Hello friends! The other day one of our regular readers asked a good question. He asked, To How to find out how much more time it will work or toHow to find out the working life of his SSD. Also last week, other users asked more questions on this topic, for example:
Which the type of flash memory for SSD is better: NAND, 3D NAND, 3D V-NAND and NOR?
How to find out which memory chips a purchased SSD consists of ( SLC, MLC or TLC) and which memory is better?
What is the number of rewrite cycles or TBW?
We will answer all these interesting questions in today's article.
How to know how long your SSD will last
I'm not afraid to repeat myself and I will say that everything is important in a computer, including a solid-state drive. Before buying it, be sure to check the performance and lifespan of your future SSD. It is easy for a novice user to get confused here, since instead of the lifespan of the SSD,on the Internet everyone is talking about somenumber of rewriting cycles. Will explain. C ikl overwrite, this is overwriting the entire volume (all cells) of the solid-state disk, but the controller overwrites evenly cells. For our convenience, manufacturers indicate (calculate by the formula) not rewrite cycles, a the total amount of data in terabytes that can be written to the drive... Such a volume is called - TBW(Total Bytes Written -Total bytes written). H The more disk space, the more TBW it has.By knowing TBW, you can accurately calculate the life of your solid state.TBW limit may differ on different SSDs factor of!
- The resource for rewriting an SSD or TBW can only be found on the official website of the device manufacturer, but not all manufacturers indicate such data, so it is better to purchase a solid-state drive from those manufacturers who indicate it.
SSD performance and lifespan depend on two terms - type NAND flash memory chips: (SLC, MLC, TLC) and a controller with firmware. The price of the drive directly depends on them.
There are two main types of Flash in solid state drives: NOR and NAND... NAND technology is faster and cheaper. NAND memory today improved. Added 3D memory NAND and 3D V- NAND. If we take the market of SSDs currently offered on the market, then 5 percent belongs to 3D V-NAND, 15 percent 3D NAND, the rest 80 percent NAND. DThese data are in error, but small.
In turn, Flash memory: NAND can have three types of memory chips: SLC, MLC and TLC. Today, mainly sold SSD based on flash memory MLC and TLC. According to TLC and MLC SSDs offered on the market 50/50.TLC memory has a lower TBW limit.
- SLC- Single Level Cell is the oldest and fastest of the three technologies. Has high performance, low power consumption, the fastest write speed and a large TBW limit (the total amount of data that can be written to the drive) ... The cost of a solid-state device based on SLC memory chips is very expensive and it is very difficult to find a modern SSD with it.
- MLC- Multi Level Cell - has a lower cost, lower speed and lower TBW.
- TLC- Three Level Cell - has an even lower cost, lower operating speed and lowerTBW versus MLC chips... Memory TLC has always been widely used in conventional flash drives, but with the advent of new technologies, it has been possible to use it in solid-state drives.
In which program can you see the type of memory of a solid state drive: TLC and MLC
The AIDA64 program can show the type of SSD memory, the official website of the developer https://www.aida64.com/
In the main window of the program, select "Data storage",
then we select the SSD model, for example, I have three SSDs installed in my system and I will choose the first - Samsung 850 Evo 250GB. As you can see, the type of flash memory is TLC.
The second drive, Kingston SHSS37A / 240G, has the MLC flash type.
How to find out the resource of a solid state drive
For example, let's find out the resource Kingston SHSS37A / 240G.
Go to the official website of the device manufacturer https://www.hyperxgaming.com/ru
Select "Solid State Drives" -> "Savage".
Capacity 240 GB
and we see the total amount of data (TBW) that can be written to the Kingston SHSS37A drive with a volume of 240 GB - 306 TB.
Let's compare it to the Samsung 850 Evo 250GB.
Go to the manufacturer's official website http://www.samsung.com/ru/ssd/all-ssd/
We mark the item - SSD 850 Evo Sata III.
Capacity 240 GB and left-click on the SSD image.
