A systems administrator is tasked with upgrading the storage for a departmental file server. The server hosts a large volume of infrequently accessed archival data, but also a smaller set of frequently used files that require faster read performance. The budget for the upgrade is limited, and purchasing a large-capacity, all-flash array is not feasible. Which of the following storage media types would be the MOST cost-effective solution to improve performance for the frequently accessed data while maintaining high capacity for the archival data in a single drive solution?
The correct answer is a hybrid drive (SSHD). A solid-state hybrid drive (SSHD) combines a traditional spinning hard disk drive (HDD) for large capacity with a smaller amount of NAND flash solid-state memory for caching. The drive's firmware automatically identifies frequently accessed "hot" data and stores it on the fast SSD portion, providing significantly improved read performance for that data. This approach offers a balance of speed for active files and cost-effective capacity for archival data, making it the ideal solution for the scenario described.
15,000 RPM HDDs are incorrect because while they offer better performance than standard 7,200 RPM drives, they do not provide the low-latency benefits of an SSD cache for frequently accessed data and are generally more expensive and have lower capacities than mainstream HDDs.
Read-intensive SSDs are incorrect as they would not be a cost-effective solution for storing a large volume of archival data, as stated in the scenario. While performance would be excellent, the high cost per gigabyte makes them unsuitable for the capacity and budget constraints.
JBOD with 7,200 RPM HDDs is incorrect because 'Just a Bunch of Disks' (JBOD) is a storage configuration method, not a drive media type. This configuration simply pools disks together and does not inherently improve the performance of the underlying 7,200 RPM drives for the frequently accessed files.