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Date:      Wed, 14 Oct 2020 17:47:49 +0200
From:      Polytropon <>
To:        Ralf Mardorf <>
Subject:   Re: A couple of questions about SSDs
Message-ID:  <>
In-Reply-To: <20201014121442.662e71c4@archlinux>
References:  <> <20201014121442.662e71c4@archlinux>

On Wed, 14 Oct 2020 12:14:42 +0200, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
> I wonder why I need to read on all computer related mailing list the
> same questions related to SSDs again and again.
> For what do we get HDDs or SSDs? We get them for using them. However,
> there is a very clear answer to your question. Keep the SSD in the
> original packaging, never use it, this does reduce wear a lot.

It actually does - and you don't have to deal with firmware
updates. :-)

Well, The primary consideration is: Will the wear due to writing
to the SSD have significant impact _before_ or _after_ the SSD,
maybe along with the system it is installed in, is due for
decommissioning? In other words: Will wear make the SSD unusable
before its natural "end of life date"?

My guess (and it's really just a guess due to my personal lack
of any important data and experience) is that the SSD will work
until it is replaced by a bigger one, or the whole system it is
installed in will be replaced with a faster one. So there is
nothing to worry about. If you _really_ want to worry about
something, ask the manufacturer if they made the firmware brick
the whole thing when a certain write count is reached so you
cannot even _read_ your data anymore. :-)

> However, if you decide to use it for read and write operations, you can
> handle it in the same way as you handle a HDD, just use the trim command
> from time to time.

UFS supports this.

> SSDs don't break after a year, if you use them. They
> last for years. Non of mine ever failed. Probably SSDs suffer from less
> wear than HDDs do, time will show us. I'm using HDDs only for backups
> and to archive data.

Quite similar usage here - different SSDs are in use for a few
years now, not a single sign of problems so far.

> Handles, light switches, everything wears out. This is the
> nature of everyday objects, but all those things last for a reasonable
> time, if you use them.

As long as the light switch doesn't suddenly shout "I've been
used 1500 times now, I'm kaputt, please buy a new one!" everything
should be okay within the limits of reality.

> SSDs aren't cheap USB sticks, they are made for modern computers that
> write and read way more data, than computers did a few years back. Swap
> is probably never used, but software sizes, picture and video sizes,
> and other data sizes, professional and home used data increased a lot.

For the case of using lots of "throwaway files" (i. e. stuff you
only need as files during ports builds), you can always use a
RAM disk, if your system has enough RAM. And swap space that you
don't write to doesn't add any wear.

> What exactly makes you think, that SSDs need gentle treatment?

It's probably the limit on write cycles, but I'm not sure how
this compares to general lifetime calculations compared to
regular hard disks...

Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
