6 Things You Shouldn't Do With Solid-State Drives

Understanding Solid-State Drives and Best Practices

Solid-state drives (SSDs) represent a significant departure from traditional mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) that have been commonly utilized for years.

While operating systems recognize SSDs in a similar manner to HDDs, their underlying functionality differs substantially.

Key Differences and Considerations

Certain practices that were acceptable, or even commonplace, with conventional HDDs are not recommended for SSDs.

A thorough understanding of these distinctions is crucial, particularly for technically inclined users.

Why the Difference Matters

• SSDs utilize flash memory, unlike the spinning platters and moving heads found in HDDs.
• This fundamental difference impacts how data is written, read, and managed.
• Consequently, certain operations can reduce an SSD’s lifespan or performance.

Knowing what to avoid will help maximize the longevity and efficiency of your solid-state drive.

It’s important to adapt your maintenance routines to suit the unique characteristics of this storage technology.

The Case Against Defragmenting Solid State Drives

It is not recommended to defragment solid-state drives (SSDs). The storage cells within an SSD possess a finite lifespan, measured by the number of write cycles they can endure – a limitation particularly pronounced in more affordable models. The process of defragmentation introduces a significantly increased volume of write operations as files are relocated.

Furthermore, attempting to defragment an SSD will not yield any performance gains. Traditional mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) benefit from defragmentation because their read/write heads require physical movement across the magnetic platters to access data.

When a file is fragmented on an HDD, the read head must traverse the disk to gather all its components, resulting in slower access times. However, SSDs operate fundamentally differently.

Unlike HDDs, SSDs lack any moving parts. Data can be accessed directly from any storage location without mechanical delay. In fact, SSDs are engineered to distribute data across the drive in a dispersed manner.

This even distribution is a deliberate design choice intended to mitigate wear and tear. By spreading write operations across all cells, the lifespan of the SSD is extended, preventing localized degradation.

Why SSDs Handle Data Differently

• No Mechanical Movement: SSDs access data electronically, eliminating the need for a moving read/write head.
• Wear Leveling: Data is intentionally spread across the drive to ensure uniform wear.
• Limited Write Cycles: Each cell has a finite number of writes it can perform before failing.

Therefore, defragmenting an SSD is not only unnecessary but potentially detrimental to its longevity. The inherent architecture of solid-state storage renders the practice obsolete and counterproductive.

Data Sanitization: Why Overwriting Isn't Necessary

For users of modern operating systems – including Windows 7 and later, macOS 10.6.8 and newer, and recent Linux distributions (kernel 2.6.28+) – the practice of overwriting or "wiping" free disk space is generally unnecessary.

This distinction is particularly relevant when considering mechanical hard drives. Unlike solid-state drives, data deletion on these drives doesn't immediately erase the information. Instead, sectors are flagged as available, but the underlying data remains recoverable using specialized software like Recuva.

Historically, to mitigate this risk when decommissioning a computer or hard drive, users employed utilities such as DBAN or the Drive Wiper feature within CCleaner. These tools would overwrite the free space with random data, rendering previous files unrecoverable.

The Role of TRIM Technology

However, operating systems equipped with TRIM functionality handle data deletion differently. When a file is deleted, the OS sends a TRIM command to the solid-state drive (SSD), instructing it to immediately erase the corresponding sectors.

This immediate erasure ensures that the data is no longer accessible and cannot be recovered through conventional methods. Therefore, manual wiping becomes redundant.

While some older SSD models may lack TRIM support, this feature was integrated relatively early in the development of SSD technology. It's likely that most SSDs currently in use are TRIM-enabled.

• TRIM informs the SSD about deleted files.
• The SSD then erases the sectors immediately.
• Data recovery becomes impossible.

Consequently, for systems utilizing TRIM-compatible SSDs, the traditional practice of overwriting free space is no longer required for secure data disposal.

Avoid Utilizing Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Deactivating TRIM

For optimal performance, computers equipped with solid-state drives (SSDs) require a contemporary operating system. Specifically, the use of Windows XP or Windows Vista is discouraged. These older systems lack native support for the TRIM command.

