gessman Loc: Colorado

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Thanks. Do you recall how you learned of that - what industry authority or manufacturer is saying that? It's only been about a year since we had the conversation I referred to here on uhh and since I'm slowing down on some of my reading, perhaps there's something I've missed but I haven't heard anything like the comment you just made about an improved time span for security of data.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

There is a lot going on with SSD technology, just like there is a lot going on with camera technology. Some of it has to do with performance, some with capacity, and some with economy. Specifications trade off among each other, and there are now "grades" of SSD drives just as there have been grades of spinning drives for quite some time.

There are differences in read and write speed from grade to grade (about a 2:1 range), and a range of expected life (in terms of reads and writes) over more than a 10:1 range. There are now multiple SSD technologies and designs. It is important to understand 2-bit, 3-bit, and 4-bit architecture, and, in the case of Samsung drives, to understand the difference between their Pro, EVO, and QVO model designations. They designate very important differences in expected life and, to a somewhat lesser degree, speed and performance.

The latest version of Samsung's management and maintenance software, Magician Version 6 (free download, but works only with Samsung drives) provides a number of functions to extend drive life and reliability, and to significantly improve performance.

I've just completed round 2 of tuning and upgrading my two laptops, since they are not candidates for Windows 11. They now have performance comparable to many of today's machines, and their cooling fans rarely turn on.

For a number of years, a SSD was just a SSD, whether it was connected via SATA or M.2. That is absolutely no longer the case.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

https://www.anandtech.com/show/9248/the-truth-about-ssd-data-retention

Key passage:
“ All in all, there is absolutely zero reason to worry about SSD data retention in typical client environment. Remember that the figures presented here are for a drive that has already passed its endurance rating, so for new drives the data retention is considerably higher, typically over ten years for MLC NAND based SSDs. If you buy a drive today and stash it away, the drive itself will become totally obsolete quicker than it will lose its data.”

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Thanks. Actually, the JEDEC presentation she was referring to/clarifying is much more useful and interesting then her article (here’s the link: https://www.jedec.org/sites/default/files/Alvin_Cox%20%5bCompatibility%20Mode%5d_0.pdf ).
Note that this is a proposed JEDEC standard and does not reflect actual testing by a manufacturer. I’m going to have to take exception to the 5-10 years and her comment. If you look at the table for a client SSD (which we all are unless we’re running an IT data center), to meet the JEDEC standard, an SSD written at 40 deg C (a typical inside case temperature) and stored at 25 deg C (a typical home temperature), the retention standard is ~2 years and that drops to 1 year if the SSD is stored at 30 deg C (86 deg F) and it gets progressively worse as the storage temperature increases.

Regardless, it’s not relevant if you use SSDs for their intended purpose - active storage, not an archive.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Get the fastest and largest SSD you can afford. Be sure it has a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 interface and gets over 1500 MBPS read/write speed. Look for a 3-5 year warranty.

Be sure you buy only Thunderbolt 4 cables… They work with all devices sharing the USB-C connector — at full speed. Lesser cables may constrain the speed to USB 3.1 or 3.2 standards. My son learned that the hard way!

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

I’ve never had a problem with my WD passports. I must be lucky

11bravo

Whatever SSD you get, if you're paranoid like me, I'd opt for 2, especially for those travel photos. 1 set on the internal drive, and 2 backups.

The only HDD I've had fail was a Seagate in my "early" years - so naive, I never tested, and when I needed, it was DOA, past the warranty. Lesson learned, now I provision EVERY HDD (and I have A LOT):
1. LONG format, not quick
2. full chkdsk- chkdsk drive_letter: /x /v /f /r /b
3. run a StableBit Scanner (paid program) scan.
In total, for a 4 TB WD Red Plus (get the Plus - it's CMR tech), close to 16 hours of continuous reads/writes. But now I know...

Just remember to monitor the drive temp when doing the above as the drive will heat up. I use a Rosewill RX-358 that comes with an internal fan, or, if using a "toaster" dock, a desk fan blowing over the drive.

My experience, an HDD is either DOA, fails quickly, or runs a long time - I've had some HGST's running 24/7/365 for over 5 years in my HTPC.

