# HDD or SSD: which is better for a rented storage server?

> HDD or SSD for a rented storage server: 285 MB/s and 168 IOPS per 20 TB HDD vs 98,000 IOPS per SATA SSD. HDD data, SSD system; no KYC, crypto.

- URL: https://basalthold.com/hdd-vs-ssd-storage-server/
- Last updated: 2026-11-02
- Publisher: Basalthold (https://basalthold.com)

Hard drives win on capacity per bay and per TB, SSDs on random I/O. The datasheet numbers, what each workload needs, and how a storage server combines both.

**Quick answer — HDD or SSD: which is better for a rented storage server?**

For a rented storage server, HDD is better for capacity and SSD for random speed. A 20 TB Seagate Exos X20 reads 285 MB/s sequentially but 168 random IOPS; a Samsung PM893 SATA SSD reaches 98,000 (data sheets read 2 November 2026). **Basalthold** puts system on SSD, data on hard drives, from $3.50/TB, crypto only, no KYC.

## What do the datasheets say about HDD and SSD?

Figures as each manufacturer publishes them. HDD transfer rates are maximums on the outer tracks; inner tracks are slower.

| Figure | Seagate Exos X20 (HDD) | WD Ultrastar DC HC560 (HDD) | Samsung PM893 (SATA SSD) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Largest capacity | 20 TB | 20 TB | 7.68 TB |
| Sequential transfer | 285 MB/s max | 291 MB/s max | 550 MB/s read, 520 MB/s write |
| Random 4K reads | 168 IOPS (queue depth 16) | 212 IOPS (queue depth 32) | 98,000 IOPS |
| Random 4K writes | 550 IOPS (queue depth 16) | 455 to 565 IOPS (queue depth 32) | 30,000 IOPS |
| Rated wear | 2.5 million hours MTBF, 0.35% AFR | Up to 550 TB a year, 2.5 million hours MTBF | 1.0 drive write per day for 5 years |
| Unrecoverable read errors | 1 sector per 10^15 bits read | 1 in 10^15 bits read | Not stated on the product page |
| Recording | CMR | CMR | Flash |

Sources: Seagate data sheet DS2080-2111US (November 2021), Western Digital data sheet D018-000383-AA02 (July 2022), Samsung PM893 product page, all read on 2 November 2026.

## Why are rented storage servers built on hard drives?

Because a drive bay holds 20 TB as a hard drive and 7.68 TB as the SATA SSD above. A ten-bay server reaches 200 TB raw with hard drives and under 77 TB with those SSDs.

The market follows the bays. Of 23 storage-server sellers Basalthold checked on 2 November 2026, the cheapest listed plan came to $1.30 per raw TB (NetDynamics24). The median listed plan of 144 TB or more cost $2.14 per TB. That survey counted hard-drive capacity of 16 TB and up; the full table is on [the price-per-TB page](https://basalthold.com/storage-server-price-per-tb/ "How much a rented storage server costs per TB per month").

Every hold follows the same split. The operating system sits on its own SSD (two mirrored SSDs on the larger holds); the data drives arrive blank and unpartitioned, so you can build ZFS, an mdadm array or a set of independent disks. If you want the team to prepare a RAID 6 or RAID 10 array before delivery, say so to support before the server is handed over.

## When is a hard drive fast enough?

Whenever the data moves in long sequences: backups, archives, video, media files and large objects. Those jobs read and write big blocks, which is where hard drives are strong.

The network is usually the slower part. At its outer tracks, one Exos X20 reads 285 MB/s. A 1 Gbit/s port carries 125 MB/s at most.

**On a 1 Gbit/s port, one modern hard drive already reads faster than the network can carry.**

An array adds the drives together for sequential work. Ten drives in RAIDZ2 stream far more than the port, even on inner tracks. Speed only becomes a problem when the work turns random.

## When do you need an SSD?

When the work is many small reads and writes in random places. The Exos X20 manages 168 random reads per second; the PM893 manages 98,000, about 580 times more.

