[Tfug] tfug Digest, Vol 114, Issue 27

[Bexley Hall]

Hi Shanna,

On 1/30/2013 11:11 PM, shanna leonard wrote:

[elided]

> Thanks for the link -- . Just to throw something in here... to increase
> longevity, you can "over provision" IE partition the drive and leave a
> portion of it unused.
> http://thessdguy.com/how-controllers-maximize-ssd-life-over-provisioning/ This
> can dramatically increase the longevity. see also wikipedia
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Write_amplification#Over-provisioning
> per ssdguy:
> "
> for standard MLC NAND flash, 45% over provisioning will give you about
> twice the drive life of 20% over provisioning, and 75% over provisioning
> will extend the disk's life to three times. A full 100% over
> provisioning won't get you quite as far as four times the drive life,
> but it comes close.
>
> I like the price point for reliabiity of the intel 320's - I'm planning
> to use them in a ZFS-based storage server soon, and I fully expect that
> if I over-provision the Zil (ZFS Intent Log - caches writes) by 100% I
> will have it last a couple of years.. Which is all I would count on from
> a hard-drive anyway.

I think most hard drives have expected lifetimes in the 5-8 year
range (in "regular use").  I have drives that are easily that
old (though seen much lower use).

> discussion: http://communities.intel.com/thread/22252
>
> Here's another related link
> http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p400e-review-endurance,3199-2.html

What are the consequences when your drive fails?  Who "notices"
the failure and acts to repair/replace it?  What does it "cost"
you (or your organization) while it is unavailable?  E.g., if
it fails on a Friday evening, do the pipes freeze in the building
before someone notices the failure and repairs it on Monday morning?
Or, are there "staff" actively responsible for maintaining this?

How much of your *personal* life would you rely on it?