SSD data loss due to power loss ?

[hhhd1]

Have anyone seen any events of complete or partial SSD data corruption due to sudden power loss?

Any Sandforce drives, since it is one of the most used controllers, .. or non-sandforce ?

 

[Rakehellion]

I had this happen to an SD card once. But any drive will fail eventually. Best to keep backups of everything.

 

[Jembo]

I've seen it on a Crucial M4 a few years ago. Battery came loose & I ended up having to reinstall OS. Forget which controller those used.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Friend lost a 240GB Vertex Plus R2 after a power event.

I lost a Mushkin 240GB Chronos Deluxe, but that one never worked right.

 

[KingstonU]

I lost a OCZ Vertex 1 due to a power event. I am wanting to buy a new SSD but am finding it hard finding good information on if this issue of SSDs bricking after a power event has been properly fixed in new SSDs, and if so which ones.

 

[readymix]

nope never, going back to my first ssd in 2009. Probably 20-25 times during that period an ac interruption/outage caused a restart with as many as 4 ssds active. 3 weeks ago it happened 3 times in one day after someone took out a utility pole, nothing. Nor has countless overclocking failures caused any problems.

 

[LTC8K6]

If you've spent a lot of money on a computer system, spend a little more and get a small UPS to handle power failures. Even a 350VA unit will handle transient events, and give you a few minutes to shut down properly for longer events.

 

[toyota]

If you've spent a lot of money on a computer system, spend a little more and get a small UPS to handle power failures. Even a 350VA unit will handle transient events, and give you a few minutes to shut down properly for longer events.

well you might as well get one that can actually handle the full load your pc could be under or it will do no good and turn right off anyway if under load.

 

[LTC8K6]

well you might as well get one that can actually handle the full load your pc could be under or it will do no good and turn right off anyway if under load.

It just needs to last 5 or 10 minutes. That will handle blips and give you, or the software, plenty of shut down time.

You do need to evaluate your system's power draw from the wall socket.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2014/09/03/intel-core-i7-5930k-and-core-i7-5820k-revie/8

I think the 350 to 500va range of UPS would cover most systems short term.

It is pretty neat to have a larger UPS and just keep on going when the power fails.

 

[toyota]

It just needs to last 5 or 10 minutes. That will handle blips and give you, or the software, plenty of shut down time.

You do need to evaluate your system's power draw from the wall socket.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2014/09/03/intel-core-i7-5930k-and-core-i7-5820k-revie/8

I think the 350 to 500va range of UPS would cover most systems short term.

It is pretty neat to have a larger UPS and just keep on going when the power fails.

I was just saying if its not enough to cover the wattage under load then it will offer no protection under said load and just turn right off. you said get a "small UPS" which of course will not be good enough for those with high end comps.

 

[LTC8K6]

An APC 350VA unit keeps the i5-3330 system and monitor at work running for about 10 minutes, for example. It's never under any stress, though. That's plenty to handle the short term power blips we have, and plenty of time to shut down when the power totally fails.

Unless you are stressing the computer, and don't stop that when the power fails, most systems draw fairly low wattage from the mains.

The people who have built top end systems that draw a lot of mains power, probably know that, and would buy an appropriate UPS.

For most people, they have a pre-built system or a mid-grade system that a small UPS will handle just fine for a few minutes.

If you have DSL, it typically stays up during power failures. So if you get a larger UPS, you can just keep on surfing the net while others can't.

I haven't looked at prices in a while, but it seems they are not that expensive at all, so I have no problem with going bigger.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842111461

 

[VirtualLarry]

I would echo the "get a UPS" sentiment, with the caveat that they need to be sized appropriately for the load, and "VA" is neither a measure of the wattage of a PC power supply, nor is it a measure of runtime.

Toyota is right, not everybody can get by with a "small UPS". Especially not if one has a GPU in their rig.

 

[johny12]

To be in safer side have a backup but can also use Sandforce SSDs there is no harm in it.

 

[corkyg]

A sudden power loss is also damaging to HDDs if they are in the process of writing. For a desktop, a UPS is a good idea. Also, duplicate drives are a good backup.

Laptops, with battery installed, and A/C adapter plugged in are fairly safe - that situation amounts to a UPS.

 

[GlacierFreeze]

No data loss with my Evo 840 from a few power losses, no UPS.

 

[Stuka87]

Some SSD's have capacitors on them that will allow them to run for several moments after the power was lost. Its one of the reasons I run enterprise grade (or based in the case of the Intel 730s that i use) SSDs whenever possible.

And the data loss only happens if the drive is actively being written to when the power is lost.

 

[Puffnstuff]

My Enermax ps also has caps that keep power a bit after a complete loss plus having an apc with avr insures that I always have clean power to my system.

 

[hhhd1]

A sudden power loss is also damaging to HDDs if they are in the process of writing. For a desktop, a UPS is a good idea. Also, duplicate drives are a good backup.

I have a had a corrupt file system multiple times on USB mechanical hard drives, when the cable shakes while copying files, and I end up having to reformat the drive.

-----------------

collection of data from this thread;

1. an sd card
2. crucial m4, resulting in having to reinstall the os.
3. OCZ Vertex Plus R2 SATA II
4. Mushkin 240GB Chronos Deluxe, but that one never worked right
5. OCZ Vertex 1


IMO, the results are not that concerning ..
2 of the drives are OCZ,
1 is mushkin with pre-existing issues,
1 is crucial m4, with damage similar to what would happen on a typical HDD.

I not saying to not worry about power loss protection, but we need more data or actual tests, maybe with older SSDs , like the endurance tests :sneaky:

 

[dlerious]

One thing to be aware of with UPS are some outlets are surge protection only.

 

[freeskier93]

Lots of SSDs write to a volatile memory buffer first, some (like Samsung) have write caching utilities (Windows will also do this) that buffer to RAM. If power is lost while data is still in buffer it will be lost. As someone mentioned enterprise level SSDs have protection agains this that allow them to finish writing in the event of power loss.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I run enterprise grade (or based in the case of the Intel 730s that i use) SSDs whenever possible.

If we are to believe Intel Ark, the consumer 730 series does not have "Enhanced Power Loss Data Protection". Of course, we could go out in the field and manually test it, but don't have any 730s to check.