Buying an external SSD (packaged vs enclosure + internal drive)?

[agentmilo]

I'd like to get an external SSD for general storage- wont be booting up very often. Maybe once a month or so. To be used with multiple devices.

I was looking into getting a Samsung T7 / Crucial X6 or similar, but then came across a forum thread that suggested getting an NVME with a USB C enclosure- for flexibility and better performance gains in general.

Which route is the better one? I don't have a budget per se, 1-1.5TB should be enough and I've noticed there are truckloads of different types of drives and too many options.

Then there's DRAM vs DRAM less drives- is the difference significant enough?

 

[buzz88]

HDDs have a longer offline shelf life span than SSDs do because of something called bitrot. Basically, you can expect an offline SSD to keep your data intact only for 1-3 months if it is not plugged in regularly. They are of course more reliable if they are plugged in a PC 24x7. So if you are expecting a lot of downtimes between two usage periods, get an external HDD.

If you are sure that you are going plug in regularly, either options will work for normal usecase. With an enclosure, you have flexibility to swap out drives. Normally the external SSDs are a bit pricer compared to internal ones, as they include that inbuilt enclosure in the price. DRAM is needed for speedier better performance in gaming and other such workloads. DRAM less will be budget friendly. Pick your requirement.

 

[solo_wing]

HDDs have a longer offline shelf life span than SSDs do because of something called bitrot. Basically, you can expect an offline SSD to keep your data intact only for 1-3 months if it is not plugged in regularly. They are of course more reliable if they are plugged in a PC 24x7. So if you are expecting a lot of downtimes between two usage periods, get an external HDD.

Wait a min.! if I have data stored on external ssd and i dont plugin for few months ...I could loose that data? thats what you are saying.
If true...this is bit shocking...I dont often plugin my ssd though once or twice in 2-3 months is normal but sometimes i dont need too for quite some time.

I might start transferring my data from ssd to maybe hdd/

 

[agentmilo]

HDDs have a longer offline shelf life span than SSDs do because of something called bitrot. Basically, you can expect an offline SSD to keep your data intact only for 1-3 months if it is not plugged in regularly. They are of course more reliable if they are plugged in a PC 24x7. So if you are expecting a lot of downtimes between two usage periods, get an external HDD.

If you are sure that you are going plug in regularly, either options will work for normal usecase. With an enclosure, you have flexibility to swap out drives. Normally the external SSDs are a bit pricer compared to internal ones, as they include that inbuilt enclosure in the price. DRAM is needed for speedier better performance in gaming and other such workloads. DRAM less will be budget friendly. Pick your requirement.

Thank you for your input. The 1-3 months bit is more along the line of a year apparently . Like a battery getting discharged from lack of use. Just what I've read, not from experience.

I did consider an HDD, but I wanted to get something I can keep in my bag all the time- meaning bumps and drops. SSD / NVME also makes it easy to be used with my non PC devices. So my choices are between those two.

My requirement is storing movies and just general personal backup.

 

[buzz88]

Wait a min.! if I have data stored on external ssd and i dont plugin for few months ...I could loose that data? thats what you are saying.
If true...this is bit shocking...I dont often plugin my ssd though once or twice in 2-3 months is normal but sometimes i dont need too for quite some time.

I might start transferring my data from ssd to maybe hdd/

Yes, check this out - https://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/jonathan/bitten-by-ssd-bit-rot/

Thank you for your input. The 1-3 months bit is more along the line of a year apparently . Like a battery getting discharged from lack of use. Just what I've read, not from experience.

I did consider an HDD, but I wanted to get something I can keep in my bag all the time- meaning bumps and drops. SSD / NVME also makes it easy to be used with my non PC devices. So my choices are between those two.

My requirement is storing movies and just general personal backup.

Apparently, older SSDs were a bit less prone to this. Newer, higher capacity SSDs could be more prone. And yeah, that 1-3 month period could be years in a real life experience. But do you want to take that chance with your data? Of course, with movies and such, replaceable data, it is fine. But for documents or family pics, this might not be safe as we want it to be.

