I've been looking into the possibility of upgrading some of our newer systems from HDD's to SSD's. The problem I have is that I'm not sure if the technology is ready from a reliability standpoint. Does anyone have any experience in using these drives in engineering or business desktops?
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HDD vs. SSD 1
- Thread starter wayne108
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You may find this article helpful:
It addresses failure rates that are common in some models and explains briefly how the technology safeguards against errors.
I've only been using several Intel X25-M SSDs for about a year, but it has been without any issues. The company I work for recently ordered 20+ of the newer Intel 320 series, banking on the success we've had with previous generations. From a desktop perspective, these mid-level drives should be reliable enough. As long as the end user is prepared for data loss as they "would be" with any other drive, then it shoudn't be an issue.
-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."
[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.
It addresses failure rates that are common in some models and explains briefly how the technology safeguards against errors.
I've only been using several Intel X25-M SSDs for about a year, but it has been without any issues. The company I work for recently ordered 20+ of the newer Intel 320 series, banking on the success we've had with previous generations. From a desktop perspective, these mid-level drives should be reliable enough. As long as the end user is prepared for data loss as they "would be" with any other drive, then it shoudn't be an issue.
-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."
[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.
I agree with Cdogg, the company I work for assembles workstations for the engineering sector, and we've had no problem with SSD failures yet...
I would like to stress though, if you do use SSD's in that type of environment, I would also set up a NAS storage solution to where all sensitive data is copied to just in case of a failure, basically said always BACK-UP... ;-)
Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"
I would like to stress though, if you do use SSD's in that type of environment, I would also set up a NAS storage solution to where all sensitive data is copied to just in case of a failure, basically said always BACK-UP... ;-)
Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"
hairlessupportmonkey
IS-IT--Management
you want to get manufaturers info on MTF (mean time to failure) and compare it to a SAS type drive.
ACSS - SME
General Geek
ACSS - SME
General Geek
hairlessupportmonkey
IS-IT--Management
ok ignore that....
ACSS - SME
General Geek
ACSS - SME
General Geek
- Thread starter
- #6
I find it interesting that Intel is offering 5 year warranties only with the 320 series, all other models are three year( 310, 510, x-18m, x25-e, x25-m , x25-v). It isn't that hard to find a Seagate HDD with a five year warranty. If Intel is unwilling to stand behind their products as firmly as they might if it were a more traditional technology, that tells me that the technology isn't quite ready. Close though.
Re: Seagates... omg... had nothing but trouble with those in the past 6 months, out of 10 we had placed into workstations all but 3 decided to go south and we had to replace them...
not one returned that was from WD or Hitachi...
Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"
not one returned that was from WD or Hitachi...
Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"
Wayne,
Did you even read the link I posted above? It clearly states that failure rates have been 0.61% (or even much lower) depending on the source and model. If you dig deep enough, you'll find that stat to be amazing compared to most HDD models. 2 to 6% is often considered acceptable by most HDD manufacturers.
Also 5-year warranties are relatively new. All through the 90s into the early 2000s, a 3-year warranty was considered the industry standard. In fact back in late 2002, Maxtor, Seagate, and Western Digital (the three leading manufacturers at the time) reduced their warranties from 3 years to 1 year which sent shockwaves through the industry as you can imagine.
Eventually reliability concerns settled and the 3-year warranty returned just a couple years later. But don't overlook the fact that HDDs are susceptible to many factors like shock, temperature, bearing failures, and head crashes. It's not surprising that it took the industry some time to come up with ways to preserve quality as drives became cheaper and drive capacity grew.
Remember that SSD technology is still in its infancy. As reliable as some of the drives are now, I suspect it won't be long before we can kick this discussion to the curb!
-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."
[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.
Did you even read the link I posted above? It clearly states that failure rates have been 0.61% (or even much lower) depending on the source and model. If you dig deep enough, you'll find that stat to be amazing compared to most HDD models. 2 to 6% is often considered acceptable by most HDD manufacturers.
Also 5-year warranties are relatively new. All through the 90s into the early 2000s, a 3-year warranty was considered the industry standard. In fact back in late 2002, Maxtor, Seagate, and Western Digital (the three leading manufacturers at the time) reduced their warranties from 3 years to 1 year which sent shockwaves through the industry as you can imagine.
Eventually reliability concerns settled and the 3-year warranty returned just a couple years later. But don't overlook the fact that HDDs are susceptible to many factors like shock, temperature, bearing failures, and head crashes. It's not surprising that it took the industry some time to come up with ways to preserve quality as drives became cheaper and drive capacity grew.
Remember that SSD technology is still in its infancy. As reliable as some of the drives are now, I suspect it won't be long before we can kick this discussion to the curb!
-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."
[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.
goombawaho
MIS
I won't be an early adopter. Let others feel the pain. Just like I wasn't early to adopt CDs over LPs - oh, am I dating myself.
Nothing a good backup routine can't fix! Besides, I think most are going with hybrid systems (HDD and SSD), at least in desktops that have the space.
-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."
[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.
-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."
[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.
hairlessupportmonkey
IS-IT--Management
> oh, am I dating myself.
How does that work? Sounds like a case for the gang at "Criminal Minds - FBI Behavioural Unit"
;-)
ACSS - SME
General Geek
How does that work? Sounds like a case for the gang at "Criminal Minds - FBI Behavioural Unit"
;-)
ACSS - SME
General Geek
- Thread starter
- #12
cdogg,
Yes I did read the article you posted, although I didn't walk away with the same conclusion you did. Its main focus seemed to be the SSD itself, and when it did compare the two formats its source material was a article from a 'french retailer', written in french.
I have no doubt that SSD's will eventually dominate the market. But at this time they are a comparatively new technology with unknown issues (and possibly their own foibles) . Which is why I started this thread, to see what issues real people who have actual experience with this tech have encountered.
Yes I did read the article you posted, although I didn't walk away with the same conclusion you did. Its main focus seemed to be the SSD itself, and when it did compare the two formats its source material was a article from a 'french retailer', written in french.
I have no doubt that SSD's will eventually dominate the market. But at this time they are a comparatively new technology with unknown issues (and possibly their own foibles) . Which is why I started this thread, to see what issues real people who have actual experience with this tech have encountered.
ZT Systems was also referenced as having over 100,000 Intel X25-M SSD's in use. In addition, you can read case studies about this on their website. The main page even mentions that they now have over 200,000 in use with "extremely low" failure rates:
I understand your hesitation, and it doesn't hurt to be cautious. But even if 20 people reply to this post with personal experiences, it wouldn't be enough to accurately reflect the reliability of SSD's.
-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."
[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.
I understand your hesitation, and it doesn't hurt to be cautious. But even if 20 people reply to this post with personal experiences, it wouldn't be enough to accurately reflect the reliability of SSD's.
-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."
[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.
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