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I've got an application which requires data recording in a outdoor environment, and I am interested in the reliability of SSDs vs HDD when placed in a cold (down to -20) and hot (+50) ambient environments. Intuition leads me to believe SSDs will be more reliable, with the possible exception of high temperatures. Air conditioning enclosures is not an option.

Does anyone have any information on disk reliability in these situations?

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    Have you checked the datasheets of any specific drives? There are industrial HDDs made for wider temperature ranges.
    – mulaz
    Feb 18, 2014 at 14:52
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    possible duplicate of SSD head / cylinder / cluster details
    – ewwhite
    Feb 18, 2014 at 15:14
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    How much data are you logging/how heavy is the OS? If performance isn't really an issue, I would look into using an SD/CF card or maybe even a USB flash drive.
    – Nick T
    Feb 18, 2014 at 18:16

3 Answers 3

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Look for an industrial or ruggedized SSD for this application.

A good example of a proper product spec.
http://www.pretec.com/products/ssd-series/item/sata-ssd-series/a5000-industrial-grade

．Standard 2.5" SATA III SSD, compatible with SATA III/II/I interface
．Capacity: 32GB ~ 256GB
．Data transfer rate: Up to 490 MB/s
．Built-in ECC (Error Correction Code) function
．Support ATA-8 command and SMART function
．Temperature
I.  Operating Temperature: 0℃ ~ +70℃
II. Extended Temperature: -40℃ ~ +85℃
III. Storage Temperature: -55℃ ~ +95℃
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  • Hey thanks for the links- Do you know what is the difference between operating temperature and extended temperature?
    – John
    Feb 18, 2014 at 15:26
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    absolutely. just like any "spike" in a metric, systems can usually handle that spike up to some extended period of time before accelerated breakdown. bottom line is you do not want your extended temp to be your normal operating conditions. and don't be fooled by people telling you they have some device that functions normally in extended conditions. there will always be outliers. also, you run the risk of voiding mfg warranty (but not something i would get worked up over)
    – au_stan
    Feb 18, 2014 at 15:43
  • Do you know if these temperatures are for ambient temps, or working temps? Living in a hot country, I've had individual electronic components (mainly electrolytic caps, of which there wouldn't be any in an SSD) that shit themselves with extended 40℃ ambient temps, even though they were rated to 115℃.
    – Mark Henderson
    Feb 18, 2014 at 23:36
  • @MarkHenderson Working temperatures... I have industrial SSDs in some of the packing and sorting machinery located in the coolers/freezers of warehousing environments.
    – ewwhite
    Feb 18, 2014 at 23:51
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    It's not just about temperature...
    – ewwhite
    Feb 19, 2014 at 19:18
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The main difference of HDD and SSD is the Storage Capacity and its Related Costs. You can buy SSD supported devices with storage of up to 4 terrabytes, but they come at a cost.An HDD, meanwhile, will give you storage capacity of up to 2 terrabytes on a laptop and 10 terabytes on a desktop.

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    This is a very poor 'answer', it doesn't address the question in any way and in fact simply ensures that all of the sysadmins here - your future customers don't forget - see how badly you understand simple things and thus will never do business with you - bravo.
    – Chopper3
    Apr 12, 2017 at 16:34
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    If you link to your website, you need to state that explicitly in your post. Please read How not to be a spammer.
    – Glorfindel
    Apr 12, 2017 at 16:35
  • I don't want to spam, I deleted that post. Thanks for the information though.
    – Dustin DeTorres
    Apr 12, 2017 at 16:36
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    @Chopper3 please respect the be nice policy of SE (and I saw that comment earlier)
    – CalvT
    Apr 12, 2017 at 16:39
  • And his account on Super User was spamming his blog for a different Brisbane based data recovery company.
    – DavidPostill
    Apr 12, 2017 at 16:46
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Yes, there are chips which can work on extreme temperatures (both in cold or warm), but they are much costly. In practice, in most situations it is better (a LOT cheaper) to solve the problem of the temperature stabilisation as to use such electronics.

The temperature between -20 - +50 C isn't really extreme, especially in case of always working hardware, because its normal ohmical heat will him enough for the normal work. For the higher temp I suggest to use simply air conditioning.

And yes, SSDs are more reliable because they don't contain moving parts.

Another solution (I don't know it were applicable in your situation): you could use a simple, minimal embedded hardware which stores its data in a better, protected area, and reaches it with cable network or with wifi.

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    this answer offers very little. examples? useful products? experiences and proof to back up your claim that SSDs are more reliable?
    – au_stan
    Feb 18, 2014 at 15:46
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    @PeterHorvath it is generally expected that if you make an assertion (as you are doing in your answer: that ruggedized chips/devices are "much more costly" than standard ones) you will back it up with a reference. There's no "directive" on this as it's not a stack exchange policy - it's just common sense. You are of course free to disregard common sense, but answers with appropriate references tend to get more upvotes than ones that just make an assertion.
    – voretaq7
    Feb 18, 2014 at 16:46
  • @NathanC If somebody thinks different, for example thinks that "yes, coldresistant chips are very cheap", I could come out a lot more and weigher proof behind my opinion as he. But I didn't happened, maybe nobody thinks it so.
    – peterh
    Feb 18, 2014 at 16:46
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    @PeterHorvath most ICs are fine in the cold, see here. I find it astonishing that you think purchasing, installing, and powering an AC unit is cheaper than buying perhaps a few ruggedized disk drives.
    – Nick T
    Feb 18, 2014 at 18:11
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    Awful answer. Adds no value, misinforms. -1. If it truly was easier to solve the temperature problem, people would. But clearly, that's not the case because a market exists for rugged hardware. You really think it's easier to cool down an assembly line than install rugged hardware? What about computer hardware that, say, lives its life near an internal combustion engine? (You know, like the ones in your car.) How about computers that need to go outside? It might not get cold where you live, but a lot of the world does, and don't want computers that they can't use during the winter months.
    – HopelessN00b
    Feb 18, 2014 at 19:32

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