FORM FACTOR
BRAND
STORAGE TYPE
There are several factors that need to be taken into consideration. External drives are used as portable storage where as Internal drives can be used to increase laptop or desktop storage space.
RPM
CAPACITY
INTERFACE
+ Can store a large amount of data
+ Inexpensive
- Slower transfer speeds due to moving parts
- Shorter life span due to moving parts
+ Faster transfer rates
+ Longer life span
- Can store less data
- More expensive
+ Faster transfer speeds
+ Larger storage capacity
- More expensive
- Faster performance only on cache information
Brand of the Storage device has a large impact on the life expectancy and failure rate of the Hard Drive.
Western Digital and Hitachi have the lowest failure rates for hard drives.
When considering capacity you need to think about what will be stored on the drive.
Movies and videos will need a large amount of storage space, with a file size of between 350Mb - 1.4 Gbs.
Music and audio will need less with a general file size of between 2 - 15 Mbs.
Images are quite small however, the higher the quality of the image the greater the size. Ranges from 100Kbs - 5Mbs
There are different form factors that drives come in. This size can determine that rate at which data can be transferred as well as the maximum amount of data it can hold.
Laptops generally use smaller sized drives to save on space either 1.8 Inch or 2.5 Inch
Desktop generally use 3.5 Inch drives, as space is more freely available.
When looking at internal drives a consideration into which interface type needs to be taken into account.
This interface type will affect the rate at which data can be transferred.
SATA I (1.5 Gbit/s)
SATA II (3 Gbit/s)
SATA III (6 Gbit/s)
When considering a Hard Disk Drive you need to take into account the RPM of the hard drive.
The higher the revolutions per minute the faster the read and write speed.
Hard Drive RPM Range
All these factors need to be considered when selecting a storage device.