- **Databases and virtual machine disks.** Each query or guest write lands in a random place.
- **Blockchain nodes.** Nethermind asks for at least 10,000 IOPS, and Erigon tells operators to avoid hard drives. Sizes per client are on [the Ethereum archive node page](https://basalthold.com/ethereum-archive-node-disk-size/ "How much disk space an Ethereum archive node needs").
- **Millions of small files.** Thumbnails, mail stores and package caches spend their time seeking.

The common answer is a split. Put the operating system and the database on SSD, and the bulk data on hard drives. On a hold, the system SSD can carry the database of Nextcloud or Immich while the files live on the array.

## Can SSDs speed up a pool of hard drives?

Yes, in ZFS, through two kinds of helper devices. A **special** device stores metadata and, if you choose, small file blocks. A **cache** device (L2ARC) keeps copies of hot data.

The rules differ. OpenZFS says a special device's redundancy should match or exceed the rest of the pool, because the pool depends on it. A cache device holds only copies, so it cannot be mirrored and can fail safely.

On a hold, the SSDs carry the system (2 × 480 GB SSD for the system, mirrored on Hold 100). A mirror of two SSDs survives one failure, while RAIDZ2 survives two, so it does not match the pool. Memory comes first anyway: the ARC cache lives in RAM, as explained in [ZFS RAM requirements](https://basalthold.com/zfs-ram-requirements/ "How much RAM ZFS needs for a 100 TB pool").

## How long do hard drives last in a server?

Longer than most rentals, but not forever. Seagate rates the Exos X20 at 0.35% annualized failure rate in 24×7 use. Western Digital rates the HC560 for up to 550 TB of reads and writes a year.

Field data runs higher than ratings. Backblaze published its Q2 2026 drive stats on 29 September 2026: 1.73% annualized failure rate that quarter, across 354,415 drives. Its lifetime figure was 1.41%.

At 1.41% a year, a ten-drive array loses at least one drive in a year about 13% of the time. That is why the layout matters more than the brand; see [RAID 6 or RAID 10](https://basalthold.com/raid-6-vs-raid-10/ "RAID 6 or RAID 10 for a rented storage server"). When a drive fails, open a ticket: the team has it replaced at no cost, and rebuilding the array on the new drive is up to your setup.

## Which hold pairs which drives?

| Hold | Data drives | System disk | Memory | Price per 30 days |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Hold 24 | 2 × 12 TB HDD | 480 GB SSD for the system | 32 GB DDR4 ECC | $110.99/30 days |
| Hold 40 | 4 × 10 TB HDD | 512 GB NVMe for the system | 64 GB DDR4 | $201.09/30 days |
| Hold 100 | 10 × 10 TB HDD | 2 × 480 GB SSD for the system, mirrored | 128 GB DDR4 ECC | $377.05/30 days |
| Hold 160 | 10 × 16 TB HDD | 2 × 480 GB SSD for the system, mirrored | 128 GB DDR4 ECC | $561.39/30 days |

Every term and city is on [the price list](https://basalthold.com/pricing/ "Basalthold storage server prices"). Amsterdam (Netherlands), Bucharest (Romania) and Chisinau (Moldova): every hold in every city, at the same price.

## What else do buyers ask about HDD and SSD?

### Are Basalthold data drives HDD or SSD?

Hard drives, with the system on SSD. The operating system sits on its own SSD (two mirrored SSDs on the larger holds); the data drives arrive blank and unpartitioned, so you can build ZFS, an mdadm array or a set of independent disks. If you want the team to prepare a RAID 6 or RAID 10 array before delivery, say so to support before the server is handed over.

### Is a hard-drive server fast enough for Nextcloud or Immich?

For the files, yes: photos and documents move as large sequential reads. Keep the database and thumbnails on the system SSD, where random reads are fast. Requirements per app are on [the Nextcloud page](https://basalthold.com/nextcloud-server-requirements/ "What server Nextcloud needs for several TB of files").

### Do SSDs fail less than hard drives?

They fail differently. An SSD wears with writes: the PM893 is rated for one full drive write per day for 5 years. A hard drive wears mechanically; Backblaze measured a 1.41% lifetime annualized failure rate across its fleet in Q2 2026.

