SSD write endurance and data retention

i just order the thinkpad x300 with 64gb SSD drive, i think they use SAMSUNG SLC 1.8".

i have a bit of worry about about SSD write endurance and data retention.
is it even an issue nowadays?

 

no.

but backup should be done anyways as you know. if one day my ssd's will fail, i can just plug in an ordinary hdd, and restore the last backup from the homeserver in minutes.

but it should be no issue.

 

how long can i expect my drive to last?

worst case scenario?

http://www.storagesearch.com/ssdmyths-endurance.html
this one seems to suggest around 50 years. but not sure if this apply to my drive.

no clear info on manufacturer part has been given, eg. intel only states the drive will last for at least 5years, but no mention on write endurance and data retention. samsung on the other hand, only states the write endurance at 100k.

but how about data retention? will the drive loose data even if the drive is powered on daily? will the drive auto-refresh the data when it is power on?

ANOTHER QUESTION...

i will disable defragmentation once i get my system.

what more thing should i disable? is it really necessary?

 

first: have fun reading the ssd thread, there's tons of info about it.

as i said, you should not worry about it all that much. they should be able to handle all the workload you give them for the rest of your life. you will not use your pc/notebook for as long as the write problems should happen.

same for powering down. daily? no problem. my notebook lies around sometimes for two weeks, no data loss.

yes, disable defragmentation. as your drive should be a good performing one, this should be the only option needed (not needed per se, but useless if enabled. and this will be useless wearing down the drive).

 

Write Endurance depends on the drive. MLC is 10K writes and SLC is 100K writes per cell, but an MLC drive with good write levelling will last longer than SLC that has terrible write levelling. Write levlling is where the controller tries to write to every part of the drive equally before writing the 2nd time.

I really don't get what you are asking here.

Let me explain in a way I can. SSDs are in a category called NV memory or Non-Volatile memory. Just like hard drives, the data doesn't disappear when you stop giving power to the device. Most drives follow the JEDEC data retention specifications and that is 10 years for a "new" not worn out cell. So with drives that have bad wear levelling, data retention time will be less too.

 

thanks for the reply davepermen and inteluser;

i dig around the ssd thread before this but cant really found what i was looking for even with search function.

i usually like to keep my computer for over 10 years, especially notebooks. i like a bit of nostalgia. do you think data retention might be a problem?

so the specification said that 10 years after the data is written or 10 years after last power on?

 

Unless you leave your notebook on 24/7 and are always writing to the disk during that time (which you're not, especially not if your comp is idle), you're totally safe, as long as you pick a reliable SSD.

 

SSDs are completely different devices from HDD. Because of wear leveling you can't ever expect your data to stay at the same place of the drive at any point in time.

Your files would keep moving around the SSD if you are using the computer.

So figure out how it would turn out. That would depend on how you are using the drive wouldn't it?

 

as you don't want to lose data that's worth 10 years of uptime, you should just get a good backup solution and never worry about it again.

the ssd will last, but we can't guarantee it 100%. nobody can. your notebook can just get killed completely. chance that it won't survive is quite high in 10 years. your scare of ssd issues are the least danger.

get a backup solution, right now, and then love your ssd and don't worry about it ever again.

 

i was worried about the backup partition and the window OS installation.

im not too worried about the data. i kept a backup in a thumb drive.

 

i have a full backup of my system (a.k.a. an image) that gets updated each day. i don't worry about any loss.

 

not to mention you could prolly use a fresh OS install 10 years from now

 

ah yes, true true. i wonder if the recovery partition will stay intact though.

 

If you write data to SSD once, turn off the computer and leave it alone, how long will the data last and how would you know that the data is still 100% intact? With mechanical HD, you usually know when the data is corrupted but with SSD I am not so sure.

 

Typically your LCD screen or its backlight will fail before anything else, in a 10 year span.

Which reminds me, I should go see if my Sony Vaio PCG-F190 that I bought in 1999 still powers on... Win98; I tried upgrading to WinME but that was a mistake.