SSD Prices In A Free Fall

Lady Fitzgerald said:

Multipass deletions are no longer considered necessary even for HDDs. The Secure Erase utility that is on pretty much all SSD support software is all you need to completely wipe an SSD (once you remove the charge from a cell, it's totally kaput).

I don't see why you would need to encrypt an OS only SSD. For that matter, I would think encrypting even an OS HDD would either cripple it or prevent it from working, period. All that would really need encrypting would be data folders only. Also, can you cite a source that supports encryption raising Cain with TRIM? This is the first I've heard of that

Well, here's a common example. After using Firefox on my boot HDD for an hour, using Recuva I can get a few hundred images and documents that were written to FF's cache that FF allegedly "deleted" when it was shut down. Oops. Using Recuva to multi-pass erase those items wipes them clean. I can't do that on a SSD.

I'm aware of the Secure Erase utility for the entire drive that's used on SSDs. I am interested in multiple-pass erasing free space and chosen files and folders only. Say some undesirable entity enters my home - a criminal, the government (ahem) - and gets their hands on my hard drive. Unless I multipass erase empty space or deleted files on my HDD, they're retrieveable. This can't be done on a SSD. To me, that's a huge security dealbreaker.

I did read at least two articles saying that completely encrypting a SSD causes trouble with TRIM because there are no "empty" blocks of memory to work with... TRIM sees the entire drive as filled to the brim with data. If or when I can find the articles again, I'll gladly post the link(s).

I do realize that most people don't think of this, don't really care, think they have nothing to hide, and that I seem to be the only one bleating about it. That's fine.

Again, multi-pass wiping is no longer considered necessary for wiping a HDD; one pass of writing ones and/or zeros to the HDD is all that is necessary. The only thing I use multi-pass wiping for anymore is torture testing new HDDs.

You do not want to do multi-pass, or even single pass, wiping by writing ones and/or zeroes on a SSD because that will unnecessarily use up some of the SSD's finite number of write cycles. Secure Erase is sufficient for ensuring all data has been completely removed from an SSD.

If I had a hard drive or SSD that had secret, super secret things on it I would not wipe it at all.

I would use a saw and cut them up in pieces and then melt them. Then take the puddles of plastic and metal after cooling and run them through a tree limb grinder that the tree removal people use.
Then I would be 80% sure the information on them could not be retrieved.

TRIM will erase cells that contained deleted date on an internal SSD. When the OS deletes a file from an internal SSD, it sends the TRIM command and the drive immediately clears the sectors. This also makes it almost impossible to recover deleted data. Therefore there would be no reason to do secure erase only for deleted files. A Guy

A Guy said:

TRIM will erase cells that contained deleted date on an internal SSD. When the OS deletes a file from an internal SSD, it sends the TRIM command and the drive immediately clears the sectors. This also makes it almost impossible to recover deleted data. Therefore there would be no reason to do secure erase only for deleted files. A Guy

The key thing to remember here is internal SSDs. TRIM commands can't be sent to external drives over USB so external SSDs can get "cluttered". It's one reason why the backup drives I carry in my notebook case are still spinners.

GokAy said:

As far as I know:

External SSDs will still get cleaned if you let them idle over-night (no need to even connect to a PC, just attach to a power source). Garbage collection is independent of TRIM.

That sounds familiar. My Kingston SSD had built in software to automatically recondition deletions. It worked on Vista in a USB docking station. When deleting files the space would not be added to the free space until it was processed. I did not have to take any manual action.

mjf said:

But the reliability of SSDs has been questioned.
When SSDs are not that solid
Around 120GB SSD seems a good size for me (installed programs, some data and efficient imaging). Maybe I'll consider them disposable items provided I have recent system images and the price drops even further.

That was the news of the month, just for not getting too boored.

If certain SSD were failing there would be many complaints on the internet since long time ago....there aren't...

Regarding the prices well yes they are falling little by little each year of course (nothing drastic) but the technology is still expensive (try buying 1Tb) unless you buy a Kingston one.

Lady Fitzgerald said:

I don't understand why people are so concerned about SSDs. My Samsung 840 Pro has been running pretty much 24/7 for about 2 1/2 years without any problems. SSDLife projects its life to be another 11 years (granted, it's no guarantee but it does indicate how good it is). I also have two Samsung 840 EVOs in my note books and they are doing just fine (granted, they do get light usage).

I've said this before and I will say it again; all drives, be they HDD, SSD, flash, whatever, will eventually fail. The only way to ensure the safety of your data is to have a good backup scheme in place. The recent report of the Samsung 850 PROs having issues with data loss were from a commercial server using them in a situation they were not designed for. Windows systems were not affected. The recent brouhaha over SSDs losing data while setting on a shelf turned out to have been exaggerated.

Consumer reviews of SSDs have been just as good, often better, as those for HDDs. Eschewing SSDs because of some questionable reports of problems with them is like not buying a car for a commuter or a grocery getter because of reports some of them had their engines fail after they had been used for drag racing or were used for pulling oversized trailers.

I'm usually slow to adopt new technology, especially if it isn't cost effective for me or the present technology is meeting my needs. Still, I will not hesitate to use SSDs in my machines. They have been well worth the money for me (and the prices have been plummeting lately). I'm looking forward to when it will be cost effective for me to nothing but SSDs, including for mass storage.

Having a 256gb Samsung 840 pro which has been working like a drover's dog since I had it I can only say

smiths22 said:

mjf said:

But the reliability of SSDs has been questioned.
When SSDs are not that solid
Around 120GB SSD seems a good size for me (installed programs, some data and efficient imaging). Maybe I'll consider them disposable items provided I have recent system images and the price drops even further.

That was the news of the month, just for not getting too boored.

"boored":). If you're that boored bored maybe read a dictionary.

I haven't had a problem personally with SSDs apart from the Samsung rubbish connectors. Touch wood my internal HDDs on 3 PCs haven't failed. I would have expected solid state devices to be more reliable and any indication that they may have a problem is worth noting. That's why I guess it's a useful NEWS post.