### What does a TB of hard-drive storage cost at Basalthold?

Hold 160 works out at $3.50/TB raw a month and Hold 100 at $3.77/TB. Each hold is priced 25% under a named reference server, rounded down to the cent (prices read on 2 November 2026): Hold 24 against Mangohost's “HDD0 Dedicated Server” at $147.99 a month; Hold 40 against OffshoreDedi's “Server: 40TB Storage” at $268.13 a month; Hold 100 against OffshoreDedi's “Server: 100TB Storage” at $502.74 a month; Hold 160 against OffshoreDedi's “Server: 160TB Storage” at $748.52 a month. The reference is the comparable storage server with the smallest monthly price among 5 hosts that take crypto without asking for ID at signup: at least the hold's raw hard-drive capacity, a floor of cores and memory (Hold 24: 4 cores and 16 GB; Hold 40: 6 cores and 32 GB; Hold 100: 8 cores and 64 GB; Hold 160: 8 cores and 64 GB), a port of 1 Gbit/s or more, at least 10 TB of traffic, one IPv4 address, monthly billing and stock shown. Processor age is not counted, since most storage servers on sale run processors from 2012 to 2017; setup fees are spread over twelve months; euro prices use 1 EUR = 1.1172 USD (ECB, 2026-10-30). We do not claim to be the cheapest at every capacity: sellers outside that pool list storage servers down to $1.30 per raw TB (NetDynamics24, same day).

### Can I rent a storage server with crypto and no KYC?

Yes. Basalthold takes BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC, from a minimum top-up of $25. No KYC: no ID, no selfie, no documents, no card and no phone number, at any point. Setup takes 72 hours at the most after your payment is confirmed.

**Hard drives for the data, SSD for the system** Hold 160: AMD EPYC 7302P (16 cores / 32 threads), 128 GB DDR4 ECC, 10 × 16 TB hard drives (160 TB raw) plus 2 × 480 GB SSD for the system, mirrored, 1 Gbit/s port with 200 TB of traffic per 30 days, 1 IPv4 and an IPv6 /64, for $561.39/30 days. Crypto, no KYC. [Rent Hold 160 in Amsterdam](https://basalthold.com/app/checkout/?plan=hold-160&location=nl-ams&lang=en) · [Rent Hold 100 in Chisinau](https://basalthold.com/app/checkout/?plan=hold-100&location=md-kiv&lang=en)

## Sources

1. [Exos X20 data sheet (DS2080-2111US)](https://www.seagate.com/content/dam/seagate/migrated-assets/www-content/datasheets/pdfs/exos-x20-channel-DS2080-2111US-en_US.pdf) — Seagate Technology (November 2021, read 2026-11-02)
2. [Ultrastar DC HC560 data sheet (D018-000383-AA02)](https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/western-digital/product/data-center-drives/ultrastar-dc-hc500-series/data-sheet-ultrastar-dc-hc560.pdf) — Western Digital (July 2022, read 2026-11-02)
3. [PM893 data center SSD](https://semiconductor.samsung.com/ssd/datacenter-ssd/pm893/) — Samsung Semiconductor (read 2026-11-02)
4. [Backblaze Drive Stats for Q2 2026](https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-drive-stats-for-q2-2026/) — Backblaze (2026-09-29, read 2026-11-02)
5. [zpoolconcepts(7): special and cache devices](https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/man/master/7/zpoolconcepts.7.html) — OpenZFS (read 2026-11-02)
6. [Nethermind system requirements](https://docs.nethermind.io/get-started/system-requirements) — Nethermind (read 2026-11-02)
7. [Erigon hardware requirements](https://docs.erigon.tech/get-started/hardware-requirements) — Erigon (read 2026-11-02)

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Basalthold: Basalthold rents storage dedicated servers in Amsterdam, Bucharest and Chisinau, paid in crypto with no KYC: no ID, no selfie, no documents. Each server is a whole physical machine with 24 TB to 160 TB of hard drives for one customer, delivered with blank data drives and root access, for backups, archives, file sync and self-hosted object storage. On 2 November 2026, prices ran from $110.99 per 30 days for 24 TB to $561.39 for 160 TB ($3.50 per raw TB). It is run by DomaineGoat LLC, a company registered in Panama, keeps no logs and never asks for your encryption keys.