Drive choices for a new install: HDD vs SSD

[luco]

I have an HP ML310e server and I will have 2x2TB WD Red drives in it with additional 1TB HDD to be added shortly after install. The server has 4 bays.

For the past couple of months, I was chasing an SSD drive for Amahi install and bought wrong types for my server etc. That's besides the point. Essentially, I will add a separate drive for Amahi in the first bay. My question is whether SSD will make any difference for my setup or should I just go with a regular small 3.5" HDD and be done with it.

I saw this FAQ on the topic, which makes it sound like I won't see much benefit in trying to have Amahi on SSD since I hope not to be rebooting often. Even if I were to shutdown the server, it would be on scheduled intervals, so it's only off overnight.

When the time comes that I need the extra bay, I will want to migrate the OS to an SSD drive at that time. I think I can do that with Clonezilla without doing a clean reinstall.

My plans for the server are to use it as my home NAS, plus home NVR in the future using Zoneminder. Will Amahi on SSD benefit my purposes?

Thank you.

[bigfoot65]

I don't think there will be that much of a benefit of using an SSD.

You are better off with a standard hard drive in my opinion. Get more drive space for less money.

I use SSD drives in all my Windows Clients, but not in the server.

[luco]

Thank you for the quick reply.

My other dilemma is that if I use the OS HDD for anything else other than Amahi, it will be potentially running all the time, which would force me to buy a NAS-grade drive like the WD Red, which would not be much cheaper than a 120GB SSD.
But I see your point that I can have, let's say, a 1TB WD Red for the price of a 120GB SSD.

Or I guess I could find a cheap 250GB HDD for the OS, but I'm not sure I should trust any random SATA drive with my server OS for stability etc.

[bigfoot65]

Or I guess I could find a cheap 250GB HDD for the OS, but I'm not sure I should trust any random SATA drive with my server OS for stability etc.

Pretty much any name brand hard drive will work.

I have been running an Amahi server for several years and never had the OS drive go bad. They are made better now days, so you don't have to spend a lot of cash to get reliability. Western Digital has worked best for me.

[luco]

Thanks.

Now, it's just a question of whether I should get a 7200 or 5400rpm drive for the OS. I think I will stick with WD Red since they are quiet and designed for NAS.
Is it easy to migrate Amahi OS from a partition on a larger drive to a smaller SSD drive later?
I'm just trying hard to keep the OS and data separate, but perhaps I'm trying too hard and uncessarily.

[bigfoot65]

I personally would stick with the 7200.

If you don't have any more drive related questions, I will close this thread.