf copy on an unpowered SSD in a hot room.
Avoid SMR hard drives for a media server's working files; Jellyfin's hardware guide advises against them.
Practical mix: HDDs in the server and on the shelf, one SSD or rugged portable drive for the grab bag or a carry copy.