 

[agentmilo]

You make a good point, and that article has me convinced- but in the authors case he had left the drives for 7-8 years without usage, which ties in with the science of the rot. Wondering if this could be as expected for 3-6 month periods? I have definitely gone 7-8 months without touching my drives.

 

[buzz88]

You make a good point, and that article has me convinced- but in the authors case he had left the drives for 7-8 years without usage, which ties in with the science of the rot. Wondering if this could be as expected for 3-6 month periods? I have definitely gone 7-8 months without touching my drives.

SSD tech changes rapidly. Older drives were based on SLC and were quite robust. As they kept increasing the capacity of drives, they used newer tech and thus capacity increased but overall age and data TBW became less in value or reliability. This is why people prefer TLC over QLC in current gen SSDs. Also, bit rot is not something that you can calculate with precision, it might happen in months or in years. But from a data hoarder's perspective, the lower limit is all that counts.

 

[nRiTeCh]

For data dump and scarce usage, traditional HDDs are the way to opt go. Speaking from my 20+ yrs of exp. HDDs are too robust compared to SSDs. Have been storing data on external hdds and internal converted external hdds which are plugged once in 4-6 months.

 

[mach9]

WD Black SN770 1TB - Rs.5309

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Edit: Same price on Amazon too, and no dram cache but some other tech that uses system ram for cache. Ordered from Amazon since it ships faster.

Is this a good option to use for cold data storage? I'm looking for a 1TB nvme to pair with an enclosure to use as a cold data backup drive.. but concerned about these ssd's dying if not used periodically

 

[OMEGA44-XT]

Is this a good option to use for cold data storage? I'm looking for a 1TB nvme to pair with an enclosure to use as a cold data backup drive.. but concerned about these ssd's dying if not used periodically

Expensive. USB 3.2 Gen1 is 10Gbps, which is what most have laptop/desktops have, else it will be 5Gbps USB 3.0. So get a cheaper NVMe. SN570 is also overkill if you want something good. SN770 is a waste of money. Wait till 9 or 10 Oct if you can.

Gen3 SSDs go upto 3 - 3.5 GBps (which is like 28 Gbps) for reference. WD SN770 goes to 5 GBps. You might be able to get Silicon Power A55 2TB for 6k in the upcoming sale after offers. SATA drive, 500MBps, but still enough.

 

[mach9]

Expensive. USB 3.2 Gen1 is 10Gbps, which is what most have laptop/desktops have, else it will be 5Gbps USB 3.0. So get a cheaper NVMe. SN570 is also overkill if you want something good. SN770 is a waste of money. Wait till 9 or 10 Oct if you can.

Gen3 SSDs go upto 3 - 3.5 GBps (which is like 28 Gbps) for reference. WD SN770 goes to 5 GBps. You might be able to get Silicon Power A55 2TB for 6k in the upcoming sale after offers. SATA drive, 500MBps, but still enough.

More than outright speeds, I'm looking for long term reliability. Speeds to matter.. but not outright the top priority.

Use case: Data backups every few months off my desktop via the motherboard usb c header. Motherboard is the Asus Maximus Hero XI with usb C to my Corsair case.

Total data size around 600GB

 

[ze_cook]

Is this a good option to use for cold data storage? I'm looking for a 1TB nvme to pair with an enclosure to use as a cold data backup drive.. but concerned about these ssd's dying if not used periodically

The SSD itself shouldn't die if not used periodically, however, the data inside may be corrupt due to the cells losing charge over time. Modern TLC and QLC drives are more susceptible to this phenomenon, due to more charge levels stored in a single cell.


Typically, it'd take a few years for this to manifest, but you can simply power the drives periodically, that would be enough for the controller to refresh the cells.