Without TRIM functionality, when a file is deleted, the operating system is unable to signal the SSD to erase the corresponding data blocks. Consequently, remnants of the deleted file persist within those sectors.

Beyond the potential for data recovery, this behavior leads to diminished performance. When the operating system attempts to write new data to these previously occupied sectors, an erase cycle must precede the write operation.

This added step extends the duration of file-write operations and negatively impacts the drive’s overall write speed.

Therefore, it is also crucial to refrain from disabling TRIM on Windows 7 and subsequent modern operating systems. The feature is enabled by default and should remain so to maintain optimal SSD functionality.

Maintaining Optimal SSD Performance Through Capacity Management

It is crucial to avoid completely filling your solid-state drive (SSD), as doing so can significantly reduce its write performance. This phenomenon, while potentially unexpected, stems from the fundamental way SSDs operate.

With ample free space, an SSD possesses numerous empty data blocks. Writing new files is then a straightforward process of directly storing data into these vacant blocks.

Conversely, when an SSD is nearing full capacity, the available blocks are largely partially occupied. Writing a file in this scenario necessitates a more complex procedure.

Specifically, the SSD must first read the contents of the partially filled block into its internal cache. The existing data is then modified to accommodate the new information, and finally, the updated block is written back to the drive. This process is repeated for each block the file occupies.

Therefore, writing to an empty block is a relatively swift operation. However, updating a partially-filled block demands reading, modifying, and rewriting – a considerably slower cycle. This is multiplied across numerous blocks as a single file is written.

Based on extensive testing, Anandtech suggests limiting SSD usage to approximately 75% of its total capacity to achieve a desirable balance between consistent performance and usable space. Reserving the remaining 25% prevents performance degradation.

Exceeding this 75% threshold will likely result in a noticeable decline in write speeds. Maintaining sufficient free space is key to preserving optimal SSD performance.

Extending the Lifespan of Your SSD

Maximizing the longevity of your Solid State Drive (SSD) involves reducing the amount of data written to it. Minimizing write operations is a key strategy for preserving the drive’s performance over time.

One approach is to configure your software applications to store temporary files and logs on an alternative storage device. If your system includes a traditional mechanical hard drive, this can be an ideal location.

Optimizing Application Settings

While adjusting application settings for this purpose might seem excessive for many users, it’s a worthwhile consideration. Most individuals shouldn't need to actively manage these settings.

However, it’s prudent to avoid running programs that continuously write temporary data to the SSD. Should you utilize such applications, directing their temporary file storage to a mechanical hard drive can mitigate wear and tear on the SSD.

Understanding Write Cycles

SSDs have a limited number of write cycles. Each time data is written to the drive, it consumes a portion of this lifespan. Reducing unnecessary writes helps conserve these cycles.

Therefore, being mindful of application behavior and utilizing alternative storage for frequently written data can significantly contribute to the overall health and durability of your SSD.

Optimizing Storage: Avoiding SSD Misuse

The disparity in cost per gigabyte between solid-state drives (SSDs) and mechanical hard drives (HDDs) is significant. SSDs are notably smaller and more expensive. However, this is offset by their advantages in power efficiency, operational silence, and access speeds.

Prioritize storing frequently used files on your SSD. This includes the operating system, installed applications, and games requiring rapid loading times. Storing extensive media libraries on an SSD is generally not recommended, as the performance gains are minimal and valuable storage capacity is consumed.

Strategic File Placement

If your SSD lacks sufficient capacity, utilize a mechanical hard drive for large media files. For laptop users, an external HDD provides a cost-effective solution for media storage.

Mechanical drives continue to excel in providing substantial storage volumes at a lower cost per gigabyte. This makes them well-suited for archiving and storing less frequently accessed data.

Image attribution is as follows: Yutaka Tsutano on Flickr, Basheem on Flickr (modified), TAKA@P.P.R.S on Flickr, and Norlando Pobre on Flickr.