Discussion Overview
The discussion revolves around the failure of a Seagate SSD during a large data transfer, exploring potential causes and considerations for using SSDs for backup purposes. Participants share their experiences and hypotheses regarding the failure, including usage patterns, environmental factors, and the reliability of SSD components.
Discussion Character
- Exploratory
- Technical explanation
- Debate/contested
Main Points Raised
- One participant reports a complete failure of a Seagate SSD during a large transfer, noting that most data was recoverable.
- Another participant questions whether the SSD was filled to capacity, suggesting that doing so may lead to quicker failure.
- A participant clarifies that they rarely used the SSD and did not fill it to capacity.
- Concerns are raised about the reliability of external SSDs if not powered up regularly, with one participant suggesting this could be a factor in the failure.
- Heat is proposed as a potential issue, with a participant mentioning a temperature of around 90°F during the transfer.
- One participant discusses the lore surrounding SSDs, indicating that failures may often be related to the internal controller circuitry rather than the NAND itself.
- Another participant suggests that the NAND in SSDs is generally reliable, pointing out that small component failures are more common, particularly in Seagate SSDs.
- There is a recommendation that SSDs may not be the best choice for backup due to their cost-speed trade-off, advocating for having multiple copies even if they are slower.
Areas of Agreement / Disagreement
Participants express differing views on the reliability of SSDs for backup and the potential causes of the failure, indicating that multiple competing perspectives remain without a clear consensus.
Contextual Notes
Participants mention various factors that could contribute to SSD failure, including usage patterns, environmental conditions, and component reliability, but do not resolve these issues or provide definitive conclusions.
Who May Find This Useful
This discussion may be of interest to individuals considering the use of SSDs for data storage and backup, as well as those experiencing similar issues with external drives.