Intel 320 SSD 40GB @$20 each for a pair

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Bradford

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May 27, 2016
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Assuming they have low hours, I'd say it was a good deal. I wish I had a use for them - I might get a pair anyway for unplanned projects.
 

Twist

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Oct 15, 2015
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The power loss protection is not working as it should on the 320, intel did release a new fw to fix it but bug is still there.

In the event of a powerloss the drive may loose it's partition and shrink to 8MB, restoring fw you will get your full capacity back but data is lost.
Also, when restoring fw all smart data will reset, power on hours will start at 0 again. Some time back alot of these were for sale with just a few hours use, I guess they perhaps had the drive fail and restored fw.

Have restored 30-40 drives with this bug, I don't think these drives are worth investing in.
 

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frogtech

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Jan 4, 2016
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The power loss protection is not working as it should on the 320, intel did release a new fw to fix it but bug is still there.

In the event of a powerloss the drive may loose it's partition and shrink to 8MB, restoring fw you will get your full capacity back but data is lost.
Also, when restoring fw all smart data will reset, power on hours will start at 0 again. Some time back alot of these were for sale with just a few hours use, I guess they perhaps had the drive fail and restored fw.

Have restored 30-40 drives with this bug, I don't think these drives are worth investing in.
This was my thought exactly, Intel 320 is a drive that has been discussed on here before as being buggy, even for a boot drive I wouldn't use it.
 

ullbeking

Active Member
Jul 28, 2017
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The power loss protection is not working as it should on the 320, intel did release a new fw to fix it but bug is still there.

In the event of a powerloss the drive may loose it's partition and shrink to 8MB, restoring fw you will get your full capacity back but data is lost.
Also, when restoring fw all smart data will reset, power on hours will start at 0 again. Some time back alot of these were for sale with just a few hours use, I guess they perhaps had the drive fail and restored fw.

Have restored 30-40 drives with this bug, I don't think these drives are worth investing in.
@Twist thank you for the detailed, analytical info about the Intel 320. Does the bug affect all manufactured units, or only a subset? I’m now disappointed and wondering whether I should try using it at all :-(

Edit: I purchased only one, so the risk/loss is not too great.
 

Twist

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Oct 15, 2015
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I don't know if all manufactured units are affected, we had ~1000 machines with these drives both Hp and Lenovo and after a power outage some drives would be 8MB.
We stopped restoring fw in 2014-15 , we just replace complete machines now.

I have a few drives I just use for test rigs, I wouldn't use them for every day use.
 
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ullbeking

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Jul 28, 2017
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[...] I have a few drives I just use for test rigs, I wouldn't use them for every day use.
Which ones would you recommend for everyday use?

Are you happy with the 320's on your test rig, or are you considering moving to something better there as well.

(In any case, my eBay transaction was cancelled by the seller because he doesn't want to do international shipping. So I'm OK. Phew!!)
 
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Twist

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Oct 15, 2015
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I use the Dell 0NMY6F Samsung drives - both the CXM02D1Q and CXM03D1Q fw drives has been rock solid for my use, we have 1500-1800 dell 990/9010/9020 some with these drives at work they fail very very seldom and they are low priced used.

My test rigs only run for a few days a month and so far had no problem with the 320.
 

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andy

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Oct 10, 2016
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@Twist : thanks for the info on the 320 issue; i wasn't aware - a little bummed since i recently got 8 of these as boot drives for some upcoming projects.

@Patrick : in light of the issue mentioned by @Twist, perhaps this link needs to be updated to mention this issue? The page recommends Intel 320 SSD for FreeNAS boot drives:

Top Picks for FreeNAS Boot Drives
They aren't that horrible, just make sure to backup the data regularly.