solid state memory?

MrWizard wrote:
SSD is basically Erom memory , just like a u s b stick Flash drive

Ok there are electrical difference between old style Erom and newer Flash
But the basic principles are the same
Apply a charge write the data, data stays until you deliberately change it

Failure time is like the RAM in your pc, it lasts a lot longer than the mechanical hard drive, there is no physical wear, the only contributing factors are voltage and Heat, keep it cool, it will last longer than you care to keep it

Do you mean EPROM? (from what I know, EROM is an older term for EPROM). EPROMs can't be erased on a cell by cell basis, the whole thing is erased at once (requires exposure to UV light).

FLASH memory used by USB thumb drives and SSDs evolved from EPROMs but differ in the ability for individual cells to be electrically erased and rewritten. Hence, it's not referred to as ROM (Read Only Memory).

There are other parts of an SSD that can fail other than the memory. The controller software/hardware can fail and make it so the data in the memory cells of the drive is not accessible. Some early controller software was buggy but it seems that the various mfrs have gotten the software pretty stable nowadays.

I run a 250 gig SSD, a 120 gig, and a 90 gig. I play a lot of games, and SSD's are great for games. I don't have any hard drives installed, but have 3 USB hard drives of varying sizes.

RVcrazy wrote:
What ratio of SSD to regular storage would you suggest? We want to be able to store our pictures & various word & excel documents. We are thinking that we don't need the top of the line like we are used to, but maybe we are wrong... Thanks!

I guess that would depend on how many pictures and if you shoot RAW and video. If its just average picture taking, you might be just fine with a 256GB drive. Even though they are exceptionally reliable, backing up your personal files is always a good idea.

SSD is mainly used for the PC's operating system

for data storage the cost is prohibitive, use a normal external HHD
in what ever GB/TB you need

you can get 2~3 TB for $99
OR
a $60 128 GB flash drive will store thousands of pictures

What ratio of SSD to regular storage would you suggest? We want to be able to store our pictures & various word & excel documents. We are thinking that we don't need the top of the line like we are used to, but maybe we are wrong... Thanks!

SSD is basically Erom memory , just like a u s b stick Flash drive

Ok there are electrical difference between old style Erom and newer Flash
But the basic principles are the same
Apply a charge write the data, data stays until you deliberately change it

Failure time is like the RAM in your pc, it lasts a lot longer than the mechanical hard drive, there is no physical wear, the only contributing factors are voltage and Heat, keep it cool, it will last longer than you care to keep it

mileshuff wrote:
What is the life expectancy of a heavily used SSD compared with a quality conventional drive? A low end consumer grade platter drive seems to last 2-4 years for me, usually the bearing goes out. A high end server class platter drive rarely has failed after 5+ years of heavy use. What about SSD's, such as R/W cycle life expectancy etc?

They are rated by the average number of read/write operations before failure. The number is usually pretty high. The Samsung 840 evo line touts a Mean Time between failures of 1,500,000 hours but who knows what type of usage they use to calculate that. Also, when a cell fails, the drive is supposed to sense that and just not use that cell. That means that as the drive gets old and starts to fail, it will just start getting smaller or at least that is the idea....

What is the life expectancy of a heavily used SSD compared with a quality conventional drive? A low end consumer grade platter drive seems to last 2-4 years for me, usually the bearing goes out. A high end server class platter drive rarely has failed after 5+ years of heavy use. What about SSD's, such as R/W cycle life expectancy etc?

camperpaul wrote:


Don't blink your eyes when doing a defrag; you might miss it ;)

Not necessary to defrag an SSD. In fact, it could actually be harmful to it to constantly defrag like we always have done with traditional drives.

obgraham wrote:
Though I like SSD's too, I'm under no illusion that it will never break. Everything breaks. Mine, admittedly a few years old, gets REALLY hot.

Backups are your lifeline.

Fail and break are two different things.

Platter Drives break real easily, Fragile is the word. SSD drives are very rugged physically, though as I said, a big enough hammer and they turn to powder just like platter drives.

Failure is also an option.. HEAT can cause that.. I do not know the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) but platter drives do that as well.