Table of contents: 1. SSD lifespan 2. Where does the myth of short SSD lifespan come from? 3. How long the SSD can actually last
SSD lifespan
Important note: Depending on the manufacturer, memory type, controller version, and many other parameters, the lifespan of a particular SSD may vary greatly. Below we will take a look at how to calculate the SSD lifespan using the assumption that the disk is not experiencing abrupt failures due to some problems with the controller, memory or others.
The calculation of SSD operating time is most often done according to the following formula. First, you need to determine the SSD performance. This can be done by multiplying the number of rewriting cycles for a particular disk by the size of the total free memory in gigabytes.
Please note: The number of rewriting cycles should be indicated by the manufacturer of the SSD drive. If this information cannot be found, it is customary to take 3000 as the average.
For example, the performance of a 256 GB disk is:
3,000 * 256 = 768,000
This is an abstract number, which is required for the further calculation. This number should be divided by the amount of data recorded per day.
Please note: The amount of data recorded per day is different for each user. For calculation, this number must be taken in gigabytes.
For example, a user writes and rewrites 40 GB of information per day. So the calculation for our specific example looks like this:
768,000/40 = 19,200 days
19,200 days is about 52 years. That is more than enough for the SSD in average user’s PC.
Please note: All figures are approximate. It is never possible to determine the exact amount of written and rewritten data in advance, and even the manufacturer cannot name the exact number of rewriting cycles for their SSD. We would recommend using this calculation formula with an error of at least 20% on each side.
Where does the myth of short SSD lifespan come from?
As you can see from the calculation that we had offered above, the SSD volume value plays a key role in it. Previously, SSDs were small when it came to user-accessible versions. And even when only the operating system was installed on them, an active process of data writing / rewriting was leading to a quick breakdown of the drive.
A simple example. With the number of rewriting cycles 3,000 and a disk volume of 8 GB, and a data rewrite rate of 15 GB per day (a very real indicator of data rewriting when running only the system), the SSD lifespan is only 1600 days, which is only a little more than 4 years.
Please note: Earlier the SSD production technologies were far from perfect, so the number of rewriting cycles could be safely divided by 2.
How long the SSD can actually last
All these calculations that we gave so far are nothing more than theory. However it is safe to say that SSDs have been running in user’s computers for more than a sufficient amount of time and in terms of service life, modern SSDs are quite compatible to modern HDDs.
In order to not be always in fear of the SSD imminent failure, it is enough to just test it from time to time. For example, you can check the general state of your drive using the CrystalDiskInfo program.
The check should be carried out not more than once a month. To do this, you just need to run the program and look at the percentage in the “Health Status” column. If it is above 75%, there is nothing to worry about. With the indicator below this number, it is recommended to create data backup just in case.
We recommend that you always have a backup of your key data on any drive, be it SSD or HDD. It cannot be ruled out that at any moment in time the controller will simply fail or other problems will arise.