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SSD Prices in a Free Fall

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Re: SSD Prices in a Free Fall

#111

Post by rorykoehler »

pixl97 wrote: post #110
rorykoehler wrote: post #101

Having had a failure rate above what I was used to with hdds I'd prefer to see an increase in quality rather than a fall in price. It gets annoying having to replace my os ssd every 18 months or so. My most recent phone's memory also died after 30 months.

Uh, what kind of SSDs are you buying that you're having that kind of failure rate (god please don't say OCZ). I've been using Samsung and Intel SSDs for years now with failure rates below the failure rates of WD drives (and well below Seagate failure rates).

SanDisk . They have always been quick to replace them. The last one they even upgraded to a much more expensive model which makes me think the issue was being widely experienced. If I were to buy today I would buy Samsung as I have heard they are much more durable. Incidentally it was a Samsung phone that died though I don't know who made the memory for that.

Re: SSD Prices in a Free Fall

#112

Post by sliverstorm »

agumonkey wrote: post #108
stephenjudkins wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's one theory: https://storagemojo.com/2014/04/25/amazons-glacier-secret-bd... and here's the HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7647571 Facebook uses Blu-ray discs with a robotic storage system for its cold storage: http://www.datacenterdynamics.com/it-networks/robot-digs-thr...

It would be nice if Facebook released some stats, kinda like backblaze, about blu-ray durability.

I thought degradation of optical medium was already pretty well understood? (And happened on timescales generally longer than FB has been in operation)

Re: SSD Prices in a Free Fall

#113

Post by agumonkey »

sliverstorm wrote: post #112
agumonkey wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be nice if Facebook released some stats, kinda like backblaze, about blu-ray durability.

I thought degradation of optical medium was already pretty well understood? (And happened on timescales generally longer than FB has been in operation)

I was too young at the time optical medium was everywhere to search for actual data, and public claims were contradictory (5 years, 10 years .. more .. ). And that was CD-ROM density.

Interestingly, http://blog.digistor.com/the-unparalleled-durability-of-blu-... says that there were new design constraint in blurays making them much more durable.

Re: SSD Prices in a Free Fall

#115

Post by deftnerd »

sliverstorm wrote: post #112
agumonkey wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be nice if Facebook released some stats, kinda like backblaze, about blu-ray durability.

I thought degradation of optical medium was already pretty well understood? (And happened on timescales generally longer than FB has been in operation)

Perhaps Amazon's Glacier center operates in a lights-out environment with a decreased oxygen environment to increase the life span of the discs.

Re: SSD Prices in a Free Fall

#116

Post by pmontra »

acqq wrote: post #47
pmontra wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe not. http://www.itworld.com/article/2921047/hardware/no-you-wont-...

Note that that "proof" is not proof at all. Ignoring that it's anecdotal evidence on the sample of one, the author didn't have the checksum of the data on his SSD and didn't try to recompute it, he just tried to boot the computer with the SSD after being turned off for some time and then installed the new OS. Note that the older the SSD (from the technology standpoint) the better retention is to be expected as the mi…

More anecdotal evidence.

I have two very old SSD. They are the 4 and 16 GB SSD of the early EEEPC 900 Linux version https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Asus_Eee_PC#Eee_900_series

Needless to say, that netbook stays shut down for months but it still works when I turn it on. It survived many summers at 30 C. I don't know which kind of SSD it contains but being from 2008 it shouldn't be anything too fancy.

Re: SSD Prices in a Free Fall

#117

Post by toomuchtodo »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #90
discardorama wrote: post #36

Cheapest 1 TB SSD on Amazon: $350 Cheapest 1 TB HDD on Amazon: $40 Expecting a 10x drop in prices in 1 year is ludicrous. Even if the prices follow a pseudo Moore's law and fall by half every 18 months, you're looking at at least 5 years before they reach parity. And in the meantimg HDDs would have gotten cheaper; so expect even more time for parity. In other words: ain't happenin' in 2016.

Yup, pretty much. The only bit of news is that SSDs can achieve hard drive densities with 3D NAND, but like the early calls for the demise of all lighting other than LED. That was 10 years ago, its getting closer now. I'm putting in LED can lights in my living room for example. So at some point ...

To your LED point, I'm unaware of anyone not putting LED if cost of electricity or labor is of any importance.

Consumers may not have gotten the message yet, but anyone running the numbers is going LED or nothing at all (small exceptions for grow operations or theater lightening).

Re: SSD Prices in a Free Fall

#118

Post by kenjackson »

bwy wrote: post #49

I find great irony in statements like these when the motivation of every party is considered. The idea is that prices are "in a free fall," i.e., they haven't fallen completely yet. But this will encourage people to buy SSDs and drive them in the very free fall of which the article speaks! Experienced the same principle in my life a few weeks ago - I moved to a place described as "gentrifying." Realized a week into s…

At least you were told it was "gentrifying", not that it was "gentrified". You probably got a discount for moving into a neighborhood that was gentrifying. Once gentrified, the discount probably largely disappears.

Re: SSD Prices in a Free Fall

#119

Post by acqq »

pmontra wrote: post #116
acqq wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that that "proof" is not proof at all. Ignoring that it's anecdotal evidence on the sample of one, the author didn't have the checksum of the data on his SSD and didn't try to recompute it, he just tried to boot the computer with the SSD after being turned off for some time and then installed the new OS. Note that the older the SSD (from the technology standpoint) the better retention is to be expected as the mi…

More anecdotal evidence. I have two very old SSD. They are the 4 and 16 GB SSD of the early EEEPC 900 Linux version https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Asus_Eee_PC#Eee_900_series Needless to say, that netbook stays shut down for months but it still works when I turn it on. It survived many summers at 30 C. I don't know which kind of SSD it contains but being from 2008 it shouldn't be anything too fancy.

As I've said, the older SSD (technologically) and the lower capacity it has the better retention is expected. My 256 MB USB stick also still works, but one I've bought much later, 16 GB, died after only one summer of being not used. And that anecdote too really doesn't prove anything. The worst events are when just a few bits are changed and you don't recognize. Then a few bits more are changed... etc

Re: SSD Prices in a Free Fall

#120

Post by abandonliberty »

I wonder how reliability is doing; Unlike HDDs SSDs have a very unpredictable failure pattern, including sudden death rather than slow degradation.

If you want to ensure data is safe you need to run a raid 1 or online backup service.

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