SSDs - Don't defrag - What else should I know?

nate42nd · 29 Jun 2009

I have a new Patriot Torqx 128GB SSD in the air right now. I will have it soon.

Newegg.com - Patriot Torqx PFZ128GS25SSDR 2.5" 128GB SATA II Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks

I have heard the "do not defrag" warning.

What other differences are there I need to know? What do you need to do or not do with an SSD you would normally do or not do with a normal HD?

I plan to run Windows 7 and programs from this drive and use a normal one for storage until I get two more SSDs and set up RAID.

copernicus · 29 Jun 2009

Turn off your paging file.

nate42nd · 29 Jun 2009

copernicus said:

Turn off your paging file.

Huh, you do this because it does not need it because it's faster?...or some other reason?

Also you just go into Page file and set to no paging file right?

I only have 4GB of RAM. Would it be smart to put 8GB in there before doing this?

bobgay · 29 Jun 2009

why set up a raid? dont we do it becase of the depenability factor with hard drives? do we set up raid memory? Im new to these SSDs too but just some things that come to my mind
Bob

nate42nd · 29 Jun 2009

RAID will just give you parity or redundancy in case one drive fails. Some (RAID 0) will give a slight boost in performance. I am just thinking about it someday down the road. You can set up raid with any HD (even SSDs) as long as they are the same size and speed. It can get complicated.

I just ran into this article. Windows 7 MAY disable superfetch, prefetch, readyboost, and defrag itself. Someone must be running one that knows.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/win...-ssd,7717.html

copernicus · 29 Jun 2009

nate42nd said:

Huh, you do this because it does not need it because it's faster?...or some other reason?

Also you just go into Page file and set to no paging file right?

I only have 4GB of RAM. Would it be smart to put 8GB in there before doing this?

For the same reason you don't defrag an ssd. Paging files read/write all the time like crazy. It'll add undo wear to the drive.

Unless you're doing heavy ram stuff (PS/video editing/etc), you should be alright.

nate42nd · 29 Jun 2009

copernicus said:

For the same reason you don't defrag an ssd. Paging files read/write all the time like crazy. It'll add undo wear to the drive.

Unless you're doing heavy ram stuff (PS/video editing/etc), you should be alright.

Thanks for the info. I will try it. It can't hurt. I can always enable it if needed. I will just get 4GB more RAM and will never run into problems I suppose. It's cheap. (unlike SSDs)

I case anyone is wondering. I have been advised to turn off superfetch and defrag and prefetch with my SSD. Some people are doing more than that but i think i will try that for now and see what happens. If anyone else has an opinion please post it here.

Another question is AHCI or IDE? Which mode is better for a SATA SSD?

This article from MSDN seems to have a lot of information for those interested.
http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/200...rives-and.aspx

techcal · 01 Jul 2009

If I am not wrong, Windows (all versions) creates a paging file for itself when it needs to, regardless of whether you turn it off in the control panel/system settings. Sometimes you may get a BSOD if you don't have a proper paging file regardless of physical RAM, because Windows keeps shuffling stuff in and out of the RAM and it needs a swap file. This is what I read on the great internets..and I could be wrong...so don't take my word for it.

You don't need to defrag regularly (unlike magnetic HDDs) since that causes wasted erase/write cycles and decreases the life of the SSD. Apparently, for most SSDs, occasional optimization by free space consolidation restores some performance. However, I wouldn't run the windows defragger EVER on a SSD since it's so slow and inefficient that it must be causing tons of erase/write activity...if my experience with the Vista defragger was any indication....grinding the HDD for 6-7 hours for a 160GB volume with just moderate fragmentation.

nate42nd · 01 Jul 2009

Thanks Techcal, I have been reading for days about this stuff and still only know a fraction of what there is out there. The article posted here about SSDs is VERY good but it's long and my attention span if short. I have to read stuff a little at a time. haha

Thanks for the info....keep it coming.

DJG · 01 Jul 2009

nate42nd said:

RAID will just give you parity or redundancy in case one drive fails. Some (RAID 0) will give a slight boost in performance. I am just thinking about it someday down the road. You can set up raid with any HD (even SSDs) as long as they are the same size and speed. It can get complicated.

I just ran into this article. Windows 7 MAY disable superfetch, prefetch, readyboost, and defrag itself. Someone must be running one that knows.

Windows 7 and Optimization for Solid State Drives - Tom's Hardware

I wouldn't call doubling or tripling your disk speed "a light boost in performance"

.

Also not all RAID gives redundancy, RAID 0 being one, and in fact if one RAID 0 drive fails ALL your data is hosed, not just one drive's worth. But it is the fastest.

Some RAID configurations allow multiple drive failures, such as RAID 10 and 6.

Drives do not have to be the same size and speed, but the smallest drive will determine the array size, and many controllers allow you to use the ignored space in a non-RAID capacity.

BTW, RAID 10 will give you redundancy AND speed, almost but not quite as fast as RAID 0.