Among the types of hard drives are also Solid State Drives. The newer technology is faster than traditional hard drives and could save you time with larger work. The read and write times are in another league compared to what was possible before. The prices are high for SSDs given they are a more modern technology. A 500GB SSD has ample space to store or backup files, whether this amount of space is enough depends on the sort of files one works with and volume of work.

SSD

These drives are based on the same kind of circuitry that is used for Flash Memory such as RAM chips and USBs. The lack of moving parts makes the read and write times a lot faster than traditional hard drives. SSDs are still available with older porting options so they can easily replace a traditional hard drive. With a range that has newer interfaces for the next generation of computers. The SSD is available in different capacities and can be from 500GB to 4TB or more.

The NAND based risk

SSDs based specifically on NAND Flash technology will leak data over time if they have passed their 'endurance rating' period and loose all power from their internal capacitors, which keep the information safe. The endurance rating is the number of write cycles the SSD can take, this number is usually in the thousands so there is a lot of usage before a drive gets there. If an SSD has reached its endurance rating and is not used once in a while to maintain some power in its capacitors, it will start bleeding data. The rate varies but it can start after 1 year without power at 30 degrees Celcius, or after 2 years if it is at 25 degrees.

500GB is a relatively decent amount of space, ample to back up many files and songs. It may, however, be less space if one is working on heavier documents such as video related files. SSDs have been getting cheaper over time but are still very expensive drives at the top end of the price range.