subject: Is A Solid-state Drive More Reliable Than A Platter Drive? [print this page] Solid-state drives, or SSDs, are an up and coming technology in the world of personal computing. The technology continues to evolve and advance as new techniques are discovered and new components are improved and invented.
Actually, solid-state storage technology has been around for some time. Digital camera cards, USB keys and other forms of digital storage are nothing new. Additionally, a computers random access memory, or RAM, is composed of solid-state technology in the form of electronic storage chips.
In fact, RAM is very similar to a solid-state drive configuration, with a major difference being the volatility of RAM. When power is lost, RAM loses its information, while an SSD retain its contents.
Defining Reliability
Many users turn to SSDs because their data is accessed faster, allowing them to speed up their computing task. Speed, however, it not a definition or even a factor in reliability.
Solid-state drives are less susceptible to impact than standard platter drives since they have no moving parts to jostle or wear out. This is one reason that many high-end laptops are sold shipped with an SSD as an option, especially if rough use is anticipated.
However, that is actually more of a measure of hardiness or ruggedness, not reliability. Even with no moving parts, SSDs still fall prey to issues common to standard drives. Physical failure from power surges, abuse and natural disasters may still send the SSD on a trip to the data recovery service.
Of course, human error or maliciousness can damage data on any drive, regardless of its construction. For example, drive defragmentation, a task that many users have done routinely, will actually harm a solid-state drive.
MTBF One Indicator of Reliability
Drive reliability is often discussed in relation to its expected mean-time-between-failure rating, or MTBF. This is the expected lifetime of the drive. Platter drives have been around for ages, and there are voluminous statistics available from drive manufacturers tests and hard disk data recovery information from recovery labs.
Therefore, standard drive MTBF estimates are relatively easy to compute and the results are very accurate. Conversely, data on SSDs is sparse compared to standard disks. This is due in part to inaccuracies in failure statistics reporting, especially in drives still under warranty. Even when SSDs are taken in for hard disk data recovery, service companies dont always report their findings to the manufacturer.
The good news is that as SSDs come of age and mature, statistics will become more reliable and a true comparison can be made. Until then, the decision to replace standard drives with solid-state drives is a personal choice based on preference and cost.
Final Thought
All drives fail and fail unexpectedly, regardless of construction or design. Effective, routine backups are vital to protecting valuable data in any scenario.
