An SSD (Solid-State Drive) and a Hard Drive (HDD) are both storage devices, but they work very differently: HDDs use spinning magnetic disks to store data, while SSDs use flash memory chips, making them much faster and more durable.

⚙️ Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

• Technology: Uses spinning platters coated with magnetic material. A mechanical arm with a read/write head moves to access data.
• Speed: Slower because of mechanical movement (average read/write ~100 MB/s).
• Capacity: Large storage at lower cost (up to 20 TB or more).
• Durability: More prone to damage from drops or shocks due to moving parts.
• Best For: Budget-friendly storage, archiving large files, backups.

⚡ Solid-State Drive (SSD)

• Technology: Uses NAND flash memory (no moving parts).
• Speed: Much faster (average read/write ~500 MB/s for SATA SSDs, up to 7,000 MB/s for NVMe SSDs).
• Capacity: Usually smaller than HDDs, but growing (common sizes 256 GB – 4 TB).
• Durability: More shock-resistant and reliable since there are no moving parts.
• Best For: Operating systems, software, gaming, and tasks requiring speed.

📊 Quick Comparison

🧩 Practical Example

• If you install Windows on an HDD, booting might take 1–2 minutes.
• On an SSD, the same system can boot in 10–20 seconds.
• Many modern laptops and desktops now use SSDs for speed, with HDDs added for extra storage.