SSD (solid-state drives) are a fast and trustworthy storage option, but how long can you trust your SSD drive? This blog discusses multiple factors that affect SSD lifespan, including TBW values, write gain, and DWPD value. By understanding these factors, you can better manage your SSD and extend its lifespan.
Over the last decade, storage solutions have grown exponentially in terms of capacity, reliability, portability and more. The advent of NAND-based flash storage devices such as flash drives and the need for higher reliability compared to HDD led to the advent of solid-state drives, or SSDs.
SSDs have revolutionized the way data is stored. From PCs to servers, they take up more space than you think. Since it is a chip-based device, it does not require any mechanical hardware to store and access data. This helps reduce chassis size while improving performance and reliability.
However, despite all these improvements, one question remains: How long does an SSD last? Let’s search for the answer to this query.
What is the Life Span of an SSD?
It’s true that SSDs have a long lifespan, but most users don’t need to worry about that. The reason I say this is because even a heavy user can use an SSD for years before risking failure. However, the actual lifespan of an SSD depends on many factors, including the data written to the drive, its age, and its condition. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that the service life of an SSD depends on the drive. This is a very important point because you drive and use it.
Based on testing of some of the newest SSDs on the market, it’s safe to assume that an SSD can store up to 700 TB of data over its lifetime. Of course, how long can you trust your SSD drive or die faster, But that’s just an average to keep in mind. Knowing the average rating of an SSD can help determine its lifespan.
What Factors Affect the Lifespan of an SSD?
There are three main factors that determine the reliability of SSDs: the age of the SSD, the total number of terabytes written over time (TBW), and the number of disk writes per day (DWPD).
- The Age of the SSD: The lifespan of an SSD determines its performance and durability. Although manufacturers claim that SSDs can last ten years, the average lifespan of SSDs is less than ten years.
According to research from Google and the University of Toronto, drive failure rates increase as SSDs age. However, they are replaced 25% less often than hard drives.
- Total Terabytes Written Over Time: In the IT industry, SSD lifespan is measured in TBW. Most SSDs have a lifespan of 256 TBW. This is the main warranty period when the drive begins to fail.
Beyond the TBW value, the likelihood of disk failure and data loss increases. Therefore, it is recommended to replace the disk after the allocated TBW is exhausted.
- Encourage Writing Every Day: SSDs also have a DWPD rating, which refers to the data the SSD can write in a day during the warranty period. Measured in gigabytes. The higher the DWPD value, the longer the SSD will last. Therefore, when purchasing an SSD, you may want to consider DWPD for greater capacity and performance.
How Long Can You Trust Your SSD Drive? Methods
This section provides a simple way to check SSD life to help you determine how long your SSD can last.
Method 1: Check SSD Life Through Windows Settings
Checking the SSD status in Windows settings can help you detect errors and assess their overall health. This tool can display SSD information, including available space, estimated life, temperature, etc.
Follow these simple instructions to check SSD life:
- Press Windows Key + I to open the Windows Settings window.
- Go to Storage and select the Disks and Volumes option under Additional Storage.
- Select the product and check the estimated remaining life in the Drive Status section.
How to Extend the Life of an SSD?
SSDs are faster, more stable, and last longer than other storage devices. However, the lifespan of an SSD depends on how it is used. To improve the reliability and lifespan of your SSD, here are some specific SSD maintenance tips:
- Periodically Monitor SSD Status : With regular SSD monitoring, you can monitor and report the health of your SSD, extending its lifespan and improving its performance.
- Wear Leveling: dynamic and static wear leveling smooths the distribution of program data and eliminates memory loops. Additionally, the program runs while data is written to flash memory to extend the life of the SSD.
- Enable the Error Correction Code (ECC): Error-correcting code is a computational method for handling errors when sending data over unreliable channels. Activating the error correction code can help users detect and correct SSD flash memory errors, thereby extending the life of the SSD.
- Use the TRIM Command: The TRIM command does not consider certain SSD data blocks to be “used” and allows them to be deleted. This COMMAND allows SSDs to recycle more solid waste, thereby extending their lifespan.
- Control Bad Block: NAND flash memory has a first and last bad block. To extend the life of your SSD, you can try using bad block management. This method can help identify and mark bad blocks to prevent data from being written to them.
SSD Recovery: How to Recover Deleted Data from SSD
Even if you take all the steps to protect your data without any problems, you may still face data loss issues from time to time. Third-party SysTools Solid State Drive Recovery Software is available and can be very helpful. We recommend using Wizard to perform this process. With advanced features, this SSD recovery application can recover lost data from various formats of SSD devices, including lost data.
Among other things, it is capable of recovering data from SSD drives, unformatting SSD devices, and recovering data from its SSD disks in RAW format. Moreover, its easy-to-use features allow any computer user to perform SSD data recovery and restore data in a few simple steps. No prior knowledge or technical resources are required.
- Download, Install and run the software on any Windows machine.
- Software provides two options: scan or scan format.
- After that, display all the recovered data after recovery.
- Here you can select “Keep all data” or “Keep deleted data” to save your data according to your requirements.
Read more informative blog: Know What is SSD TRIM Function in Windows and How to Enable and Disable It?
Why Should We Choose This Software?
Recover formatted SSD drive file Recovery Wizard can restore data from formatted or modified state drives.
- Recover Permanently Deleted Data from SSDs: It’s common to forget to delete important data from solid-state drives (SSDs). This SSD recovery app allows you to easily recover deleted data files.
- Recover Data from a Corrupted SSD: Even if your SSD becomes corrupted, the program can still read data from the drive. Find all corrupted files and folders and restore them in a healthy way in just a few clicks.
- Supports GPT and MBR Partition Recovery: You can use this program to recover deleted multimedia files from GPT and MBR partitions of SSD, etc.
Final Conclusion
So there you have it—hopefully our complete guide to how long can you trust your SSD drive without any difficulty. It provided enough knowledge about SSDs and their potential lifespan. You can assess whether you need it based on the advantages and disadvantages listed above. And if you already have it and have lost data, we recommend using the Data Recovery Wizard to recover your lost data.
Read more: How Do I Recover Data from a Virtual Machine?