Yes, any drive will fail, so do backup, but with proper care, they can last a long time...
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For ANY drive, temperature is THE problem. HEAT kills. When doing large copies to an external SSD, I monitor the temps, and will direct a desk fan over the SSD case just to keep the temp down (paranoid, maybe, but...) For critical data, I prefer SAMSUNG, for temp data, Crucial sufficient.

Regardless of the external drive, I strongly suggest you monitor drive temps (and health). I've used a Windows paid program, Hard Disk Sentinel, for over a decade. The Pro version allows you to set temp thresholds and specify actions when those are reached (audible alarm or even computer shutdown). Nice when you can leave the computer on its own and not have to worry about "cooking" a drive. A MUCH better deal then a single Pro license is the Pro pack for 5 licenses. Even if you don't have 5 computers, a license makes a nice gift to someone. Author is responsive, program is well maintained, and I can verify about the lifetime license (author once helped me when I wanted to move a license from a dead notebook). This is one of those programs (Pro version) I have on every computer.

https://www.hdsentinel.com/store.php

I'm not a shill for hdsentinel - it just works for me. I have a Buffalo external HDD, no ventilation in a plastic case, which would overheat. My solution was to position one of those clip-on desktop fans above it to provide cooling. Sufficient, unless I forgot to turn the fan on. Hard Disk Sentinel's alarm alerted me to my mental failure.

I use another paid program, StableBit Scanner to automate periodic surface scans.

https://stablebit.com/Scanner

See here for screenshots of HD Sentinel
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/tpr?p=11642046&t=668851
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I've used GetDataBack to recover files from lost partition/lost MFT HDD's. Free to try. I can vouch that the lifetime license is truly lifetime. I don't have to do it often, but last month had to recover a lost MFT drive. To recover a lost MFT from a 4TB drive takes around 24 hours (copy the files to a good drive once GetDataBack rebuilds the MFT).

https://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Yep, if you want the fastest external drive you can buy (I think) for a Mac with a Thunderbolt interface, the Samsung X5 is the answer, but it’s 3x the price of a T5 and over 2X the price of T7 ($349 for 1TB). If you’re going to use the disk for aps, OS or scratch, it’s a good fit if you can afford it. For photo storage, probably unnecessary (but I’m always for all the compute/I-O speed you can afford).

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Which is why I have a regular spinning hard drive external drive for travel. I only use it when I don’t travel with a laptop so I’ve gone almost two years without using it.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

For storage, a desktop HDD with 8-12 TB of RAID dual redundancy will be fine.

I like to work on two SSDs, and store on two HDDs. An 8-minute 4K video can take over 200GB of working space. So an external SSD drive (or two) is critical if you’re on a deadline. It took two hours to copy a 209GB Final Cut Pro project library from a 7200 RPM USB 3 drive to a 2TB USB 3.1 SSD my kid has. That’s the sort of thing you don’t do under pressure.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

After 40+ years of HD storage in which the capacity has increased a million fold and the price has actually dropped, we’re beginning to see the end and a transition away from spinning mechanical storage. Although the capacity has increased, the full stroke random access/seek time has remained roughly the same for at least twenty years. Transfer speed has increased some (due to the higher arial density), but not that much. In contrast SSDs are roughly doubling in capacity for the same price every year or so, access time is almost 1000x better than an HD and transfer speed is about 25x faster for NVME SSD, and we haven’t even mentioned size, heat and power. Cost/TB is the ONLY advantage for HDs, and when that is gone in a few years, there won’t be a valid reason to choose them. It’s been a long successful run, but the end is in sight.

speedmaster Loc: Kendall, FL

Neither do I and I've been using them for over 6 years already, including as local backup for the computers in my company.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Agreed... In an enterprise environment, especially, it is difficult to justify spinning platters for anything but long term storage. As a hobbyist, I can't afford 8TB of SSD, just yet.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Me either. And personally, I wouldn’t be investing in Seagate or WD as a long term play. It will take a few years, but HD sales are already being supplanted by SSDs, and you can’t just turn a HD assembly line into an SSD foundry. WD is starting to sell SSDs, but I think they’re just outsourcing and relabeling them. No real value add or much profit in that. And the players like Intel and Samsung (and now SanDisk), who already have the market share and the foundries and NAND Flash expertise are going to be hard to catch.

So is Apple making their own SSDs or outsourcing them?

teammt

Check the Apple site. They sell G-Force. I have 2; a 4 TB and a 10 TB.