"Show all characteristics"
We see the indicator at the very bottom. Recording resource: 75 TB.
It turns out that the SSD Kingston SHSS37A / 240G has four times more TBW rewrite cycles.
If you have an OCZ SSD, then go to the site https://ocz.com/us/ssd/
How to find out the total amount of data already written to a solid state drive
To do this, we will use the CrystalDiskInfo program.In the main window of the program, select my SSD Samsung 850 Evo 250GB. In the item "Total host records" we see the volume of data written to the data drive 41.088 TB. If we compare this figure with the one indicated on the official website of the Recording resource: 75 TB, then we can conclude that 33 TB of data can still be recorded on the SSD.
In the case of SSD Kingston SHSS37A / 240G, the program CrystalDiskInfo cannot show the total amount of data written to the drive.
In this case, we will use the SSD - Z program.
Official website of the developer http://aezay.dk/aezay/ssdz/
Download and run the program.
In the main window, in the "Bytes Written" item, we see the amount of data written to the drive is 43.902 TB.
If we compare this figure with the one indicated on the official website of the Recording resource: 306 TB, then we can conclude that 262 TB of data can still be recorded on the SSD.
CrystalDiskInfo starting from version 7_0_5 can work with new disks using the latest new NVM Express protocol (Toshiba OCZ RD400, Samsung 950 PRO, Samsung SM951). The previous version of the program did not see such disks stupidly.
Installing solid state drives is much less common than using HDDs. Users are intimidated by the low lifespan of the SSD.
There are many ways to speed up your computer or laptop. One of the problem areas is the speed of the hard disk drive. By replacing the hard drive with an SSD, you can increase this speed, and therefore the operation of the entire system.
Are there any pitfalls in such a replacement? Or is installing an SSD the way to fix the speed issue once and for all? You need to know that solid state drives have their drawbacks. The main parameter that reduces the longevity of an SSD is the number of rewriting cycles. In this parameter, solid-state drives lose out to hard drives. In theory, SSDs live less than HDDs. Let's look at how to increase the number of rewrite cycles and how to extend the life of an SSD.
The heart of an HDD is a rotating platter, usually made of metal or ceramic. The recording takes place on a thin outer metal layer of these plates. The HDD head moves over the surface of the platters and magnetizes or demagnetizes certain sectors. Thus, the recording process is a magnetization / demagnetization process.
For the data recording process, it does not matter whether information was previously recorded on it or not. The disk doesn't care: the recording goes the same anyway.
Data recording feature for solid state drive
An SSD uses memory chips instead of spinning platters. An SSD is actually a large flash drive.
Compared to HDDs, writing (and rewriting) data on SSDs has a number of features.
For the recording process, it matters whether the information is currently on the disc or not. When there are previously recorded data in a memory cell, they are first deleted, and only then new ones are written. That is, the recording process takes place in 2 stages: first, deleting old data, and then adding new ones.
The lifespan of an SSD is one hundred percent determined by the number of rewriting cycles, that is, it depends on how many times you can write and delete information from the disk. The number of rewriting cycles is limited. Each cycle shortens, and if you exceed a certain limit, the cell dies. It becomes impossible to write anything on it. However, the drive will be able to live longer. Extending the lifetime of a disk is possible only by increasing the number of cycles.
Memory locations are grouped into blocks. The subtlety is that data recording can be carried out in each cell separately, and only the entire block can be deleted. And, if you need to change only one cell from the block, you have to perform several additional actions: transfer all data to another location, erase the block, and only then return the block and the changed cell to its place. As a result, there is an increase in rewrite cycles for each change of information in the SSD. This further reduces the resource of the SSD device. This phenomenon is called Write Amplification. Its downside is that it overwrites the same information several times.
Therefore, the challenge is to both increase the lifespan of the SSD and maintain the speed advantage. Since the reliability of a drive is determined by the number of rewriting cycles, the problem arises of estimating the lifespan of an SSD. To do this, specify a parameter such as TBW (Total Bytes Written). It shows the maximum amount of information that can be guaranteed to be written to disk. It is accepted to estimate TBW in terabytes (TB). So, a value of 150 TBW indicates that 150 terabytes of information can be guaranteed to be written to the disk. Exceeding this value does not guarantee reliable operation of the drive.
This value is different for discs from different manufacturers. For example, for a Kingston HyperX 120 Gb SSD, this parameter is 354 TBW. SSD OCZ Trion 100 240 Gb - 60 TBW. Crucial MX 100 drive - 72 TBW.
Translating numbers that are abstract for the average user into understandable meanings, one can give an example. Let's take TBW, equal to 75. This is not the greatest value, many manufacturers have significantly higher TBW. In order for the drive to be guaranteed to work for 3 years, you need to write about 64 GB of information to it every day. The value for the average user is almost unrealistic. Few people record this amount of data every day. And a Kingston HyperX solid state drive with a TBW of 354, in ideal conditions, with a daily recording of 2 GB of data, can live 100 years! Just think, 100 years of service will be enough for children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.
Tests show that viewing images or documents does not affect data recording. This is reading data. Only changing documents or copying files entails the process of writing to disk.
What can the user do
Operation of an SSD device has its own characteristics. There are many ways you can improve the reliability of solid state drives. We will describe only a few of them. The fact is that the operating system has some functions that can increase the speed of the hard disk. Paradoxically, increasing the speed of the HDD, they simultaneously reduce the reliability of the SSD. What are these functions that reduce the longevity of an SSD drive?
Hibernation. During hibernation, the computer's RAM is flushed to the drive. After the system resumes, the data is again written into the RAM to accurately restore the state of the computer. This allows the system to start up faster and increases the operating speed. A process that is completely harmless to an HDD can greatly affect the lifespan of an SSD. The fact is that during hibernation, gigabytes of information are overwritten. If the computer has 6 GB of RAM, then during hibernation it may happen that this volume will have to be written all over and then removed from the disk. In order for the SSD device to work for a long time, it is better not to use hibernation at all.
Defragmentation. The purpose of defragmentation is to reduce the number of movements of the hard disk head, thereby increasing the speed of access to information. An SSD has no moving parts and does not need defragmentation as a way to increase performance. Moreover, it is harmful, since defragmentation is actually the rewriting of information from one place on the drive to another, which increases the number of write and delete cycles. Disable this feature to extend the life of your device.
Optimizing disks. Reliable way to improve HDD speed. This technology preloads frequently used data from the storage device into RAM. During the optimization process, the cache is written to disk and updated regularly. When installing HDD, the use of technology is justified. In the case of SSDs, this only increases the number of rewrite cycles. This technology can both extend the lifespan of the SSD and save some disk space.
It is worth paying attention to these functions if you actively use your computer and fully load the SSD drive. For most users, even if they leave all the settings at their defaults, there is no need to worry about the lifespan of an SSD. The lifespan of an SSD will be the same as that of an HDD. For demanding users, there is a special program that tests SSD-drives and gives complete information about the state of the drive.
Hi Geektimes! The myths of Ancient Greece are resting compared to the misleading buyers of modern solid state drives. What was relevant even during the appearance of SSDs on the market and the development of this technology, many continue to transfer to modern products. Let's take a look at these many discussions together and try to put an end to the issues related to SSDs.
Where did these myths come from? Some believe that this is due to the peculiarity of thinking of consumers, who suffer from a lack of relevant information on this issue. Others believe that there is a certain element of conservatism in this - they say, a computer on an HDD works, well, well. Such users, for some unknown reason, are the last to think about replacing the drive when upgrading their computer. In general, be that as it may, a lot of myths about SSDs have accumulated over the years. Therefore, they must be dispelled, which we will try to do.
SSDs are unreliable and have a short lifespan
If earlier it was really so, nowadays the situation has changed dramatically. A disc with MLC technology can easily serve you 4-5 years (and maybe more), even with active use. What can we say about TLC drives, which boast even more impressive performance. And once every 5-7 years, it is useful to change a working machine, since over time you will not be full of an upgrade of an SSD alone.Of course, there is a chance of getting a defective disk (which is very small), and no one is safe from the fact that something can happen to the drive. OCZ has a unique ShieldPlus end-user warranty program for this case, where you can easily get a brand new SSD to replace the defective one. The program has recently been launched in Russia and Ukraine, so you can use it if needed. But this is unlikely to be useful to you.
As for the advantages of SSD over HDD, everything is obvious here. Nobody can guarantee you that the same regular hard drive will not start to "crumble" in a year, and during this time you will not get the speed and performance that you could get with a solid-state drive.
What's the conclusion? Don't be afraid that your SSD won't last long. Rather, the computer will fail some other component than "accumulate" the drive.
SSDs are very expensive
To be convinced of the opposite, just look at the websites of OCZ online resellers in Russia - SSDs can be easily purchased even for four thousand rubles. The era when 128 GB drives cost $ 500 and more is over: now you can get a good, roomy and reliable drive for this money.
Of course, the pricing policy for SSD depends not only on capacity, but also on the type of a particular drive, but here everyone already judges according to their needs. For office programs only? No need to take a drive larger than 240 GB. Video processing, working with 3D and resource-intensive applications? You can't do without speeds above 1500 MB / s and PCIe Gen. 2 x8 - for example, as in the RevoDrive 350.
Therefore, now everyone can afford a solid state drive for every taste and wallet. You won't have to save up for several weeks or take out loans, this already sounds ridiculous.
The system definitely needs optimization after installing the SSD
Nobody forces you to forcibly optimize Windows or OS X after installing an SSD. And is it really necessary? All system optimization tips are advisory rather than mandatory, and are aimed at advanced users who can feel the difference. Now most of the tricks like disabling the paging file are no longer relevant, and the rest of the tips deprive the system of some useful functions. Therefore, in the pursuit of disk performance and durability, users sacrifice the convenience and speed of the system, which is not at all logical.
Modern SSDs from OCZ work well with operating systems without optimization and demonstrate the declared speed indicators and impressive battery life. So if you want to indulge in disabling hibernation and transferring user folders to the HDD - please, but at your own peril and risk.
After installing the SSD, it is imperative to reinstall the system
This myth is partly true, partly not. Reinstalling Windows or OS X really doesn't hurt to get the best performance out of an SSD. But at the same time, using programs like Acronis True Image, you can completely migrate your deployed operating system from HDD to SSD and save yourself the unnecessary gestures.Can you feel the difference? It largely depends on the load on the disk and the system itself and other factors. More often than not, users simply transfer data to a new drive and do not complain.
SSDs need to be monitored constantly
In general, it is necessary to periodically monitor the status of any devices, and a solid-state drive is no exception in this case. But the whole monitoring procedure is not much different from that for a regular hard disk - you installed one of the utilities and periodically open it to check the necessary parameters. OCZ has an SSD Guru program, with which you can update the disk software, activate TRIM, and generally keep the drive under control.
As for some supernatural means of control, there is no need for them as such. Shaking convulsively over the SSD and blowing dust particles off it is also not worth it.
It's easier to buy a used SSD than to buy a new one
It is not entirely clear where this myth came from, but here the logic is the same as, for example, with a new and used car. But in the case of an SSD, you can slip outdated models with worn-out cells that will not serve properly for one month. In addition, buying a used SSD can affect its speed characteristics (for the same reason), but you hardly need it.What is also important is the lack of a manufacturer's warranty for the supported drives. In fact, by purchasing such a disc, you are buying a pig in a poke and risk becoming a victim of your own savings.
SSD does not affect computer speed
Take a MacBook Pro Retina (even a 2012 model) and a modern MacBook Pro (2014) with an HDD. It is enough to check the boot times of the operating systems on both computers to see the difference - everything happens much faster with an SSD. The welcome screen appears faster, and programs load faster. In general, if SSDs did not affect the speed of the computer in any way, this type of drive would hardly have as many fans around the world.Of course, there are still many myths about solid state drives, and it will unfortunately take years for them to completely disappear. But it is in our power to make the number of "enlightened" grow, and not to allow other users to be misled.
Read about what Windows features are shortening the lifespan of an SSD and how to disable them... If you still use a traditional HDD on your computer, then it's time to think about how to switch to using a solid state drive - an SSD drive. This will greatly speed up your computer or laptop.
Are SSD drives perfect? Not really. Compared to HDDs, SSDs have some disadvantages, the main one being the limited number of delete / write cycles. This means that the relative number of erase / write cycles for SSD drives is lower than that of HDD drives. In this article, we will try to describe this disadvantage of solid state drives and how to get around it.
Content:
Hard disk (HDD) recording
The main component of a hard disk drive (HDD) are plates, on which information is actually recorded. They can be ceramic or metal. The discs are covered with a thin layer of metal that is magnetized and demagnetized. The process of writing data to such disks is as follows: the read-write head of the device moves and magnetizes / demagnetizes the sectors of the plates in 1 and 0, storing the information in a binary system (binary).
When data is overwritten (saved over the previously recorded data), a similar process occurs. Those. the process of writing to a hard disk is always the same, regardless of whether the disk contains data or not.
Writing to SSD disk
Writing information to an SSD is a more complicated process and it happens in a different way. Therefore, there are three things to remember.
If data is already stored on the SSD disk, then the recording process is the process of deleting previously saved data from a memory cell and writing new data. New data is written into the cell only after deleting the previously recorded data. Therefore, the process of writing to an SSD is rather a delete / write process.
The number of erase / write cycles of an SSD is limited. Each such cycle reduces the life of a memory cell, and when the number of delete / write cycles exceeds the boundary threshold, the cell will become inoperative, data will no longer be written to it.
Memory locations are organized into blocks. Information on the disk can be written in cells, and deleted only in blocks. That is, the user opened the document and made changes to it, then to save it, the SSD must first transfer all the information of a certain block to another location, clear the block of information, and then return all the information to it, plus save the document with the changes. This is called Write Amplification and means that the SSD stores a lot more information than we store on it, which increases the number of delete / write cycles.
Wear leveling
But you shouldn't be upset, the number of SSD removal / write cycles is not that small. And in addition, modern SSD drives have technologies that increase the efficiency of writing to the disk and reduce the load on information cells. The most important of these technologies is the wear-leveling algorithms, which writes data evenly across the entire volume of the drive, thereby maximizing its service life. Moreover, SSD drives with a larger volume have a longer lifespan than those that are smaller.
How long is the lifespan of an SSD drive? In order for users to estimate the lifespan of an SSD drive, most manufacturers show it as the amount of space that can be written to the disk for the entire period of its use. This value is calculated in TBW (Total Bytes Written).
For example, a capacity such as 220 TBW means that 220 terabytes of data can be written to the disk until it becomes unreliable. This means that if a user writes 50 GB of data to a disk every day, then such a disk will last 12 years.
Most users never write more than 50 GB per day to disk. And this rarely happens, and most other days, much less or nothing is written to disk. Moreover, reading documents or viewing photos is not a recording process, this is reading, which does not affect the duration of the disk's service. Only copying files from another disk, loading files or editing documents means writing information to the disk.
This suggests that if you use an SSD disk in the same mode as an HDD disk, then their service lives should be comparable.
What the user should do
To maximize the lifespan of an SSD drive, you must refrain from unnecessarily copying files, downloading files, and so on. Also, the user should be aware that the operating system has functions specially designed for HDD disks, which do not need to be used with SSD disks.
This:
Benchmarking(comparative analysis). Often times, the speed of an SSD is checked using file copying or benchmarking programs. Although the information obtained will be useful to the user, this technique uses the write / erase cycles of the solid state drive. It is better not to use such methods.
