[Discuss] reliability of SSDs vs HDDs

[Patrick]

On Sun, 14 Oct 2012 07:52:04 -0700
Cy Schubert wrote:

[...]
> 
> Running some kind of disk tool, e.g. ddrescue, dd_rescue, Spinrite at level 
> 1, or simply dd to read the contents (not write, writes wear out flash 
> memory), the SSD will remap weak memory to more reliable memory, extending 
> the life of your data.

Thanks.  I'd noticed weird delays lately, when opening or closing
programs, loading a web-page, directory contents -- things that
involve a certain amount of reading and writing, of config files
mainly.  It hadn't done this before, when the same SSD was in my
other laptop [which is plugged into the TV in the livingroom,
mainly used as a DVD player, and to play downloaded movies], but
after reformatting and cloning my day-to-day system onto it...

Anyway, I tried;
	sudo dd if=/dev/sda > /dev/null
Took about five minutes to read the whole drive [16GB], and
things have run pretty smoothly since.

How often would you suggest doing this?  I'm thinking of making
it a monthly cron job.

[Side note; the spinning drive in my main laptop began to fail a
few weeks ago, but I was able to copy the system and /home onto a
16GB SSD, misc data onto a 1TB external [USB] drive, restore a
few missing items from backup, and have been using that setup
ever since.  The lag when loading/unloading software and data
only occurred after switching drives, not sure why.]

> Eventually the device will fail.

Well, yes.  Eventually, everything does.  That's why I view all
property as rented, not bought, because sooner or later it will
wear out, or you will -- and you can't take it with you.

In the long run, some expensive items end up costing less,
because if they're more durable, your `lease' on them runs
longer.  Other times, a $20 thrift-shop special is a pretty
good deal, even if you'll have to replace it sooner than you'd
like.  Depends what you're shopping for.

I had trouble explaining this to an employer, who kept buying
cheap vacuum cleaners, new, which tended to fail with alarming
frequency.  He could have saved a lot of money by spending more,
or less [eg, better vacuums or thrift-shop specials].

Oh well, wasn't my money.



Cheers,

Patrick.
-- 
Without love intelligence is dangerous;
without intelligence love is not enough.
		-- Ashley Montagu