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What is a hybrid hard drive?

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A hybrid hard disk (HHD: Hybrid Hard Disk) is a hard disk that integrates a magnetic hard disk and a flash memory. To put it simply, the hybrid hard disk is a new hard disk based on the traditional mechanical hard disk. In addition to the necessary disks, motors, magnetic heads, etc. of the mechanical hard disk, the NAND flash granules are built in. This granule carries the data frequently accessed by the user. Storage can achieve read performance such as SSD effects. In theory, a hybrid hard drive can combine the advantages of flash and hard disk to complete the HDD+SSD work: put small, frequently accessed data on the flash, and store large, non-frequently accessed data on the disk. on.

The principle of a hybrid hard drive is similar to the “Ready Boost” feature on Microsoft’s next-generation Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems, both of which use a high-speed flash for data pre-reading (Prefetch) to reduce data read from the hard disk. The number of times, thereby improving performance. The difference is that the hybrid hard drive integrates the flash module directly into the hard disk. In comparison, it will be found that the new generation of hybrid hard disk not only provides better performance but also reduces the number of reads and writes of the hard disk, thus reducing the power consumption of the hard disk. In particular, the battery life of the notebook computer is improved. Since the general hybrid hard drive only has 256MB of SLC flash memory built in, the cost will not increase significantly. At the same time, the hybrid hard disk also adopts the design of the traditional magnetic hard disk, so there is no shortage of the capacity of the solid-state hard disk. The flash memory currently in common use is NAND flash memory. A hybrid hard drive is a solution between a magnetic hard disk and a solid-state disk (SSD: Solid State Disk).

It should be noted that hybrid hard drives and solid-state hard drives use flash memory to improve read and write performance, but the requirements of the environment are different. Hybrid hard drives only work under Windows Vista or Windows 7 or higher. The lower version of the system, such as the Windows XP system, is not much different from the normal hard drive. Solid-state drives do not have this limitation. SSDs use flash memory to create large-capacity hard drives, as long as the motherboards are compatible, even with Windows XP or other older operating systems, performance gains can be achieved.

Compared with traditional magnetic hard disks, hybrid hard drives have greatly improved performance and the cost has not increased much—support for “WindowsReadyDrive” technology.

At present, Samsung, Seagate, and other companies sell hybrid hard drives.

The difference between SSD and SSD: Hybrid and SSDs also use flash memory to improve read and write performance, but the requirements of the environment are different. The former must be compatible with the ReadyDrive function of the Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating system. It can only be used as a normal hard disk in other operating systems. Solid-state drives do not have this limitation. SSDs use flash memory to create large-capacity hard drives, as long as the motherboards are compatible, even with Windows XP or other older operating systems, performance gains can be achieved.

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