Solid state drives

[kevin_lane]

I have been toying with the idea of getting some SSDs for one of our ICT rooms but have been a bit under decided on brand etc and have heard that if you don't use all of the drive it will last long etc

 

I would just like to know what other people think and if they have tried them what problems have you had etc

 

Kev

[CyberNerd]

Had some issues with some early model of OCZ (although always replaced at the factory without hassle).

Intel and Crucial have been faultless.

[FN-GM]

I have also head good reports with Intel. I think @zag uses a number of solid state drives, he will be able to contribute.

[bossman]

Been using Kingston and Crucial 64 and 128gb ones for just over a year now and no probs so far

[Cache]

We've just installed 70 Kingston SSD Now V300's.

[3s-gtech]

We're running 150+ SSDs now, I don't bother building any new machines without them so they're factored into all quotes and pricing I get. Vast majority are Crucial M4s - think I had one DOA but the rest have been great in use. I tend to buy reconditioned PCs, so I can choose not to include a mechanical HDD to save a few quid there.

 

I'd highly recommend going this way - even with old kit (got some Intel 950GM chipset laptops which are only SATA 1 - still run nicely as long as AHCI is supported).

[xenonive]

I've got/had 120 ocz vertex 2 drives and had 3 failures in 3 years . Now have 200 vertex 4 drives and had one die in one week out of 1 and half years . New ocz vector drive got 200 drives and no issues in last 6 months so far . All have 5 year warranty and in bulk work out 50p per gig . Have started upgrading staff laptops now all machines are done . Well worth the upgrade , teachers think they have new laptop now. Next plan is SSD SAN

[Arthur]

All have 5 year warranty

The warranty is not going to be of much use when OCZ files for bankruptcy. It's not looking good for them.

 

Is OCZ on its last legs? « IT World

 

OCZ's competitors are diversified companies with many product lines, while OCZ makes just SSDs, so it doesn't have a more profitable product line on which to fall back. But it's also a matter of management. OCZ has had a tremendous cash burn rate. Even though it raised more than $200 million in cash from their IPO and other offerings, they have burned through it all.

 

The company has just $10 million in the bank, and that's after taking out a $30 million loan from Hercules Technology Growth Capital with what one writer on Seeking Alpha called "loanshark-like terms." The interest rate is higher than 15%, and if OCZ can't pay it back, then Hercules gets the entire company for $30 million, because OCZ put itself up as collateral.

 

Schmitt said the company's break-even point was about $110 million. The company just reported $33 million in revenue last quarter. The math is not in OCZ's favour. Plus it's being sued by investors over its past accounting practices, which some felt hid how much money it was losing.

[xenonive]

Thanks for the info , maybe someone big like WD will buy them for the tech.

[mrbios]

Sandisk, cheap as chips, doesn't need to have stellar performance (it's only for school use after all, the biggest difference comes from the almost zero latency anyway) 64gb drives at about £36-38 each. Got quite a few of those, also got quite a few OCZ Agility 3s back when they were on offer but i wouldn't really recommend OCZ. Intel have the lowest failure rate of any SSD manufacturer but that's also at a cost because they aren't the cheapest.

 

Only had to return one out of 90 sandisk drives so far, came back pretty quick, didn't deal with the RMA myself though so not sure what the steps were.

[synaesthesia]

We've had very good results with Samsung, to the point of buying several boxes of them earlier this year. Their support for the single unit we had to RMA (an older 830) was nothing short of awesomely fast and easy.

We've had multiple failures of Sandisk and Corsair. (they were older Sandisk units, weighed a ton. The newer ones we've had since are fine)

[localzuk]

We go for Sandisk here most of the time. (My machine has a Kingston in it, as it works very well for me).

 

Not had any issues yet.

[zag]

I have also head good reports with Intel. I think @zag uses a number of solid state drives, he will be able to contribute.

 

Yep we have 500+ intel SSD's in clients and servers.

 

Not one single problem in 3 years with any of them.

