Give me one good reason that I should buy/use an SSD...

[alaricljs]

Using RAID via the BIOS (and almost certainly via a separate card) may negate the possibility of using the ATA password.

 

[996GT2]

After reading
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4244/intel-ssd-320-review
It seems that the Intel 320 does have FDE, along with support for ATA password, although it wasn't clear that the ATA password was used for the FDE.

Looks good to me. Trying to decide between a 120/160GB 320, or RAID 0 Microcenter G2 SF1200 drives. If only the 320 was cheaper, like all of the early reports were claiming. ("Twice the capacity for the same price.")

It looks like the current best price per Gig for the 320 is the 160GB unit. It's $100 cheaper than the X25-M 160GB unit at Newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167053
Unfortunately, that's $300, and way, way, out of my price range.

Two Microcenter SF1200 64GB drives in RAID would only cost $200.

You lose TRIM with RAID, and Sandforce drives can take a big performance hit without TRIM.

That should be something to keep in mind if you are thinking about running them in RAID 0.

Also, the SF-12xx controller in those drives is a bit buggy, so if one drives goes out on you, you lose the entire RAID array.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You lose TRIM with RAID, and Sandforce drives can take a big performance hit without TRIM.

That should be something to keep in mind if you are thinking about running them in RAID 0.

Also, the SF-12xx controller in those drives is a bit buggy, so if one drives goes out on you, you lose the entire RAID array.

That's a very good point. If I went with SF1200 in RAID0, I would be choosing the cheaper, not the more robust solution. I like the fact that the Intel 320 drives have an array of caps, to flush the writes when power gets cut. I run with UPSes, so generally that's not necessary, but one of my UPSes failed, and overloaded (even though the UPS is specced way more beefy than my systems connected to it), and it cut the power to my secondary desktop rig.
So even a UPS isn't bulletproof when it comes to power, they are just another link in the chain, and they can fail too.

I'd really like the Intel, but $300 is too much to swallow right now. 🙁

 

[996GT2]

That's a very good point. If I went with SF1200 in RAID0, I would be choosing the cheaper, not the more robust solution. I like the fact that the Intel 320 drives have an array of caps, to flush the writes when power gets cut. I run with UPSes, so generally that's not necessary, but one of my UPSes failed, and overloaded (even though the UPS is specced way more beefy than my systems connected to it), and it cut the power to my secondary desktop rig.
So even a UPS isn't bulletproof when it comes to power, they are just another link in the chain, and they can fail too.

I'd really like the Intel, but $300 is too much to swallow right now. 🙁

You can still find 120GB Intel X-25M G2 drives brand new in the $200-225 price range on eBay. Not sure about other retailers, but I think that is a great option because the X-25M performs about the same as the newer 320 series SSD.

 

[Voo]

But... how do you delete the key, and how do you verify that the encryption is working? .

Well iirc there's a command for that. And how you verify if the encryption is correctly implemented? You don't. That's an extremely complex area and you'll have to trust experts for both software and hardware solutions on it anyhow. So the question is more how proven is SF's implementation? No idea, wasn't really interested in those details, but they keep parts of their implementation secret which is usually not the best sign.

Well I was thinking more like a decade or two from now when stuff like quantum computers may actually exist. People who are really paranoid may not want to leave encrypted data on their disk that could potentially be brute forced in the not too distant future. Unlikely scenario I suppose, but was just thinking out loud. Agencies who are that paranoid are probably going to destroy disks anyway instead of just wiping them.

Considering the current state of the art for quantum computing, that's more than a little bit paranoid. And as soon as you can factorize integers in P, the fact that the data on your drive is less secure will be the least of your worries (right after the collapse of the complete online economy)

 

[VirtualLarry]

You can still find 120GB Intel X-25M G2 drives brand new in the $200-225 price range on eBay. Not sure about other retailers, but I think that is a great option because the X-25M performs about the same as the newer 320 series SSD.

But the X25-M doesn't have the backup caps, nor the FDE. So I don't want an X25-M.

 

[poofyhairguy]

My system is always on, but i'm constantly closing and opening any of probably 15 different programs.

That is my usage, and getting a SSD was the single biggest computer upgrade of my entire life (and I started with a Tandy 8088!).

 

[VirtualLarry]

That is my usage, and getting a SSD was the single biggest computer upgrade of my entire life (and I started with a Tandy 8088!).

Why not just get more RAM, and leave all of those programs open?

 

[alaricljs]

There comes a point at which there is just too much crap running and your mind needs the overload minimized. Virtual desktops, grouped applications, and other management tricks will only get you so far.

 

[Zap]

Lol. Nothing interesting. I was just thinking of hypothetical situations, like if I were to go to the Social Security site, then my SSN might be in my browser cache, etc.

I don't need someone to scan though my SSD when I get done using it and sell it, and then to steal my benefits, for example.

You have much bigger things to worry about than someone finding your data on a used SSD.

 

[996GT2]

You have much bigger things to worry about than someone finding your data on a used SSD.

This, lol.

OP, there are so many other things that are more likely to happen to your personal data than someone stealing it off an SSD.

If you're really paranoid just keep the old SSDs and don't sell them...they're not going to be worth a ton of money by the time they're obsolete and you need to sell anyway.