Hybrid Hard Drives

[Andy B]

Does anyone have any experience of using these?

http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/internal-hard-drives/solid-state-hybrid/desktop-solid-state-hybrid-drive/

I recently fitted an ordinary SSD to my wife's Windows 8 Desktop and just put the operating system onto it. Now it really flys! Impressed with this I thought I look into doing the same for my Mac. However, the advice I am getting is don't go the same route - use a Hybrid drive instead? Putting to one side that I would need to find someone near me who is competent on Macs to do it, has anyone else gone the same route?

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Have some laptops at work with hybrid drives. They are definitely faster than a standard drive but they are nowhere near SSD speed. They are a lot cheaper though. I wouldn't spend my own money on a hybrid, I would rather go all in with the SSD.

 

[tuftywhite]

The benefit of the hybrid, if I'm correct, is that on an Apple computer, the things you use regularly, applications/documents are automatically moved to the SSD for fast access and the stuff you don't use so much is kept on the normal HD.

This means that your main bulk storage on the normal HD is cheaper, rather than paying for an expensive huge SSD.

If you have the money, go for SSD, they are quick, however, the combo is a great solution because some stuff you just don't need that immediate access. You can wait a couple of seconds for your music to start playing, for example.

 

[ianf]

Just remember, it's effectively a raid-0 array, so the probability of losing all your stuff is 2x higher than either ssd or spinning drives. Make sure yo run a good backup schedule.

 

[Fredb51]

Not sure that hybrid drives could be described as Raid-0. That having been said, a good backup policy makes sense whatever kind of storage you are using. Apple's Time Machine is implemented well and very easy to use.

In any event, I've used 500Gb, 750Gb and now 1Tb hybrids in Macbook Pro laptops for the fast few years and they have been great. I agree that they are not as fast as SSDs but they are a dramatic improvement on normal spindles.

Depending on what kind of Mac you have, the optimum configuration is probably an SSD boot disk (operating system and essential programmes only) and a second drive for data, images, music etc.

 

[Blackal]

Just remember, it's effectively a raid-0 array, so the probability of losing all your stuff is 2x higher than either ssd or spinning drives. Make sure yo run a good backup schedule.

How is the probability twice as high? I'm really not seeing that. A single HDD is just as likely to fail, surely?

Al

 

[stolzy]

Depending on what kind of Mac you have, the optimum configuration is probably an SSD boot disk (operating system and essential programmes only) and a second drive for data, images, music etc.

This works very nicely for me, but is only really feasible in a MacPro.

I have a 250Gb SSD disk which keeps the OS/Apps and my basic home folder. Documents, Images, Music, Downloads etc are all mapped onto other drives. Works a treat, you don't so much start up and application as switch it on.

 

[Andy B]

Thanks for your answers guys. Please keep the debate going. I hadn't come across hybrids until my local authorised Mac retailer mentioned them - and recommended them over two separate HD's. Prior to this I was thinking SSD for the operating system and HDD for everything else. That's still my hunch but I think I'd be inclined to go for a higher spec HDD just so it spins up a bit faster.

 

[Fredb51]

This works very nicely for me, but is only really feasible in a MacPro.

I have a 250Gb SSD disk which keeps the OS/Apps and my basic home folder. Documents, Images, Music, Downloads etc are all mapped onto other drives. Works a treat, you don't so much start up and application as switch it on.

Not so. You can get an add-in bay from several different sources that allows you to replace the usually rarely required CD/DVD drive in your Macbook, Macbook Pro, iMac etc. etc. with a second drive, be it SSD or spindle. Optibay is one brand I am aware of.