[Discuss] SSD

[Richard Pieri]

On 5/31/2012 3:49 PM, Jerry Feldman wrote:
> Rich,
> One question. What I have been reading online is that SSD drives have a
> much longer MTBF than HHDs.

That depends on how you define "failure".  Certainly, a chunk of 
aluminum rotating at just shy of Mach 1 is more likely to conk out than 
a device with no moving parts.  That's simple mechanics and a bit of 
thermodynamics.  Solid state beats mechanical in typical MTBF testing, 
but that's only part of the story.

A daily driver can burn through a flash-based SSD in a year.  That's my 
take from talking with the people at MicroCenter who deal with the 
returns.  This isn't failure in the traditional sense since the drives 
still work.  They've just lost massive portions of their storage capacity.

Much longer MTBF but much shorter life span.

-- 
Rich P.