<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"/>
</head>
<body>
<p style="margin: 0;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0;">
<span>
Just to add, if you are more concerned about reliability you can get SLC NAND devices which only store a single bit per logic cell verses 2 or 3.  It means the capacity is effectively halved which usually translates into a price more than twice an equivalent MLC device.  However the cell reliability and thus life expectancy improves by
<span>several orders.</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0;">
<span>
<span>-Alan</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"></p>
<div style="margin: 5px 0px 5px 0px;">
<br/>
On November 2, 2011 at 12:43 PM "Ted W." <ted@techmachine.net> wrote:
<br/>
<br/>
> On 10/27/2011 07:46 PM, Ron Frazier wrote:
<br/>
> > Hi all,
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> > In another recent thread, the subject of SSD and flash memory
<br/>
> > reliability came up, although that wasn't the title of the subject.  I
<br/>
> > want to explore that a bit.  In the other thread, I said I have
<br/>
> > personally seen failures in memory sticks, memory cards, a GPS that
<br/>
> > suddenly refused to work and refused initially to take a firmware
<br/>
> > update, and routers that occasionally flake out and need to have their
<br/>
> > firmware refreshed.  I also pointed out this quote from the Kingston
<br/>
> > website, which someone else linked to:
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> > [...]
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> > So, my question to the group is this:
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> > If you don't have an SSD, do you want or intend to get one to replace a
<br/>
> > primary HDD?
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> > If you get one, or if you have one, do you feel that your data on that
<br/>
> > device is in more danger and is more fragile than it would be on a HDD?
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> > I might be inclined to get an SSD if I had the money.  However, at this
<br/>
> > point, I have fairly serious misgivings about the long term reliability
<br/>
> > of the technology.
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> > Sincerely,
<br/>
> >
<br/>
> > Ron
<br/>
> >
<br/>
>
<br/>
> A modern SSD will typically have wear levelling technology built in to
<br/>
> it as well as redundant memory chips to improve overall lifespan. It's
<br/>
> important to note, however, that SSD lifespan will not be effectively
<br/>
> maximized unless the installed operating system (Linux of course)
<br/>
> includes support for TRIM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM). My
<br/>
> company had the unfortunate experience of pre-maturely deploying SSDs to
<br/>
> our developers to speed up svn checkout and build times w/o first
<br/>
> confirming if it was supported in RHEL 5 (it is not) and had to deal
<br/>
> with replacing $200 drives every 6-8 months (RHEL 6 now has support, as
<br/>
> does any Linux distribution using kernel => 2.6.33)
<br/>
>
<br/>
> I've recently made the switch to an SSD on all but one of my laptops
<br/>
> (512GB SSDs are not practical, yet) and have been very happy with the
<br/>
> results. Battery life has extended by about one to two hours on each
<br/>
> device and I've yet to have one die on me (knock on wood). My only
<br/>
> buying advice would be to stay away from the lower end brands and spend
<br/>
> the extra money on an Intel or OCZ drive. I've got an Intel in my work
<br/>
> laptop and an OCZ Agility3 in my personal laptop and haven't had a
<br/>
> problem. I tried a Kingston at one point, however, and it failed within
<br/>
> 12 months on the same machine as the one I now have the OCZ drive in.
<br/>
>
<br/>
> Alternatively, if you want to still use magnetic media but want a speed
<br/>
> boost they have these hybrid drives now that combine a few GB of flash
<br/>
> memory with a traditional platter in an attempt to bridge the gap
<br/>
> between speed and price. I've not looked into them very much, however,
<br/>
> and can't speak to their reliability or effectiveness.
<br/>
>
<br/>
> --
<br/>
> Ted W.
<br/>
> Registered GNU/Linux user #413569
<br/>
> _______________________________________________
<br/>
> Ale mailing list
<br/>
> Ale@ale.org
<br/>
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
<br/>
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
<br/>
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
</div>
</body>
</html>