A hard link cannot span file systems.

A Soft link can point to files anywhere on the network.

All hard links share the same Inode Number.

Each soft link has a unique inode number.

If you delete the source hard link file you can still access the other one. However, with a soft link, if you delete the source link, you cannot access the other one.

With a soft link, you can create a symbolic link to a file that does not exist yet. You cannot create a hard link unless the source file already exists.