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IT Support & Hardware · Foundational

Solid-State Hybrid Drive (SSHD)

A hard drive with a small built-in flash cache that stores frequently accessed data.

Definition

SSHDs combine magnetic platters with a few gigabytes of NAND cache, automatically caching hot data to speed boot and app launch. They were a lower-cost middle ground before SSD prices fell. The OS sees a single drive.

Example

A laptop with a 1 TB SSHD containing 8 GB of flash cache.

Exam tip

SSHD performance improves for repeated tasks but not for random new data.

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