How long does data last on an SSD with no power?

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Bob T Penguin

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Dec 16, 2015
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Hello all,
How long does data survive on an SSD if the SSD is not powered on?

e.g. use an SSD as a back up cartridge for storage off site.

thanks
Bob
 

keybored

Active Member
May 28, 2016
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This would vary by NAND type, manufacturer, etc., and personally, I am not aware of any concrete data on the subject. I have not seen anyone do an experiment like many people did to test endurance. With that said, there was a controversial article last year which was based on some JEDEC/Intel data which showed that under some conditions SSDs could lose data in as little as a week. Here's Anandtech's take on it: The Truth About SSD Data Retention
The basic takeaway from all of that is that data retention periods will depend on SSD's operating temperature and its storage temperature. If you manage to write your data to an SSD that is running at 55C and then store it at 25C, you'd be looking at 404 weeks of data retention for a client SSD.
 

wildpig1234

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Aug 22, 2016
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i have several cd-r done back in 1995 and they are all still readable.

The last paragraph of that article says over 10 yrs for new drive. but it's not the most cost effective.
 

wildpig1234

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Aug 22, 2016
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While we are at it, lets talk some more about storage back up. I have a need to back up approximately 40TB data annual (to be generous) or approximately 3TB/month. The back up are infrequently accessed.

cost for 1TB back up:

BD-R: $14/1TB for media. Drive cost: $50
LTO6: $12/1TB uncompressed. Drive cost: $1600
HDD: $30/1TB (typical price of a 4TB consumer grade).
SSD: $200/1TB

Seems to me like the best one in term of total cost and convenience is HDD and BD-R. I wish i could get an LTO6 drive but with the drive cost so high, make no sense ;(

Question: how long can hdd retain data in off state ideal storage conditions?
 

Jon Massey

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Nov 11, 2015
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Not sure about the archival life of BD-R - how long are you needing to keep them for? Where are you keeping your cold archive?
 

Patrick

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Dec 21, 2010
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You do need to read from SSDs every so often. Archival where they will need to be off for many years, is not a good use case for them.
 

PigLover

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Jan 26, 2011
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With the right media BD-R can maintain data integrity for 50-150 years in controlled conditions...but you have to use the right media.

HTL (high to low) media does not contain any organics and is appropriate for archival used. LTH media is full of organic stuff and degrades quickly.

Lots of stuff out there including some formal study papers. Google is your friend. Search words 'BD-R archive'.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
 
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Deslok

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Jul 15, 2015
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With the right media BD-R can maintain data integrity for 50-150 years in controlled conditions...but you have to use the right media.

HTL (high to low) media does not contain any organics and is appropriate for archival used. LTH media is full of organic stuff and degrades quickly.

Lots of stuff out there including some formal study papers. Google is your friend. Search words 'BD-R archive'.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
This 1000x, I was dealing with a DVD jukebox that had lost about half of it's data due to poor media choice(cheap disks lowest cost at time of purchase) and that was after less than 10 years of storage
 

wildpig1234

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Aug 22, 2016
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I only use HTL BD-R. i actually wish i could get the tape b/c with the bd-r i keep having to swap disc so you can't do unattended back up or large back up without being there to constantly swap the discs. maybe a robotic arm? lol :)

was thinking of moving to consumer hdd cold storage, which would be like twice the cost but significantly more convenient in term of not having to sit there to swap disc. but then again not sure how reliable cold storage hdd is.
 

