[NTLK] flash longevity question

[Dan]

I wouldn't be.  SSD's all have SMART or something similar to monitor its condition (or should).  I would get something that can read that (there are many SMART tools out there) and see what it says for the amount of used 'spare' blocks and the remaining 'spare' free blocks.  If you are using spare blocks, time to clone the drive.

Usually though this is built into the laptops BIOS to check the SMART data.  And if the spare blocks (or other) conditions get low to lock the system and not let you boot normally.  You have to turn this feature off in BIOS to get it to boot, then clone the drive FAST.  But this generally happens a while before data loss can occur.  Backups are always a good idea though.

As this thread was started with the wonderment of how long FLASH lasts unused/stored as I had heard it fades when I had only heard writes moved it towards failure  But with the newer technology (MLC, TLC, etc) the 'charge' in the cells can deplete with time causing storage/data loss.  With all that has been found out, it is actually encouraging.  But I would power it up on occasion.  In your case with the laptop in daily use, that is not an issue.

As for RAM, that is totally different.  They do not 'wear out' compared to flash.  There isn't any 'fatigue' with writing/rewriting as there is with flash.  But of course it all goes poof the instant the power is removed (but I think we all know that).  Sure anything can fail, but in general they last a long long long time.

-Dan

On 9/19/2022 4:34 AM, B wrote:
> Wow! I'm a bit worried now..
> 
> ..about my Mac. (Actually a ModBook Pro.)
> 
> It just has two SSD's, one holds the boot partition.
> 
> I’ve been using it hours daily for a good decade.
> 
> None of the partitions are near full, but looks like I can expect failure sooner than later.
> 
> Good to know!!
> 
> But now I have another question: what about RAM? I suppose that also wears out eventually.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> B