Everything I know about SSDs (2019)

Post by monocasa » Tue, Apr 02, 2024, 9:59 PM UTC

jmbwell wrote: post #9

sgerenser wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never heard of using a literal flash to reprogram EPROMs, but this wikipedia entry[1] makes your story for the origin of the term “Flashing” seem likely EPROMs are easily recognizable by the transparent fused quartz (or on later models resin) window on the top of the package, through which the silicon chip is visible, and which permits exposure to ultraviolet light during erasing. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik…

It does look like all the references I can find point to engineers at Toshiba in 1980 coining the name, although Google ngrams shows some references to "flash EPROM" prior to 1980, so I can't help but wonder if the idea existed at least in some form prior to 1980

Post by sgerenser » Tue, Apr 02, 2024, 10:23 PM UTC

robotnikman wrote: post #22

Eisenstein wrote: post #15

Something useful to know that wasn't mentioned: SSDs will corrupt data if sitting for extended periods without being powered on and thus should never be used for cold storage. "There are considerations which should be made if you are planning on shutting down an SSD based system for an extended period. The JEDEC spec for Enterprise SSD drives requires that the drives retain data for a minimum of 3 months at 40C. This…

Makes me wonder if those external SSD drives made by Samsung and WD/Sandisk take that into account and use different flash memory with better longevity without power.

Post by canucker2016 » Tue, Apr 02, 2024, 10:39 PM UTC

jmbwell wrote: post #5

I always thought 'flash' was a holdover from early reprogrammable ROM technology, non-volatile memory that you could erase by literally flashing a literal flashbulb over a little window on the chip. I would've sworn in a court of law that I recall this being called "flashable" memory, that erasing it was called "flashing" it, and reprogramming it in general was called "reflashing" in a sort of synecdoche. And I'd hav…

Post by Vecr » Tue, Apr 02, 2024, 11:02 PM UTC

magnetic wrote: post #16

password4321 wrote: post #7

I've heard SSDs are more likely to "fail fast". Can anyone recommended utilities that monitor and warn before SSD failures?

My SSDs show SMART attributes, which can be used as a rough indicator of health, but really the only strategy I've found to work well for my peace of mind is to use redundancy. Concretely, I use ZFS with a zpool with 2 SSDs in a mirror configuration. When one dies, even if it's sudden, I can just swap it out for another one and that's it. My vulnerability window starts when the first SSD fails and closes when the mir…

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 02, 2024, 11:39 PM UTC

magnetic wrote: post #16

password4321 wrote: post #7

I've heard SSDs are more likely to "fail fast". Can anyone recommended utilities that monitor and warn before SSD failures?

My SSDs show SMART attributes, which can be used as a rough indicator of health, but really the only strategy I've found to work well for my peace of mind is to use redundancy. Concretely, I use ZFS with a zpool with 2 SSDs in a mirror configuration. When one dies, even if it's sudden, I can just swap it out for another one and that's it. My vulnerability window starts when the first SSD fails and closes when the mir…