CyberGrind // Orange Book // Section 02

Types of Storage Media

HDD · SSD · Optical · Flash · External — trade-offs in speed, cost, durability & capacity

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Hard Disk Drive
Magnetic platters · Spinning media · 3.5" / 2.5"
Speed
100–200 MB/s
Capacity
Up to 36 TB
Durability
Moderate
Cost/GB
Lowest
Cheapest cost per GB
Very high max capacity
Moving parts — shock risk
Slow vs SSD; generates heat
5,400 RPM7,200 RPMSATANAS / Archival
⚡
Solid State Drive
NAND Flash · No moving parts · SATA / M.2 / NVMe
Speed
500–7,000 MB/s
Capacity
Up to 8 TB (consumer)
Durability
High
Cost/GB
Moderate
25–100× faster than HDD
Silent, shock-resistant, power-efficient
Higher cost per GB than HDD
Finite write cycles (TBW rating)
SLC / TLC / QLCNVMe PCIe3D NAND
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Optical Drive
Laser-based · CD / DVD / Blu-ray
Speed
~50 MB/s
Capacity
700MB – 100GB
Durability
Good (archival)
Cost/GB
Low (media cost)
Long-term archival lifespan
Read-only discs are tamper-resistant
Very slow; low capacity
Drives largely absent from modern systems
CD: 700 MBDVD: 4.7 GBBD: 25–100 GB
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Flash Storage
USB drives · SD / microSD cards · Portable NAND
Speed
25–400 MB/s
Capacity
Up to 1 TB+
Durability
Good
Portability
Excellent
Ultra-portable; non-volatile
No external power required
Speed varies widely by USB standard
Easy to lose; limited write cycles
USB-A / USB-CSD CardmicroSD
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External Drive
HDD or SSD in an enclosure · USB / Thunderbolt
Speed
USB 3.x limited
Capacity
Up to 20 TB+
Portability
Good
Cost/GB
Low
Plug-and-play; great for backups
Large capacities at low cost
Interface speed caps throughput
HDD variants fragile if moved while spinning
USB 3.0/3.2ThunderboltBackup / NAS
// At-a-Glance Comparison
Type Speed Max Capacity Shock Resistance Cost / GB Best For
HDD Slow 36 TB (consumer) Low Cheapest Bulk storage, NAS, archival
SSD (SATA) Fast 4 TB (consumer) High Moderate OS drive, everyday use
SSD (NVMe) Very Fast 4–8 TB High Moderate–High Primary drive, performance builds
Optical Very Slow 25–100 GB Medium Low (media) Long-term archival, distribution
USB Flash Varies Up to 1 TB+ High Moderate File transfer, portability
External HDD Moderate Up to 20 TB+ Low (spinning) Low Backup, overflow storage
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