[Rawns]

Only used SSD's personally, but I have a Samsung 840 Pro and it is like lightening. I went with Samsung as they seem to be deemed as one of the most reliable brands out there. I'd never ever go back to a regular HD for my O/S.

[Stone_Liz]

Hi,

 

Samsung have just launched the 2nd gen SSD, the SSD 840 EVO.

 

These are great for PC upgrades and have plenty of powerful features like; increased speed, Rapid Mode, TurboWrite and security to name a few. Take a look here for all the info.

 

Let me know if you want me to arrange a quote or would like to talk to someone about your requirements.

 

Liz

[mac_shinobi]

Hi,

 

Samsung have just launched the 2nd gen SSD, the SSD 840 EVO.

 

These are great for PC upgrades and have plenty of powerful features like; increased speed, Rapid Mode, TurboWrite and security to name a few. Take a look here for all the info.

 

Let me know if you want me to arrange a quote or would like to talk to someone about your requirements.

 

Liz

 

Not sure if this is the case but looking at the reviews for the samsung 840 pro versus the 840 evo's, the Pro versions seem to be faster @Stone_Liz

 

I would say Samsung, Intel or crucial and void OCZ

[VeryPC_Andy]

I can vouch for the 840 ranges; they are a safe bet ; we have been integrating these disks in a good proportion of our systems over the last year and have been impressed.

 

The Samsung Evo drive is based on TLC Nand flash as has superseded standard Samsung 840 (Though the EVO is at a slightly higher pricepoint than the old 840 - Cheeky Monkeys!)

@Stone_Liz is correct in saying the EVO drives are great value for upgrades, a good SSD overview of Evo is here A closer look at RAPID DRAM caching on the Samsung 840 EVO SSD - The Tech Report - Page 1 . As the drive has SSD Write cache the write speeds are really quick for the price point.

 

The 840 PRO is MLC which has a better write endurance than 840 EVO TLC, hence likely why 840 EVO has 3Yr warranty vs. PRO of 5Yr Warranty.

 

If you are looking to buy a system often the manufacturer will warrant the machine for 5yr, so the EVO may make good sense if buying a warranted system. If buying as a component then a 5yr warranty on the disk may be more attractive (Samsung 840 PRO)

 

In terms of disk vendor - I concur with @mac_shinobi

 

If you have the budget Intel 330 / 520, Samsung 840EVO or PRO or Crucial M500 - If money is tight consider a Kingston V300.

Avoid the value line’s vendors do such as 3Gbps versions of drives or low cost variants of their mid/premium line SSD, if you are getting 120GB 6Gbps for sub £40 there will be a reason , the Flash will likely be of a cheaper variant and performance/reliability will suffer.

 

Samsung also do an OEM version of the 840 called PM841 which is an MLC version of the standard 840 meaning it has a better write endurance. We eagerly awaiting the OEM version launch of the EVO but will have to wait and see what is released/ what the price will be.

[sonofsanta]

We have about 260 SSDs on our network now, just over half our install footprint; we upgraded 150 odd machines with them this summer instead of purcashing new PCs because they make such a difference to performance. I can't recall having any problems with any of them in over a year of having them rolled out in quantity. All new PCs will have them in as standard for us now.

 

We had Crucial m4 128Gb drives in the batch of new Stone PCs we got in 2012 on a motherboard with a SATA6 port. This summer we bought Samsung 840 120Gb drives, and if I were buying now, I would get them or the 840 EVO - the Pro is complete overkill for a school machine.

 

120Gb is sufficient for our biggest install (hot swap machines with all the software on) with space spare; if you can leave 25% spare you will increase the life of an SSD, but honestly, the low level of writes you are going to get on a school machine, I wouldn't worry about it. It's worth bearing in mind for servers but for a classroom PC just partition & format the entire capacity and don't worry about it. It's true that TLC NAND has lower endurance than MLC, but it's still at such a high level it is all but irrelevant for your scenario here.

[Danp]

We have fitted 70+ Samsung 840 drives, higher iops than other brands

[mac_shinobi]

I can't edit my last post but I was trying to say avoid OCZ, Thanks @VeryPC_Andy