Even though hard drives are relatively slow compared to SSDs you will still find that they vary in price, performance and features.
This isn’t just due to differences in how fast they spin, although that is a significant factor,so the speed is noted as RPM which stands for Rams Per Minute it is a measurement of how many times the disk platers rotate per minute,so the faster the rotating speed,the faster data can be read, written and the lower the seek times and latency are.
All other things aren’t equal,for example some hard drives are made to be tougher than others, you will often see these marketed as 'Nas Drive' , 'Enterprise' , or 'Surveillence Drive' , the idea is for these type of applications is that they don’t get to spin down or go to sleep as if they were installed in computer or a desktop.They have to be up and running around the clock, just think about how web servers can be able to serve content for 24 hours a day every day, and how surveillance cameras has to constantly record footage.Let’s look at the different types of hard drives:
NAS DRIVE (Network Attached Storage)
A Nas Drive particularly known as a Nas Device is a storage device connected to a network that allows storage and retrieval of data from a central location for authorized network users and varied clients.Nas devices are flexible and scale out, meaning that as you need additional storage, you can simply add on what you have.Nas is like having a private cloud in the office, it’s faster ,less expensive and provide all the benefits of a public cloud on site.Which gives you complete control, and an added advantage of using Nas is that like webservers,Nas allows access to company data 24/7.One of the best Nas drive out there is a Seagate IronWolf Pro Drives.
Enterprise Drives
Enterprise Drives cost more that regular drives, but why the additional costs? Well, the primary feature of enterprise drives, accross all makes and models is just one thing, enterprise drives have increased reliability.Enterprise drives are built to run in workstations, servers, and storage devices that are operational 24/7.Enterprise drives are built to withstand dust, minimise vibrations and reduce heat.The main thing here is that you’re paying for reliability, you are paying for a drive that will last longer, a drive that won’t crash and burn just like other drives do.
Lastly but not least, we have:
Surveillance Drives
The word is self-explanatory, these types of drives are used along side with Surveillance cameras, and while these drives form a central component to the digital storage of surveillance video,it can be used in a DVR,NVR, or a Video Server or maybe a video management system to work 24/7.These drives need to be always active in order to keep Video surveillance or video evidence alive.
