hybrid hard drive
Home > Storage Technology Definitions - Hybrid hard drive
SearchStorage.com Definitions (Powered by WhatIs.com)
EMAIL THIS
LOOK UP TECH TERMS Powered by: WhatIs.com
Search listings for thousands of IT terms:
Browse tech terms alphabetically:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #

hybrid hard drive



Word of the Day
Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us    Add to Google


DEFINITION - A hybrid hard drive (HHD) is a mass storage device that contains both a conventional hard drive and a flash memory module. The flash memory handles the data most frequently written to or retrieved from storage. Several companies have begun offering variants of this technology, which is expected to become popular in high-end systems, particularly notebook computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Hybrid hard drives have several advantages over conventional hard drives, including:

  • Faster data storage and retrieval for applications such as word processors
  • Reduced system boot-up time
  • Lower power consumption
  • Decreased heat generation
  • Extended hard drive life
  • Extended battery life for notebooks and PDAs
  • Reduced levels of operating noise.

Limitations of HHDs include:

  • Longer seek time for data stored on the hard drive
  • More frequent hard-drive spin-up and spin-down
  • Impossibility of data recovery from failed flash memory modules
  • Higher overall hardware cost for the system.

LAST UPDATED: 04 Apr 2007

Read more about hybrid hard drive:
- Samsung offers notebook computers with HHDs.
- Iddo Genuth and Andy Yang discuss HHD technology.
- Some experts expect competition between hybrid data storage technologies.


Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know.
Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com


Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us    Add to Google


RELATED CONTENT
Podcast: Solid-state drives entering enterprise storage environments
Jeff Janukowicz, research manager at IDC for solid-state drives and hard drive components, discusses the impact SSDs are expected to have at the...
Storage Decisions New York 2008 Session Downloads
Download all the sessions from the Storage Decisions New York 2008 conference on topics including DR, SANs, backup, storage virtualization, storage...
SAS-II spec to challenge Fibre Channel in enterprise SANs
The coming 6 Gbps SAS spec may help SAS drives challenge not just Fibre Channel drives in enterprise SANs but solid state drives as well.

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS
Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary
backup robot  (SearchStorage.com)
A backup robot is an automated external USB storage device that supports multiple removable SATA hard drives. The device offers small businesses and...
DASD  (SearchStorage.com)
Direct access storage device (DASD, pronounced DAZ-dee), is a general term for magnetic disk storage devices. The term has historically been used in...




Search hybrid hard drive at SearchStorage and SearchStorageChannel
TechTarget Storage Media
Storage Magazine View this month\\'s issue and subscribe today.
Storage Decisions Apply online for free conference admission.
SearchStorage.com
HomeNewsMagazineTopicsLearningMultimediaWhite PapersBlogsEventsAbout Us

About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
TechTarget provides enterprise IT professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective IT purchase decisions and managing their organizations' IT projects - with its network of technology-specific Web sites, events and magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Reprints  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2000 - 2008, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts