Solid State Drives - What's the deal?

[Grizzlyware Josh]

Hey,

 

I'm looking at setting up a new local system, want it to be on fire... I want it to load before I have told it to, I'm thinking SSD (SATA 3), i7 Processor etc, 8 or 16GB of DDR3 ram, not to sure yet.

 

But, looking into solid state drives, it has raised more questions than it has answered...

 

1. Wikipedia says that SSD devices have a limited number of read/write requests... how many is this? Will it last for years or months?
   
2. How reliable are they? One forum mentioned they are un-reliable, but didn't really back their point up.
   
3. I really only need a small drive to house the OS & the applications I use, I think 128GB will do fine. I have a sepperate file server to use for storage, so that's not a big issue.
   

If you could please give me any reviews on them? I have Googled & read a few reviews, but they are one off, testing them. I would like to know how they preform over a long period of time, do they get slower due to Wikipedia saying they can only last for so many read / writes?

 

Would really appreciate it if you could let me know

 

Thank's a lot!

[VicToMeyeZR]

I use one on my desktop. I have had it for a year now, and have NOT had a single issue.

 

As far as the reviews/complaints people have saying they will not last as long are full of crap.

 

Standard hard drives generate more heat, take more power, and are FAR more unreliable. (whats the reason for RAID if they are so great).

 

If you purchase a well known brand, and not buy the cheapest of the cheap (as with any hard drive) it will be fine.

 

I also know of a fairly popular game server company that uses them for their OS also, and I know for a fact he will stand by them also.

 

I also know that wikapedia can't be trusted... People that appose them (for business reasons) can modify those pages, and make them say what ever they want.

 

here is the stated life span : 1,200,000 hours MTBF

[Grizzlyware Josh]

Excellent news I am most likely going to get one. I am looking at buying a new 27" iMac 2011 with a 1TB HDD & then add in a OCZ Vertex 3 SSD (120GB) 6Gbps!! The SSD drives that come from Apple are only 3Gbps, plus they cost a lot more.

 

Planned machine:

 

iMac 2011 27" LED backlit display

1TB Disk with added aftermarket OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD to run the OS.

4GB of Apple RAM - Swapping that out for 16GB of aftermarket DDR3 RAM.

AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5

3.4GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7

 

Should be ok...? Far cheaper & better than buying it all from Apple.

[WHMCS John]

I replaced the ailing HDD on my PC with a hybrid drive, so I get big storage and a performance enhancement at a reasonable price: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/222311

There's a definite performance improvement on the commonly used tasks; Windows boots faster, MS Office opens faster etc.

[Grizzlyware Josh]

Didn't even know they existed! I'm only keeping the 1TB disk in because Apple have made it merely impossible to replace the disk with a non-Apple one due to a temp sensor... !&%$#!! So I have to add one it extra. I've seen some videos on opening Photoshop, and it's blazingly fast. Mac OS X also boots in < 18 seconds with it. Excited now.

[SilverNodashi]

 

1. Wikipedia says that SSD devices have a limited number of read/write requests... how many is this? Will it last for years or months?
   

Yes, unlike normal SATA & SAS drives which have unlimited write cycles, SSD's have limited write cycles. Cheap consumer SSD's often have 100,000 write cycles. enterprise grade have longer write cycles.
But normal HDD's also only last so long. Especially if isn't used a lot.
 
 
One of the reasons they're so expensive is cause they have "backup sectors / blocks", which basically automatically take-over a block of data once a current block comes to it's end of life. And generally, you need to fill, and erase the SSD 100,000 times before it's fully depleted. How long will your "unlimited write cycle" SAS drive really last?
 

How reliable are they? One forum mentioned they are un-reliable, but didn't really back their point up.

They're far more reliable than SATA, or SAS drives - but still only as reliable as they were intended to be. If you need reliability, then spend some extra cash on an enterprise grade drive. It's well worth it.
They produce far less heat, don't have moving parts, use less power and use up less space.
 

I really only need a small drive to house the OS & the applications I use, I think 128GB will do fine. I have a sepperate file server to use for storage, so that's not a big issue.

 

And it will be fine just for that

But, if you plan on running an SQL or mail server on that machine, then use a separate SAS drive for the logs, it will help prolong the lifespan of the SSD drive.

If you could please give me any reviews on them? I have Googled & read a few reviews, but they are one off, testing them. I would like to know how they preform over a long period of time, do they get slower due to Wikipedia saying they can only last for so many read / writes?

 

Would really appreciate it if you could let me know

 

Thank's a lot!

 

How many of those google reviews were more than 2 years old? There was a lot of hype about SSD's 2-3 years ago and many people have posted a LOT about it then. But, the SSD technology has become much better since. Many enterprise drives come with 10year warranty, which is much more than the 5years on SATA/SAS drives - that has to say something, right?

[thebyp]

I replaced the ailing HDD on my PC with a hybrid drive, so I get big storage and a performance enhancement at a reasonable price: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/222311

There's a definite performance improvement on the commonly used tasks; Windows boots faster, MS Office opens faster etc.

 

Are they actually better? heard mixed reviews.

[Grizzlyware Josh]

Yes, unlike normal SATA & SAS drives which have unlimited write cycles, SSD's have limited write cycles. Cheap consumer SSD's often have 100,000 write cycles. enterprise grade have longer write cycles.

But normal HDD's also only last so long. Especially if isn't used a lot.

 

 

One of the reasons they're so expensive is cause they have "backup sectors / blocks", which basically automatically take-over a block of data once a current block comes to it's end of life. And generally, you need to fill, and erase the SSD 100,000 times before it's fully depleted. How long will your "unlimited write cycle" SAS drive really last?

 

 

They're far more reliable than SATA, or SAS drives - but still only as reliable as they were intended to be. If you need reliability, then spend some extra cash on an enterprise grade drive. It's well worth it.

They produce far less heat, don't have moving parts, use less power and use up less space.

 

 

 

And it will be fine just for that

But, if you plan on running an SQL or mail server on that machine, then use a separate SAS drive for the logs, it will help prolong the lifespan of the SSD drive.

 

 

How many of those google reviews were more than 2 years old? There was a lot of hype about SSD's 2-3 years ago and many people have posted a LOT about it then. But, the SSD technology has become much better since. Many enterprise drives come with 10year warranty, which is much more than the 5years on SATA/SAS drives - that has to say something, right?

 

Thanks a lot for your detailed reply! I have chosen to go with the Vertex 3 which has great reviews.

 

I got my dad setup with a Vertex 2 on his machine, and with a fresh install of Windows 7, its like it's running on rocket fuel!

 

I placed my order for my new iMac today & about to order my Vertex 3 to go inside, I CANNOT wait to get going with it, it's going to be like using some sort of super computer.

 

I would highly reccomend anyone upgrading to a SSD, the benefits are huge! I have only used a SATA II one and it's rapid, let alone my new one will be SATA III with a whopping 6 Gbps!

[WHMCS John]

Are they actually better? heard mixed reviews.

Well I think my old hard drive was dying, so even replacing it with a new conventional one may have yielded a performance improvement. But it's definitely faster than the old one.