Comparing hosting plans and server specs can sometimes be daunting for even the most avid do-it-yourself website builders. You need to choose between Solid State Drives and Hard Disk Drives, Linux and Windows Operating Systems, cPanel or Plesk control panels and SAS and SATA drives, so here is our SSD comparison.
While confusing at first, most of these choices boil down to only a few core differences that even someone new to the field can get their head around. In this post, we’ll be looking at the differences between SAS drives and SATA drives, as well as recommending which option you should be looking out for when selecting a web hosting provider.
SSD Comparison: What Exactly Are SAS and SATA Drives?
SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) and SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) are two different interfaces used to transfer data to and from hard drives. In simpler terms, they’re the piping that data travels through from the hard drive to the motherboard and vice versa.
Which is faster? SAS or SATA Drives?
One common test of speed is throughput. This is the amount of data that can be moved, processed, read and written to the hard drive. The latest SAS format, SAS-3, has a capacity to move data at 12 Gbits/s, which is twice as fast as SATA drives.
SAS drives also have the advantage of being a full-duplex, meaning that SAS drives can send and receive data at full speed at the same time. SATA drives can only handle full-speed data in one direction at a time.
SAS also delivers a reduction in hardware overhead, which is critical when the number of input/output operations per second (IOPS) and latency of data exchange becomes an issue. SAS drives also offer better overall end-to-end data integrity and a more configurable reporting structure than SATA drives.
If SAS Drives Are So Amazing, Why Don’t We See Them Everywhere?
Before you run out and upgrade your home computer to a SAS drive, you should know SATA drives and SAS drives are targeted towards different markets. SAS drives are purposefully built for the Server market, where companies need highly reliable storage that many people can access at once. In contrast, SATA drives are commonly used in client computers, archive storage arrays and tiered storage where speed and reliability are less of a factor.
What Do We Use Here At VentraIP Australia
All web hosting plans we offer at VentraIP Australia are powered by SAS SSD hard drives. By investing in faster and more reliable drives, we have delivered the fastest shared hosting platform in Australia. We recommend hosting your website on one of our Shared Hosting plans if you’re after lightning fast hosting.