 

[mach9]

The SSD itself shouldn't die if not used periodically, however, the data inside may be corrupt due to the cells losing charge over time. Modern TLC and QLC drives are more susceptible to this phenomenon, due to more charge levels stored in a single cell.


Typically, it'd take a few years for this to manifest, but you can simply power the drives periodically, that would be enough for the controller to refresh the cells.

Unfortunately, I'm one of those SanDisk victims. 2TB Extreme Pro completely bricked itself suddenly after being unused for 5 months. Curiously.. Checked the S/N.. It isn't listed as being affected by the firmware issue.

Never going back to SanDisk. Which is why I'm sceptical about WD in the first place.. but considering the price for a 1TB was looking to take a shot

 

[guest_999]

More than outright speeds, I'm looking for long term reliability. Speeds to matter.. but not outright the top priority.

Use case: Data backups every few months off my desktop via the motherboard usb c header. Motherboard is the Asus Maximus Hero XI with usb C to my Corsair case.

Total data size around 600GB

Save your money & buy a slot for office 365 with 1TB drive from here, use 7-zip with password to archive the backup files & upload to onedrive.

Sharing MS Office 365 with 1TB cloud storage - ₹500/year

Yes work's on Mac , any OS Interested, I believe I can use this on Mac OS. Kindly confirm

techenclave.com

Use a cheap ssd like BX500(aim for 1TB MX500 in this year bbd/gis sale though) in your desktop as local secondary backup.

 

[mach9]

Save your money & buy a slot for office 365 with 1TB drive from here, use 7-zip with password to archive the backup files & upload to onedrive.

Sharing MS Office 365 with 1TB cloud storage - ₹500/year

Yes work's on Mac , any OS Interested, I believe I can use this on Mac OS. Kindly confirm

techenclave.com

Use a cheap ssd like BX500(aim for 1TB MX500 in this year bbd/gis sale though) in your desktop as local secondary backup.

Don't want a cloud solution mate

 

[guest_999]

Don't want a cloud solution mate

Cloud solution from big 3(MS/google/amazon) is the most reliable though as they would be running enterprise class hard disks in a datacentre with redundancy. Next best option I already suggested by using a cheap decent ssd within your pc which will resolve the issue of cold storage. When it comes to cold storage hdd are still better than ssd.

 

[OMEGA44-XT]

More than outright speeds, I'm looking for long term reliability. Speeds to matter.. but not outright the top priority.

Use case: Data backups every few months off my desktop via the motherboard usb c header. Motherboard is the Asus Maximus Hero XI with usb C to my Corsair case.

Total data size around 600GB

WD is a reliable company, hence I suggested SN570 as you will literally see no difference between SN570 & SN770 on a USB port, both will run handicapped.

SP A55 is also considered a good budget drive, but I can assume you never heard the brand name (it sells stuff in US, EU, as well). Have seen Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA for 3.5k at times, another great choice from a big brand. As mentioned earlier, the sale is close, you might get 2TB for 6-7k.

SSDs are considered very reliable at this stage, but as mentioned earlier, use them continuously, keep it attached to the PC, should be IMO. If you want cold storage, get an HDD instead, that's all.

 

[singenaadam]

Storage in the form of back-ups should be ok. Back-up would be at least monthly?! I do it weekly. This should be more than enough for bitrot aspect.

WD & Seagate are more accessible for warranty. Even Crucial, some guys reported here, asks for the drive shipped to Singapore. Such shipping costs make warranty meaningless. Not sure about companies like SP.

 

[guest_999]

Even Crucial, some guys reported here, asks for the drive shipped to Singapore. Such shipping costs make warranty meaningless. Not sure about companies like SP.

The official importer/distributor is supposed to take care of the rma in case no authorized service centres of the brand are present in a country. If someone is being asked to ship their drive abroad for warranty then most likely it means the official importer of that product does not recognize that drive being imported in to the country by him or the buyer never contacted the official imported mentioned on the label on product box for rma.