From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org ([208.92.234.80] helo=lists.gentoo.org)
	by finch.gentoo.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60)
	(envelope-from <gentoo-user+bounces-98351-garchives=archives.gentoo.org@lists.gentoo.org>)
	id 1MWvxE-0007VJ-52
	for garchives@archives.gentoo.org; Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:31:40 +0000
Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1])
	by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id F2FDDE0602;
	Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:31:38 +0000 (UTC)
Received: from mail-gx0-f220.google.com (mail-gx0-f220.google.com [209.85.217.220])
	by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D5A1CE0602
	for <gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org>; Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:31:38 +0000 (UTC)
Received: by gxk20 with SMTP id 20so9062363gxk.10
        for <gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org>; Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:31:38 -0700 (PDT)
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed;
        d=gmail.com; s=gamma;
        h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references
         :date:message-id:subject:from:to:content-type
         :content-transfer-encoding;
        bh=zDbwxI+s3op5HuEihN3Ki5qfFD/qi92lG+tLk4oD2vg=;
        b=larW2S4XS8RuqiUIsyVqRKdd1yghwLfBX5agcaV22MsxAR5IMkgMxmGV6viySG53Fi
         m0Xd4BNUe6YhPQiz15vi8F5VTOD48qLSf5oiX3tEmallnkrVub2x3WsoG+7ZV07tFpUO
         3OFR535LGMSqioOUjnDNElfUyFdIU4MtBskOY=
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws;
        d=gmail.com; s=gamma;
        h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to
         :content-type:content-transfer-encoding;
        b=auIKCPt98IjJRNhbP1yP8hANAN3NaVwP7cO5cBm1kLn2GauQr8wX1KYxe0Q8/8FrWt
         6IxKnkZd82TfcV9aPE6WIcAZyS3na6V9M7lJpF2ZQPVyEU6xW/RBKQ03+PpB+3sYe1eX
         Y7HUjVnyJqxm7YSoyAr1dAP2SKc8hwZnhkqRY=
Precedence: bulk
List-Post: <mailto:gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org>
List-Help: <mailto:gentoo-user+help@lists.gentoo.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:gentoo-user+unsubscribe@lists.gentoo.org>
List-Subscribe: <mailto:gentoo-user+subscribe@lists.gentoo.org>
List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail <gentoo-user.gentoo.org>
X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org
Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org
MIME-Version: 1.0
Received: by 10.90.55.3 with SMTP id d3mr2121698aga.23.1249061498604; Fri, 31 
	Jul 2009 10:31:38 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <3246D693-90B9-4541-96A0-8711DBB9C156@stellar.eclipse.co.uk>
References: <49bf44f10907260346y62a6f95dyfda763fceb0bcb39@mail.gmail.com>
	 <DC239B41-96A3-45F2-B85C-62140E346B43@stellar.eclipse.co.uk>
	 <49bf44f10907270544i5a5922ddo28d6a2c23d7ed6a8@mail.gmail.com>
	 <4A6DE730.90103@f_philipp.fastmail.net>
	 <49bf44f10907281052l184efbacvffd7fa1344ddbd2e@mail.gmail.com>
	 <C20F6FFC-5600-4BF6-BF12-01E793709215@stellar.eclipse.co.uk>
	 <49bf44f10907290820k1bbf0ebct8ca7becceda19771@mail.gmail.com>
	 <20090729191540.4685c378@krikkit.digimed.co.uk>
	 <3246D693-90B9-4541-96A0-8711DBB9C156@stellar.eclipse.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:31:38 -0700
Message-ID: <49bf44f10907311031n661ac9e5ifc6ec918988305fa@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} SSD instead of RAID1?
From: Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com>
To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-Archives-Salt: dca6fba1-c8c2-446f-a4b5-7d0ccdd7ae02
X-Archives-Hash: 19ab47e1219ead5196d91dcd84c0bb18

>>> Anyway, the point of all this is to prevent an HD failure from
>>> stopping the system. =A0An SSD is much safer, right?
>>
>> SSDs are still relatively new technology, so predicting failure rates is
>> less reliable. What's wrong with using RAID-1? It's proven technology an=
d
>> totally resistant to a single HD failure.
>
> This was Grant's original question - whether SSD / flash technology is mo=
re
> reliable than RAID-1 of conventional disks? - and one to which no-one
> appeared comfortable giving a categorical answer.
>
> Stroller.

I've come up with a couple reasons to wait a bit longer to switch my
important systems to SSD.

1. SLC is faster and (more importantly) should last much longer than
MLC.  The Super Talent Ultradrive 32GB drives are priced ~$120 for MLC
and ~$350 for SLC, so I'd like to wait for that SLC price to drop.
It's worth mentioning though, that even conservative estimates of MLC
lifetimes put them far beyond that of HD drives.

2. SSD fIrmware is being updated relatively frequently right now
(especially newer SSDs) and all data is lost during a firmware update.

I'm sold on SSDs as RAID1 replacements though.

BTW, I read that Samsung manufactures the memory for all major brand
SSDs (including Super Talent).

- Grant