Storage Media Life Expectancy: SSDs, HDDs & More!

ExplainingComputers February 25, 2024
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ExplainingComputers

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Weekly videos on computing and related topics. ExplainingComputers is produced and presented by Christopher Barnatt, who spent 25 years teaching computing and future studies in the University of Nottingham, and who is the author of thirteen books including "Digital Genesis: The Future of Computing, Robots and AI", "3D Printing: Third Edition" and "The Next Big Thing". If you are looking for hardware that I use in my videos, I have created Amazon Storefronts (US & UK) that are linked below. Please note that as an Amazon Associate I earn a commission from any qualifying purchases you may make. Please note that the e-mail address below really is for business enquiries only. If you want to contact me on another matter, please do so via a video comment. Due to the volume of communications I receive, I cannot offer a technical support service via e-mail.

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Lifespan of hard drives, SSDs, and other magnetic, solid state and optical media. My 2023 video “Explaining SSDs” is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8k_XIEhKWo And my previous video on M-Disc is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pekgrP-v5O0 I also have a related data retention video called “Cyber Security: Backups & Encryption”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEP9GTs1lZs SELECTED REFERENCES Arcserve “Data Storage Lifespans”: https://www.arcserve.com/blog/data-storage-lifespans-how-long-will-media-really-last Backblaze “Backblaze Drive Stats for Q1 2023”: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-drive-stats-for-q1-2023/ Backblaze “How Long do Disk Drives Last?”: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/how-long-do-disk-drives-last/ Canadian Conversation Institute “Longevity of Recordable CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays”: https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/conservation-preservation-publications/canadian-conservation-institute-notes/longevity-recordable-cds-dvds.html CLIR “How Long Can You Store CDs and DVDs and Use Them Again?”: https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec4/ Easeus “Does and SSD Need Power to Retain Data?”: https://www.easeus.com/resource/does-ssd-need-power.html Easeus “How Long Do Hard Drives or External Hard Drives Last (If Unused)”: https://www.easeus.com/storage-media-recovery/how-long-do-hard-drives-last.html ELinfor “Flash memory data retention and integrity technology”: https://www.elinfor.com/knowledge/flash-memory-data-retention-and-integrity-technology-p-10905 Enterprise Storage Forum: “Life Expectancy of a Drive: HDD, SSD, and Flash”: https://www.enterprisestorageforum.com/hardware/life-expectancy-of-a-drive/ Google Patents “Patrol function used in flash storage controller to detect data errors”: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20090172499A1/en IBM “Potential for SSD data loss after extended shutdown”: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/potential-ssd-data-loss-after-extended-shutdown IEEE Xplore “Data retention in MLC NAND flash memory”: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7056062 IONAS “How Long is SSD Life Span?”: https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/server/security/ssd-life-span/ JEDEC “JECEC SSD Specifications Explained”: https://www.jedec.org/sites/default/files/Alvin_Cox%20%5BCompatibility%20Mode%5D_0.pdf Micron “Comparing SSD and HDD Endurance in the Age of QLC SSDs”: https://www.micron.com/-/media/client/global/documents/products/white-paper/5210_ssd_vs_hdd_endurance_white_paper.pdf Pioneer “BDRZ13”: https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives/BDR-X13UBK Robots.net “How Long Can SSD Hold Data Without Power”: https://robots.net/tech/how-long-can-ssd-hold-data-without-power/ SD Association “FAQ”: https://www.sdcard.org/consumers/faq/ Secure Data Recovery “How Long do Hard Drives Last”: https://www.securedatarecovery.com/blog/how-long-do-hard-drives-last Segate “Establishing Industry Endurance Standards for Solid State Storage”: https://www.seagate.com/files/staticfiles/docs/pdf/whitepaper/tp618-ssd-tech-paper-us.pdf Superuser “Lifespan of an SSD (NAND Flash) for minimal write use archive purposes”: https://superuser.com/questions/1334494/lifespan-of-an-ssd-nand-flash-for-minimal-write-use-archive-purposes-write-on Superuser “SSD Data Refresh”: https://superuser.com/questions/923081/ssd-data-refresh TechTarget “What is NAND Flash wear-out?”: https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/NAND-flash-wear-out Total Data Migration “Storage Lifespan FAQs - Tape Data Services”: https://totaldatamigration.com/storage-lifespan-faqs TechTarget “Charge trap technology advantages for 3D NAND flash drives”: https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Charge-trap-technology-advantages-for-3D-NAND-flash-drives More videos on computing and related topics can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/@ExplainingComputers You may also like my ExplainingTheFuture channel at: http://www.youtube.com/@ExplainingTheFuture Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:37 Data Survival (overview) 02:25 Hard Drive Life Expectancy 07:07 Other Magnetic Storage 08:15 SSD Life Expectancy 13:30 Flash Drives & Memory Cards 14:17 CDs, DVDs & Blu-Ray 17:04 Data Immortality #SSD #Lifespan #HDD #DVD #Blu-Ray #ExplainingComputers

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