Find Out If Your Disk Is an SSD or an HDD

What are SSD and HDD?

A disk is where your files live. An HDD (hard disk drive) has a spinning plate inside, like a tiny record player. An SSD (solid state drive) has no moving parts. It uses memory chips. An SSD is usually much faster, so websites on SSD often load quicker.

These steps need command line access. A VPS or dedicated server gives you that. On shared hosting, ask Hostvento support what disk type your plan uses.

Method 1: the rotational flag

1. Log in to your server with SSH. SSH is a safe way to type commands on a server from far away.
2. Type this command.

   lsblk -d -o name,rota

   It lists your disks. The rota column means "rotational".
3. Read the number next to each disk.
   • 1 means the disk spins. It is an HDD.
   • 0 means it does not spin. It is an SSD.

Method 2: read the file directly

1. Type this command. Replace sda with your disk name from Method 1.

   cat /sys/block/sda/queue/rotational

   It prints 1 for HDD or 0 for SSD.

Method 3: see the model name

1. Type this command.

   lsblk -d -o name,model,size

2. Look up the model name in a search engine if you want more detail.

Important notes on virtual servers

On a VPS, the disk is often virtual. A virtual disk is a pretend disk made from space on a real one. The flag may then say 1 even when the real drive is an SSD. Do not trust it fully. NVMe drives, a very fast kind of SSD, show names like nvme0n1. If you see that name, it is an SSD.

For a sure answer about your Hostvento plan, open a ticket at the support link below.

Open a support ticket

Quick recap

• HDD spins. SSD does not.
• Run lsblk -d -o name,rota. 0 is SSD, 1 is HDD.
• Names starting with nvme are SSDs.
• On a virtual server, ask Hostvento support to be sure.