Deslok

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Jul 15, 2015
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I only use HTL BD-R. i actually wish i could get the tape b/c with the bd-r i keep having to swap disc so you can't do unattended back up or large back up without being there to constantly swap the discs. maybe a robotic arm? lol :)

was thinking of moving to consumer hdd cold storage, which would be like twice the cost but significantly more convenient in term of not having to sit there to swap disc. but then again not sure how reliable cold storage hdd is.
If you really want to move to LTO LTO-5 equipment is much cheaper I've seen drives in the ~500usd price range, I've never had retention problems with HDD's but i have had the "got dropped" and "stuck head" problems
 

PigLover

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Jan 26, 2011
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This 1000x, I was dealing with a DVD jukebox that had lost about half of it's data due to poor media choice(cheap disks lowest cost at time of purchase) and that was after less than 10 years of storage
It's really only BD-R that can achieve this. AFAIK, all DVD recordable media contains organics and will degrade rapidly.

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wildpig1234

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Aug 22, 2016
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just read out my first ever 2 cd-r burned back in 1995. no problem at all. these were some generic disc for the bargain price of $1/cd-r back then :). so that's over 20 yrs lifespan there so far. then again I am very careful with them. they are stored away in dark closet at room temperature away from heat and moisture. and rarely handled.

Honestly, I think that optical media is still the best combination of random access, longevity, and ease of usage. The problem is that it looks like it will be a LONG time before there is a more cost effective replacement to the 25GB bd-r. and that is a problem....
 

Terry Kennedy

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Jun 25, 2015
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LTO6: $12/1TB uncompressed. Drive cost: $1600

I wish i could get an LTO6 drive but with the drive cost so high, make no sense ;(
You just have to wait for a good deal to come around. I got a brand-new library LTO6 drive (less than 5 power-on hours) on ebay for $750 back in July. I already had a Dell TL4000 (IBM TS3200) chassis, but at the same time there were sealed refurbs on eBay for $295.
 

BLinux

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Jul 7, 2016
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It's really only BD-R that can achieve this. AFAIK, all DVD recordable media contains organics and will degrade rapidly.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
Yes, until the M-Disc DVDs came out. But if one is going to go down the route of using optical media for long term archival storage, might has well go with M-Disc BD-R.

I recently decided to go through all my archived DVDs and re-organize all my data in a more centralized way so I can manage backups more effectively; I found a LOT of DVDs failed, more so than even CD-Rs though I found some of those too. DVD-R in particular had a very high rate of data loss, and some of this stuff was only 3-4 years old. DVD+R media quality varies a LOT. When I told my friends this, they also went through their DVD archives of family pictures/movies/files and unfortunately had to face disappointments.

In my research to find an alternative, I also ended up at the conclusion that HTL BD-R and M-Disc BD-R is the way to go. I'm using M-Disc BD-R for the most important things, while using decent quality HTL BD-R for others. I also have an automated system to backup my stuff onto a set of USB 3.0 hard drives. And finally, I am also using a cloud backup solution. I'm hoping that's enough copies of my data to reduce my risks of data loss to a reasonable level.
 

T_Minus

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I've been using M-DISC a couple years, only do 6-12 discs per-year. The last 5+ years have been migrations from array/drive to array/drive vs. years ago it was all from CD each new system I'd build, etc... "Hot Usage" to "hot archive" to "cold hdd" and "cold disc"....

LTO6 anyday, would love a <$300 deal :)
 

wildpig1234

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Aug 22, 2016
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My archive need is 3tb/month. Would be nice to havt the lto6 capacity but the durability and cheapness of bd-r
 

BLinux

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My archive need is 3tb/month. Would be nice to havt the lto6 capacity but the durability and cheapness of bd-r
i haven't seen anything larger than 100GB M-Disc BD-XL discs... so that's about 10 discs per 1TB, which means 30 discs for your 3TB... at about $10/disc, that's about $300 in media.
 

wildpig1234

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Aug 22, 2016
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i haven't seen anything larger than 100GB M-Disc BD-XL discs... so that's about 10 discs per 1TB, which means 30 discs for your 3TB... at about $10/disc, that's about $300 in media.
$100/TB is worse than using HDD for backup.

the cheapest considering the cost of drives is BD-R. but not exactly the most convenient if you have to keep swapping discs so you cant do huge unattended back up.