Hibernation. During the hibernation process, the system memory (where the running programs and used information are transferred) is written to the computer's internal storage medium (HDD or SSD). After restoring the computer, the system copies the data back from the disk to the system memory and restores the computer to the state before hibernation. After copying the data into system memory, the operating system removes it from the disk.
The hibernation process can consume gigabytes of memory, which translates into a large number of writes to the computer's disk. For example, a computer with 4 GB of RAM may require up to 4 GB of disk space to hibernate.
Computer hibernation can be enabled either manually or in automatic mode, but on a computer with an SSD drive it is better to disable it altogether.
For this:
To activate this function back, enter powercfg -h on.
AHCI and TRIM commands. AHCI (advanced host controller interface) allows the operating system to access the disk faster and use some additional options. One such feature is the TRIM command, which allows the operating system to inform the SSD which blocks of memory are no longer in use and can be erased. This allows the disk to work more productively, reducing the Write Amplification effect and keeping it alive.
By default, both commands are enabled on the computer. You can check this or change their inclusion from the BIOS.
On different computers, you can enter the BIOS in different ways by pressing the key Delete or F2 while the computer boots up. In the BIOS, go to the storage media section and change the value "Configure SATA as" on the "AHCI"... It is better to do this before installing the operating system, otherwise you will have to reinstall the media drivers.
You can determine if the TRIM command works by running Command Prompt as administrator and running the command: fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify
If, as a result of the command execution, the message “DisableDeleteNotify = 0” is displayed, then TRIM is active. If not, then it can be enabled using the command fsutil behavior set disabledeletenotify 0
Defragmentation. In the case of hard drives, defragmentation is the process of optimizing the logical structure of a disk to ensure that files are stored in a contiguous sequence of clusters. After defragmenting the hard disk, reading / writing information from it becomes faster, since it reduces the number of movements of the disk heads.
If we talk about SSD disks, then they do not need defragmentation: they have no moving parts, and the speed of access to information on it is always the same. In addition, defragmenting an SSD disk is a large number of write / delete processes.
Windows 10 has the ability to configure automatic disk defragmentation. It is better to disable this function and it is not advisable to run it manually unnecessarily.
To do this, right-click on the disk (in the "This computer" folder), select Properties / Service / Optimize... Go to the Scheduled Optimization section and click the button Change parameters.
Superfetch... This technology, first introduced in Windows Vista, allows the operating system to more efficiently use system memory and preload frequently used data and applications. However, this process requires the Superfetch cache to be written to disk and updated regularly.
In case of using the HDD disk on the computer as the main one, the use of this function will be useful. For SSD drives, the use of this technology is not necessary and only increases the number of delete / write cycles.
To disable Superfetch open Control Panel / Administration/ and find Superfetch in the list of services. Click on it twice and click Stop or select startup type "Disabled".
Paging file... In Windows 10, the paging file is analogous to the system memory. In fact, this is the part of the computer's disk that the operating system reserves for use when some of the applications require more RAM than is actually installed on the computer.
The size of the paging file is dynamic and can change, which leads to constant writing of information to the internal disk of the computer. For an SSD drive, it would be desirable to disable it, but this will affect the performance of the computer. The way out of this situation is to set a fixed paging file size, which is recommended by the system. Also, if the computer has multiple disks with a primary SSD, the paging file can be transferred to the HDD.
Nowadays, solid-state drives are becoming more and more popular among users. There are many reasons for this, among them it is worth mentioning the noiselessness, reliability and high speed of reading and writing. Due to this, such devices are ideal for use as system disks, as well as for recording programs on them that are demanding on the speed of information exchange.
Solid State Drive Life
However, in addition to the advantages, such drives have there are also disadvantages... Not only are they more expensive than conventional hard drives, but they are also limited in the number of write cycles. It is because of this limitation that many users find ssd short-lived. However, this is not entirely true, the number of cycles is limited, but this does not mean that the media will fail very quickly. There are several important characteristics that will help determine the lifespan. Resource TBW (Total Bytes Written), which reflects how much data can be written to disk. And DWPD (Disk Write per Day), which shows the number of allowed overwrites per day.
