M.2+HDD or SSD?

I am searching for parts to build a new Linux desktop machine (this is my first build), and I am considering two options for storage. I plan on using Btrfs as my filesystem (I created a backup script that works fairly well).

Option 1: Buy an SSD.

Option 2: Buy an HDD and add a small M.2 card configured as a cache (perhaps with bcache).

My questions are:

Would anyone in their right mind would consider option 2?
Which would operate faster for general use?
Would the M.2+HDD configuration be significantly less reliable than a single SSD?
Do I need to worry about flash storage potentially wearing out more quickly than rotating disks?

Note: I do not need a huge amount of storage. Less than 2TB.

Caleb Reister

Posted 2016-03-11T06:31:14.630

Reputation: 131

Answers

It really depends on your use case - certainly there is an argument to be made for a smaller SSD and a hard drive - in fact, it is possible to get these combined into a single package on a hard drive called a Hybrid drive or SSHD - it depends on your usage.

SSD+HDD does not perform nearly as well as SSD - although it can speed up boot times and access to commonly used applications.

SSD's are about 10 times more reliable then hard drives, and the price has also come down quite dramatically - a 500 gig Samsung SSD drive is about US$160 - and if thats enough storage, you would be better off with it then a 2TB hard drive.

davidgo

Posted 2016-03-11T06:31:14.630

Reputation: 49 152

What about an M.2 + SSD? – Geremia – 2018-12-22T19:50:05.080

@germia I posit a larger M.2 SSD would be better then am m2 SSD and second SSD as it will be cheaper, have better wear levelling and will be faster for most usage cases (unless you want an SSD + Optane memory which I've not played with) – davidgo – 2018-12-22T23:58:15.723

It seems the important thing about M.2 SSDs is whether they're SATA or PCIe, the latter being faster. – Geremia – 2018-12-23T04:17:23.307

Option 1: You do not need a huge amount of storage, less than 2TB, SSD is not good to buy because 2TB (or bit-lower) is very expensive than a HDD storage, you can buy a small SSD (128GB, 256GB) to run OS and a 2TB HDD to storage, if this, let's check the option 2

Option 2: Buy a HDD for data storage and a M2 to use as a cache: It's not need to using any M2 for cache, you can using any M2 SSD to run directly anything.

Which would operate faster for general use?

SSD is faster.

Would the M.2+HDD configuration be significantly less reliable than a single SSD?

the same.

Do I need to worry about flash storage potentially wearing out more quickly than rotating disks?

No, the warranty will make you don't need to worry about that

Sweetlove Sunny

Posted 2016-03-11T06:31:14.630

Reputation: 1