Web Design & Development

SSD vs SAS vs SATA: Which is the Best Dedicated Server?

by Casper Lawrence

Modern internet apps are propelled by data. In an interconnected world where everyone wants everything right away, the speed with which data is transported to and from your application may make or break it.

That is why selecting the correct hard disc for your best dedicated server is critical. When deciding on the best storage and disc performance choice for your dedicated server, keep the essential needs in mind. Rotation speed, storage, and cache capacity, and cost are the decisive considerations for storage drives.

When it comes to data storage, the terms SSD versus SAS vs SATA are well-known. While they all serve the same objective of data transport, their designs and capacities differ.

Before we go any further, we need to understand the three basic types of drives.

Let’s get this party started.

SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) Drives

This drive communicates with the disc drive using a point-to-point interface. It is often used by administrators in higher-end servers and workstations. SAS operates on a dual port and has a larger capacity. In the event of a controller failure in SAS drives, redundancy is maintained with uninterrupted performance.

The SAS built-in comprises:

  • 2 conductors each for sending and receiving data
  • Ground cables in between the conductors to minimize interference.

Typically, SAS drives are used to deliver high enterprise performance and sustain heavy loads.

On the technical front, it offers:

  • Rotation Speed: Ranges between 7,200 RPM (Near Line/NL SAS) to 15,000 RPM.
  • Reliability: MTBF (Mean time before failure) is 1.2 to 1.6 million hours at 45 degrees Celsius.
  • Storage: Mostly offers 600 GB storage.
  • Access Rate: Data transfer rate is 15 Gb/s.

Advantages Of SAS Drives 

  • Minimizes storage failure
  • Delivers high performance
  • Improved energy efficiency
  • Higher scalability
  • Valuable speed

SSD (Solid State Drives) 

This type of disc drive has no mechanical moving parts and provides excellent performance. Zero moving components also implies lower failure risks and higher power efficiency. If you want speed, they are a’solid’ investment because they have 100 times the throughput of ordinary drives. SSD drives are dependable and well-suited for high-frequency transactional data such as CRM, database, or bank transactions.

On the technical front, SSD offers:

  • Read/Write Speed: Up to 550 MB per second.
  • Reliability: MTBF is 1.5 million hours.
  • Storage: Offers 120GB to 30.72TB storage.
  • Access Rate: Data transfer rate is between 200 MB/s to 550 MB/s.

Advantages Of SSD Drives 

  • Shock-resistant
  • Delivers unbeatable speed
  • Consumes less power
  • Less prone to mechanical damage
  • Low operational cost

SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) Drives 

SATA connects mass storage components such as hard discs or optical drives via a bus interface. These are well-known for their large storage capacity and high power efficiency. Because of their larger storage capacity, they are great for file sharing, online, email, backup, and archive data. These can also be found in low-end servers.

On the technical front: 

  1. Rotation Speed: Ranges between 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM.
  2. Reliability: MTBF is 7,00,000 hours to 1.2 million hours at 25 degree Celsius.
  3. Storage: Offers more than 2 TB storage.
  4. Access Rate: Up to 6 Gb/second.

Advantages Of SATA Drives 

  • Affordable
  • Offers high storage capacity
  • Power-efficient
  • Increased data transfer rate
  • Support multiple drives

Are SAS drives really better than SATA?

While the decision to choose between SAS vs SATA is entirely requirement-specific, most businesses opt for SAS for their mission-critical websites. This is because SAS (and even SSD) offer better throughput, speed, and a lower risk rate. On the contrary, if your focus is on storage than reliability and speed, SATA is your option. So yes, SAS drives are better than SATA drives.

What are the differences between SSD vs SAS vs SATA?

So, here are the main points of differences between SSD vs SAS vs SATA:

Factors SAS SSD SATA
Speed 7200 RPM to 15000 RPM Read/Write Speed Up to 550 MB/s 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM
Storage 600 GB 120GB to 30.72TB More than 2 TB
Power  Comparatively less efficient than SATA Comparatively less efficient than SATA Power-efficient
Price Expensive Expensive Affordable
Usage High-end servers and workstations high-frequency transactional data Low-end servers, email, file sharing, backup, archival data
Performance Best Better Good

What are the benefits of using a dedicated server?

1. Protection against DDOS Attacks

A dedicated server is a virtual machine that runs its own operating system, independent of the main server. This means that even if the main server gets attacked, your website will not be affected. This is because the dedicated server runs on its own operating system, which prevents any attack from affecting it.

2. Increased Security

The security offered by a dedicated server is much higher than that of shared hosting, so there are no risks of being exposed to attacks or viruses. Also, since it’s an isolated environment in which you can install and run whatever applications you want, you can make sure that your website is always secure and updated with the latest security patches from companies like Microsoft or Google.

3. Better Performance

Since each virtual machine has its own operating system and hardware specifications, your site will perform better than on shared hosting plans because it will be able to take advantage of all available resources without slowing down other websites on the same server.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q 1. Are SAS hard drives better than SATA?

Ans. Both SAS and SATA are used to connect computer storage units like media drives or hard drives to motherboards. SATA drives offer larger storage than SAS and are pocket-friendly. These are generally used in personal computing. On the other hand,  SAS drives are faster and more reliable than SATA drives and hence are ideal for servers. So, SAS hard drives are definitely better than SATA.

Q 2. Which is better SAS or SSD?

Ans. This depends on your requirement! While SAS drives are suitable for enterprise server storage, SSD is ideal for high-frequency transactional data. Both SAS and SSD are great at performance and reliability. However, SSD is shock-resistant and consumes less power than SAS. Cost-wise, SAS drives are affordable than SSD.

Q 3. What is the benefit of SAS drives?

Ans. SAS drives deliver high performance with 15K RPM, which results in a greater bandwidth and better drive performance. These are highly reliable, faster, and are energy-efficient.

Q 4. How much faster is SAS than SATA?

Ans. SAS drives are able to rotate much faster, up to 15000 RPM than SATA drives (typically 7.2K RPM). Hence, SAS drives may be substantially more than 2 times faster than SATA.

Q 5. How Do I Choose a Hard Drive For My Server?

Ans. When choosing the right hard drive for a server you should consider:

  •  What do you need: an Internal or external hard drive.
  • Storage Capacity you need
  • Performance (latency, rotation speed, positioning speed)
  • Interface
  • HDD or SSD

Q 6. Do SAS drives use more power?

Ans. Yes, SAS consumes more power as compared to SATA. SAS drives can use at least two times the signaling voltage than SATA or ATA drives. And more power means higher running costs.

Q 7. What is a SAS SSD?

Ans. Serial-Attached SCSI solid-state drive or SAS SSD is a caching device NAND flash-based storage. It uses the SAS interface to connect to the host computer. SAS SSD is designed in a way to fit in the same slot as a hard drive (HDD).

Conclusion

We hope this blog has unraveled all your doubts about the types of hard drives SSD vs SAS vs SATA and which hard drives should you choose for your dedicated server. So, make the right choice to ensure top performance & longevity of your server.