How big a factor is having a solid state hard drive?

But, for a SSD to fail, the cells have to exhaust their ability to be written. For most users, that would take many years to happen. Some have suggested that one replace a SSD once the warranty runs out, just like with the spinning drives.

Laptops and most desktops have been shipping with SSDs for years now, and there hasn't been a problem. But, if you are worried about a drive just going belly up all of a sudden, that's why you always backup your stuff. We know most people won't do that, but that is not because of the technology, that's because of the user.

I've read the opposite, that SSD today is faster and more reliable than the older ones.

Any time a newer technology hits the mainstream, there are people who just naturally don't trust it. SSD has been around since the early 90s.

 

Important in what sense? They're faster and quieter but unless you listen to ridiculously low volume and have your ear next to the case, you shouldn't really hear much anyway. And for music, the faster speeds don't factor in in any way.

 

Every thing that you've said is very true, especially the backup part. I back up every day and on the weekend I backup to a different hard drive.

M~

 

Wow! This is the first I'd heard this. I spent a lot converting to an SSD in my 2011 iMac after figuring that I was on borrowed time with the original HD that was in the computer. I was of the impression that since there were no moving parts then the device would be indestructible. What's your advice?

BTW I have no problem with noise on my 4TB external drives — I have two identical drives that I rotate periodically. Don't know if cloning one of these to an external SSD would really be an advantage, especially since my almost 8-yr old iMac doesn't have any of the latest style ports, like Thunderbolt's latest version etc.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to say that either would be last forever. More to the point that from what I understand, when SSD's fail, it is very hard to retrieve data and that since HDD's are cheaper for large sizes, they are preferred for backup drives.

I think the main point of all this is that SSD's are great for an OS drive, which will speed up a computer.
As for external or secondary drives, SSD's won't improve performance unless you are editing video or other large file types. HDD's are more cost efficient due to their price/size and still great for general media storage and backups.

 

Nope. Sorry but there are no free lunches.

SDD have a limited lifespan because each write cycle degrades the memory cell. The drives have a leveling algorithm that enable them to spread the write cycles and mark bad sectors but eventually they will wear out. You may have been unaware of this problem because the of the probability of upgrading the SSD or the whole computer before the SSD will go tits up. Those of us who played with simpler hobby computers such as the Raspberry Pi which use an SD card as a HD are very well aware of the limitations of solid state storage, with an SD card the probability of it going bad within a year is actually quite high.

 

Within the last month, I replaced three spinning HDD's with Samsung 860 EVO's (one was 500 GB in an older MacBook Pr0 as the main boot drive, and two 1 Tb drives in various backup situations). The old MacBook now runs many times faster and was given a new life with the SSD, while the other two drives are much faster than the drives they replaced. The 860 EVO's all come with a five year guarantee. I honestly don't think I'm ever going back to spinning hard drives. The last old style drive I bought was a Western Digital MyBook that lasted about a year, and the replacement they sent a lot less than that.

 

SSD also does not contribute to vibration, it if it on the same rack as your turntable. Even if you aren't actively using an HHD, it can still cause vibrations.

 

I seem to have got the wrong impression from my quick initial read of material out there.

There may be people who don't trust SSD, but I am not one of them. I use them in all my computers. I just think the cost:benefit ratio is not yet there for a large music library. It's getting closer, though.

 

No, under normal use, they should last many years.

 

How Long do SSDs Really Last?

 

I use a SSD for a system drive, but still prefer an old-school hardware RAID5 for media. Much more cost-effective and secure from failure.

Noise really isn't a problem, as the drives and media server are in a storage space in the basement.

 

Yup. Like I said, it is newer technology and many people just don't trust it because of that. I also had reservations about longevity, but I then thought about your typical RAM sticks. I know, not exactly the same thing, but it's the same principle: they also constantly write, store, and eliminate data as called on by the processor. They last decades! So...

