What does write endurance mean for SSDs?

Question

In terms of SSDs, just what does ‘write endurance’ refer to, and in terms of its importance, how much of an impact does it have?

Answer 1

The term write endurance describes the maximum number of rewrites that the flash cells embedded into a SSD can be written. This is usually expressed in drive writes per day (DWPD) or terabytes written (TBW). It is critical as it provides a measure of the durability of an SSD concerning its possible intended use. For instance, it is possible to have an SSD with DVPD of 2 and fill data on twice per day and still remain within warranty coverage. Certain applications requiring very high and repetitive sequences of disk writes might be better served with HDD to moderate the wear of the drive.

Comments

I don't know what people mean when they say “durable”.

I have used at least 6 different SSDs over the last 10 years (not anymore) in different computers and none have lasted more than two and a half years. They have all died suddenly without any prior notification or indication of failure; whatever you have stored will be lost if you don’t keep baking it up.

On the other hand, I have HDDs that are still fully operational after 20 years of use. In fact, I have an old Mac Mini 2006, which is completely obsolete and I use it only as a media reader/player, it still has its original HDD and works like a charm after 18 years.

If you want to talk about DURABILITY, that’s what durability really means in my book.

Yes, SSDs are ultra fast (I love that), but they die at any moment and you will lose everything (I hate that).

HDDs can be sickeningly slow, but they are D-U-R-A-B-L-E.

So if you want to use an SSD, that’s fine, but make sure you have an HDD as well to back it up.

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Let's talk lifespan tho cus people saying they be lasting them months to 3 years before death from a SSD

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But if I need the storage for a long term of use with a high rate of writing no matter the speed, what should I buy?!

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Speed vs life we need both