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For all of us who hate Google spying on us.....

Susquatch said:
I just read a report that said the average life of an SSD is only 18 months before errors start accumulating. The trouble is that we don't notice the isolated errors until they matter. I just copied some files off of an SSD for my son to give a buddy. He hadn't had any problems with it, but it was full of errors.

It has me rethinking the whole idea of SSDs. Sure, they are fast. But I am quickly realizing that there might be a hefty price to pay that I didn't know about.
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The TrueNAS OS is 800mb originally designed to run off a 16gb USB stick and holds nothing valuable. You back up a 500kb config file elsewhere. I'm going the premium route with an SSD but you can run it off whatever you want. You can't get an HDD for $20 anymore, and USBs aren't robust enough to handle all the writes so the SSD is actually the best route here. If the USB/SSD/HD/computer fails then you simply load the OS onto another drive, boot it up, restore the 500kb config file and you're good to go. Re-loading/installing TrueNA is 10min process and not anything like Windows.

I store data on HDDs and Windows OS on SSDs under the same principal on all my desktops. For me the speed is well worth and I simply replace the SSD if anything every happens, which I've never had to. I'm spoiled and can't use any device without SSDs anymore!

Agree that valuable data shouldn't be stored on the same drive as your OS and software on a single SSD (or HDD for that matter). But folks on laptops don't have a choice and that's when I recommend backuping up regularly to an external HDD.
 
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architect said:
Just use a new harddrive!

The good thing about the software raid like TrueNAS is that it's very light-weight and can run off a USB. If your sever dies, just throw the harddrives into another computer along with the USB and it boots up and recognizes everything again. I run TrueNAS off a dedicated small SSD that's like $20.
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Oh wow good to know.. I really need to get with the program, because today my wife dropped her laptop again and this time the screen finally broke. Now she tells me she needs it fixed because all our important info is on there and she hasn't been a backing up to our portable hard drives.

Apparently T440S laptops have several different screen possibilities so I can't even order a replacement until I crack it open. Some days I wish I was the type of luddite that could survive with just a chalk board, or pen and paper.
 
architect said:
I store data on HDDs and Windows OS on SSDs under the same principal on all my desktops. For me the speed is well worth and I simply replace the SSD if anything every happens, which I've never had to. I'm spoiled and can't use any device without SSDs anymore!
Click to expand...

I guess maybe I wasn't clear enough. With SSDs, there is no file check so you don't even know your data is bad till you try to recover it. As I understand it, it's got something to do with a missing parity bit or a missing checksum. I didn't really follow the details of why that is true on SSDs but not on a Hard Disk. I've rebuilt sectors on a hard drive before and it's a painful process. But I do know that the data read just fine on my son's SSD, but it was badly corrupted. Basically, the read is successful, but the info is incorrect. In the old days, I understood the details of a sector read and all the vagaries of how that was done. But I don't know how it's done on an SSD. I suspect that an SSD works more like regular memory works in the sense that it is read from SSD memory the same way as regular memory as opposed to having to read an entire sector or sector translation just to get at one byte in the stream. At least that's sort of what I understood.

In other words, you could be backing up bad data and don't even know it.

I like the speed of an SSD too. But from now on, I think I'll only be using one for the OS and programs that can be re-installed. No more data on SSDs and I'll live with the speed loss.
 
terry_g said:
TorontoBuilder does the broken laptop have a video port? HDMI or VGA? you could plug a desktop monitor into it and boot it up. It might recognise the new monitor allowing you access to the files on the hard drive.

Terry
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@TorontoBuilder - I've done as @terry_g suggests many times. It's a lot faster than removing a hard drive especially if you plan to pitch it afterward.
 
@terry_g - if my wife's laptop crashed like that, I wouldn't be reading forum suggestions.... I'd have my head down beavering away at whatever recovery plan was first in my sights. As time passed, my voice would be getting higher and higher in lock step with the clamping pain......
 
terry_g said:
TorontoBuilder does the broken laptop have a video port? HDMI or VGA? you could plug a desktop monitor into it and boot it up. It might recognise the new monitor allowing you access to the files on the hard drive.

Terry
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A good idea, I'll have to buy one today and try it. My wife ironically hounded me until I tossed all my old cables and such in the trash about 2 years ago
 
TorontoBuilder said:
A good idea, I'll have to buy one today and try it. My wife ironically hounded me until I tossed all my old cables and such in the trash about 2 years ago
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My wife does this too. I usually ignore her cuz I know in my heart of hearts that my hoarding is more valuable than her purging.

If all else fails, I hide the stuff someplace where she is afraid to go.

I routinely go dumpster diving in our own garbage..... LOL!
 
Susquatch said:
I just read a report that said the average life of an SSD is only 18 months before errors start accumulating. The trouble is that we don't notice the isolated errors until they matter. I just copied some files off of an SSD for my son to give a buddy. He hadn't had any problems with it, but it was full of errors.

It has me rethinking the whole idea of SSDs. Sure, they are fast. But I am quickly realizing that there might be a hefty price to pay that I didn't know about.
Click to expand...
Here is an interesting discussion on the SSD lifespan
 
The other day I visited a guy that collects antique hay trolleys, and got a nice tour of his sheds and barn. Quite a collection, and all nicely preserved and displayed. Anyway, we're talking about the various ones he's got, and ones that elude him (I know nothing about them). My facebook market place is now filled with hay trollies for sale. My phone was in my pocket the entire time, I never took it out, took pictures or anything.....Now, there are theories about the devices talking to each other, like my phone got near his, so our interests must align etc, but he's old school. No smart phone, no cell phone period.

I've never searched for a hay trolley in my life (except for now to make sure I spelled it right lol). Funny stuff. Everything is listening.......
 
Dan Dubeau said:
I've never searched for a hay trolley in my life
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Yup. It listens. You don't need to be using your phone. It can be in your pocket. But it is listening.

Facebook is the worst of all. If you ever read the disclosure you had to agree to in order to use it you would be in total horror.

It listens in the background, tracks your every move, uses your camera, and examines your photos. And if you say no, it won't work.
 
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