Hello, this is Oing.
Do you still believe that the era of the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is over?
Just a few years ago, when discussing computers, the overwhelming speed and performance of the Solid State Drive (SSD) seemed to have relegated the slow speed and noise of the HDD to a historical relic. In fact, most personal PCs and laptops are now launched exclusively with SSDs. I, too, often asserted to people around me that “there is absolutely no reason to use a slow hard drive anymore.”
However, shocking news has recently emerged from the market. Orders for the slowest storage device—the hard drive—have skyrocketed, and there’s even a supply shortage where manufacturers literally cannot keep up with demand.
The culprit behind this entire situation is none other than the AI Data Center. How did AI, which must handle the fastest and most complex computations in human history, start extensively seeking out the slowest storage device?
Today, Oing wants to share the critical insight for understanding capitalism and growing into an economic agent that is hidden within this paradoxical market reversal.
The Death and Revival of the HDD: Why AI is Causing a Global Hard Drive Shortage
The decline of the HDD was clear. The physical method of reading data by $\underline{mechanically}$ rotating a magnetic-coated platter inevitably brought limitations: slow speed, noise, and heat. Then, the SSD arrived like a comet. Being an $\underline{electronic}$ method that stores data on semiconductor chips, the SSD overwhelmingly surpassed the HDD in speed, noise, and heat management. The personal PC market was instantly flipped, and the HDD was relegated to the “symbol of slowness.”
But with the advent of the AI era, the situation has undergone a 180-degree shift.
AI is the technology that consumes and creates the largest volume of data in human history. Generative AIs like ChatGPT constantly churn out enormous amounts of text, images, videos, and code. More importantly, AI companies never delete and continuously store their past training data to improve model performance. This is because data is fundamentally an asset that equals money.
To store this exponentially increasing data, tech giants like Microsoft and Google started rigorously calculating cost-effectiveness.
[Image Insert: Graph comparing Price/Capacity ratio of SSDs and HDDs]
The Cold, Hard Math: Why AI Data Centers Choose the Slowest Storage
It’s rational to invest in an SSD for performance when buying personal storage of about 1 or 2 terabytes (TB). The price difference isn’t huge.
However, the investment scale in AI data centers is beyond imagination. In the face of this immense scale, the strategy of “sacrificing cost-effectiveness for performance” becomes impossible. The cost difference is absolutely enormous.
Data from Seagate, the world’s largest storage company, starkly illustrates this reality:
- For the same capacity, a hard drive is 5 to 8 times cheaper than an SSD.
- Comparing the required facility investment to produce 1 Zettabyte (ZB) of storage space:
- SSD-based NAND Flash: Over $57 billion (approx. 81 trillion KRW)
- HDD-based: Just $1.1 billion (approx. 1.5 trillion KRW)
A cost difference of over 50 times is at play. The cold, hard law of capitalism dictates that as the scale of storage increases, the cost per unit of HDD decreases, while the cost per unit of SSD increases exponentially.
This is the decisive reason AI has returned to the slow HDD.
Currently, HDDs occupy about 80-90% of the storage within data centers. The division of labor is clear:
- Hot Data: Data frequently accessed requiring fast processing → Fast and expensive SSD
- Cold Data: Vast data that must be stored but isn’t immediately accessed → Slow but cheap HDD
Though the scale is different, this perfect system of specialization—the slow but steady HDD and the fast but expensive SSD—forms the foundation of the data center.
The ‘HDD Strategy’ for Your Side Hustle: A Lesson in Economic Freedom
The revival of the hard drive is not just an IT news story. This phenomenon contains an insight crucial for capitalist survival and becoming an economic agent.
The market never solely values the ‘fastest’ thing. The market chooses the $\underline{most\ efficient}$ thing. In the overwhelming scale of the AI era, the paradox that ‘slow and cheap can be the most efficient’ has become a reality.
Our lives and side hustles are no different.
Are you only chasing the ‘SSD strategy’—the ‘fastest way to make money’ or the ‘flashiest trend’? While the speed of an SSD may be needed for initial growth, true economic freedom depends on the volume and depth of the data (assets) that must be accumulated over the long term.
A strategy of diligently accumulating ‘Cold Data’ that is not immediately visible is required.
- Slow but Steady Execution: Instead of aiming for one big hit, consistently build knowledge, create content, or meet customers every day.
- Low-Cost, High-Efficiency Niche Market: Instead of the red ocean everyone jumps into, target a small-scale niche market you can dominate.
This ‘HDD Strategy’ may seem slow initially, but through the power of time and scale, it builds overwhelming competitive superiority.
What data are you accumulating right now? When everyone is shouting for the SSD, it is time to contemplate and act on your own ‘slow but steady HDD strategy’.
When demand explodes, the market creates shortages in unexpected places. The hard drive supply crisis delivers a cold lesson: only those who can read the market’s hidden needs and prepare with appropriate action and execution will seize wealth.
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Oing explores realistic side hustles and survival strategies in the capitalist system with you.
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