How to calculate SSD resource
For conventional drives, the average number of write cycles is three thousand. For some older models this number is higher and for some it is less. But this is not worth paying attention to, but DWPD can be calculated using the formula.
However, the user can find the same data by simply opening a page in the store. 
So, here is a simple disc. From the characteristics you can see that tbw is 256, and dwpd is 0.5. In fact, this means that the user of all can write on the carrier 256 terabytes of information, while rewriting no more than half of the volume per day, that is, 240 GB. Such a reserve should be enough for several years if the SSD is not used for constant file exchange, in which some data is replaced by others around the clock.
So we can conclude that SSDs are quite durable. If a system, several programs and games are installed on them, they will be able to work for 3-5 years (for the most part, manufacturers give such a guarantee). At the same time, it should be understood that after such an amount of time they will become obsolete not only physically, but also morally. The same, how to find out exactly how much is left to serve an already used disk, will be further.
SSD Life
You need to download the utility from the official site https://ssd-life.ru/rus/download.html. The program is easy to use, you just need to download and run it. Then she will scan the disk, will show its current state (health string), and also make an assumption about the lifespan of the SSD based on the data available. 
Hard Disk Sentinel
The download should be done from the site https://www.hdsentinel.com/. This application will be able to evaluate the performance of the SSD and show all its problems and disadvantages, as well as the temperature. Maybe assume terms of service... The program is paid, however, a trial version is available. 
SSD-Z
You can download the program from the developer's page http://www.aezay.dk/aezay/ssdz/. The application will fully show all information about the disk. Here you can see total already recorded information, and compare it with the specified tbw, if they are approximately equal, then it is worth preparing to replace the media. 
How does the drive work
A solid state drive works on a different principle than the usual hdd. In it, recording is made in special memory cells, the same as on a flash drive. Number of reads from there unlimited, however, the resource drops after each cell overwrite. That is why it is best to store files and programs on such disks, which often require quick access to data, but they themselves are not overwritten. Such hard drives are ideal for installing systems and large programs that consume a lot of resources, but are poorly suited for storing multimedia information.
There are several functions that allow you to increase the lifespan, such as trim. This technology allows notify drive that some blocks no longer need to be stored, this happens when the user deletes information. Also the user can disable defragment and clean up the disk because it doesn't make sense for ssd. In addition, modern controllers are capable of independently balancing the cells, so that the wear is approximately the same, which allows to extend the service life.
SSD myths
There are several myths worth talking about separately.
- Short service life... This was discussed throughout the article. In the case of using such a drive in the correct way, their service life will be in no way inferior to ordinary disks.
- Great value. Discs for home use are not that expensive, in this case you should not chase the volume, because high speed is useful only for some programs and games. Typically, the user's system disk takes from 5 to 200 GB, and this is the amount you should be guided by when buying.
- Complex system optimization. There is not much to talk about here, if the system is installed on such a disk, you need to activate trim and disable scheduled defragmentation. Moreover, in Windows 10, all settings are made automatically.
- It is necessary to reinstall the system after installing the drive. If it comes as an additional one, then this is not required. In addition, there are utilities that will allow you to transfer the system from one drive to another, keeping all settings and programs.
- The drive must be constantly monitored. Like the rest of the drives, it doesn't require much maintenance. The main thing is to make sure that it does not fall, does not heat up, does not get water on it and there are no power surges. This applies to all equipment in general, not just ssd.
- SSDs provide no performance gain. They give an increase to those applications that require constant data exchange. However, if you just surf the Internet through a browser or type text documents, then the increase may not be particularly noticeable.
- Disks like these are unreliable. Another myth, since such devices have no moving parts, which significantly increases their reliability and fault tolerance.