I've also never seen a flash drive fail. Laptops have had SSDs for years and no one's ever worried about the failure rate. SSDs can drop data when they start to fail. They don't always just up and die. Your mechanical hard drive drops data when it starts to die. And, people should be backing up their data anyway. I think another problem is that people understand mechanical things. There's spinning platters, and an arm with a needle. SSDs have none of that. Most average people do not understand transistors. (I blame the schools. Why aren't they teaching this stuff?)

 

For five years I've had a single box pc for playing music. It has a 120GB SSD for the operating system and software, and a 1TB HDD for the music files, plus two SATA Electrical Noise Filters, and no fans.

It works well, and is silent.

 

I installed a 2TB Micron SSD in my Sony HAPZ1ES. Cost about $285.00 on Amazon. The hard drive in the HAP was spinning continuously. I’m happy with the change. Should last a long time since usage is about 99.999% reads and the very occasional writ for new music.

 

My Mac book Pro music server/streamer from 2012 Boots up in 10 seconds with SSD. System overall is more responsive and quicker. Also make sure you have some extra Ram.

For digital storage not sure how you can beat 4TB of spinning drive for $100 ? Just make sure you have a reliable(s) backup as well.

 

Yup.

True for most users.

Do a search and look up the difference between consumer grade and Server grade SAN/Data Center grade SSDs. The SSDs that NetApp, IBM, and others use in data centers are much much much more expensive per TB for a lot of reasons, one of them being that they are designed for many more write cycles than consumer grade drives. If you're doing something where you're writing and reading a LOT - do that on a spinning disc - but load the OS/Apps, etc. on an SSD. If you read/write a lot on an SSD don't be surprised if it starts taking longer to read/write - or more likely your capacity will start shrinking. Most consumer grade SSDs have a large additional store of unused and inaccessible storage built in for the drive to manage and replace bad read/write cells. In practical use this will mean you don't notice the degradation for a long time.

What are the differences between consumer grade SSDs and the much more expensive enterprise SSDs?

 

You do realize that the article you linked to is three years old, right? SSD technology has improved since that time, and continues to improve.

 

I put one in my Acer laptop and couldn't believe the speed difference.

Great investment.

 

The concern I have is how long do SSDs really last if used as a backup drive or as a drive. If you write data to the drive, then unplug it and put it on a shelf, how long will it store and hold data without data loss. If you store it on a shelf for a year will you still be able to read all the data with no errors? What about two years? Five years? 10 years? I've got old hard drives that are 15 years old that I can still read data from. Will I be able to do the same with the current generation of SSD, or even flash thumb drives?

 

I've read that the data will sit on an SSD for a year if you don't power it up. I do not know. I think that may be wrong. I've only had one thumb flash drive die a premature death on me. Drives i've had for 15 years still have their original data on them.

But, I would still back up data like music, photos, or film to spinning drives too.

 

August 14, 2018
WD Blue 3D NAND 1TB PC SSD - SATA III 6 Gb/s 2.5"/7mm Solid State Drive - WDS100T2B0A
Total Amount: $190.21


price update November 1, 2018
now $140 total

 

SSD technology has improved, but in a way beneficial for marketing, not for reliability. Silicon processes have become smaller, meaning smaller transistors are used to preserve the charge of a bit, and TLC flash is predominant, storing three bits in one cell, at three different "analog" levels.

 

Yup. I'm already aware of it, but thanks!

 

SSDs haven't been around long enough to test how well they retain data when unused for several years. However, I don't understand why you'd want to use them that way. Mechanical hard drives are much cheaper per GB, and have much greater storage capacity.

A few years ago, the Library of Congress settled on M-DISC BD-R 50GB as their standard archive format, after a great deal of testing. If you've got data that you might want to access 25 years from now (like family videos and photos), you might want to get a Blu-ray writer and a package of blanks. Make two copies and keep one copy offsite in a safe deposit box.