I already have ~145 GB of the blockchain synched on a HDD but the rest is very slow to synch. How can I download the remaining on my local hard drive then move it over to the 1 TB HDD?
What I'll do is to synchronize the client completely on a normal computer and then transfer the entire data directory to the HDD. It'll save a lot of time as you can validate faster on the computer due to its better processor. That's true but even if you use it 24/7 it's going to take years before the disk degrades. It should survive at least 3 years of heavy load.
Blockchain requires over 300 GB, a cheap 512GB SSD will cost you about 50EUR. It's the average price of a computer game
I don't think anyone actually did an actual test on it but a good priced SSD should withstand the degradation pretty well. In terms of the cost and benefit, you'll probably have a faster synchronization and roughly a similar experience of running a node. I would argue that given the only process that would have any noticeable benefits from an SSD is the IBD, a HDD would provide a marginal cost savings and provide roughly the same user experience.Blockchain requires over 300 GB, a cheap 512GB SSD will cost you about 50EUR. It's the average price of a computer game