Will using Time Machine on a new SSD affect drive life?

[Apple_Robert]

Got some Christmas cash and have been looking at upgrading my late 2011 MBP to a ssd. I have been reading what I can here, and I think I am going to get an Angelbird (256 GB). I have the cash to get the 512. However, a large part of my current file use is taken up by my ever growing iTunes library. I think it would be better for me to create an external usb drive with the stock HD, and use that for my iTunes library (with the TuneSpan app) and for general downloading.

I got to thinking about ssd, read / write life and Time Machine. I currently use Time Machine (on WD MyCloud) and CCC (on external USB) for my backup setup. As it stands, I am using the default Time Machine backup schedule. Will this use of Time Machine be something I don't really need to worry about, in regards to affecting the life of the ssd?

 

[Weaselboy]

I currently use Time Machine (on WD MyCloud) and CCC (on external USB) for my backup setup. As it stands, I am using the default Time Machine backup schedule. Will this use of Time Machine be something I don't really need to worry about, in regards to affecting the life of the ssd?

Nope... the issue with flash storage is the writes to the drive and not the reads. So TM will just be reading data and won't impact the drive life at all.

Even with significant writes to the drive, a modern SSD is likely going to last longer than the computer itself. See this and this.

Don't sweat it.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Nope... the issue with flash storage is the writes to the drive and not the reads. So TM will just be reading data and won't impact the drive life at all.

Even with significant writes to the drive, a modern SSD is likely going to last longer than the computer itself. See this and this.

Don't sweat it.

Thank you very much for the prompt reply. Will be ordering from B &H, just as soon as they start accepting orders later on today.

In regards to using an external HD for Safari and other browser downloading, once I set the option in preferences, is it something I need to set each time I open the browser, or will Yosemite remember not to download to the new ssd?

 

[Weaselboy]

Thank you very much for the prompt reply. Will be ordering from B &H, just as soon as they start accepting orders later on today.

In regards to using an external HD for Safari and other browser downloading, once I set the option in preferences, is it something I need to set each time I open the browser, or will Yosemite remember not to download to the new ssd?

It will remember it, but why are you doing that? Are you concerned about write cycles to the SSD? You really don't need to worry about that at all.

 

[Apple_Robert]

It will remember it, but why are you doing that? Are you concerned about write cycles to the SSD? You really don't need to worry about that at all.

I have several TV shows in my iTunes library that are over 100 GB. I am on a monthly 300 GB cap from Comcast. I figured it would be more practical to download a season at a time to the external HD, so that I could watch as much as I wanted over the intranet, instead of worrying about how much bandwidth I have left.


After looking at some more test results for Angelbird, it seems it didn't do as well in several areas compared to others. I was going to get it mainly because it is trim inherent.

I see I can get a Crucial 512 for $199.00.

 

[Weaselboy]

I have several TV shows in my iTunes library that are over 100 GB. I am on a monthly 300 GB cap from Comcast. I figured it would be more practical to download a season at a time to the external HD, so that I could watch as much as I wanted over the intranet, instead of worrying about how much bandwidth I have left.

Ahhh... gotcha. That makes sense. I thought maybe you were doing it for fear of write cycles to the SSD.

 

[Apple_Robert]

After doing some more thinking, I decided to get the Crucial MX100 (512 GB). Also got an enclosure and the T6 Tork screwdriver. Will be delivered Monday. Looking forward to what many others have already been experiencing.

Thanks again for the help, Weasel.

 

[yjchua95]

After doing some more thinking, I decided to get the Crucial MX100 (512 GB). Also got an enclosure and the T6 Tork screwdriver. Will be delivered Monday. Looking forward to what many others have already been experiencing.

Thanks again for the help, Weasel.

Don't worry about write cycles on the MLC-based SSDs.

You're going to have to write beyond a petabyte (1024 terabytes) of data to it before it even remotely fails.

http://techreport.com/review/26523/...eriment-casualties-on-the-way-to-a-petabyte/3

I'm not sure about TLC drives though. The TLC-based 256GB Samsung 840 tested there managed to last 900 terabytes before failing.

Either way, I doubt you'll be able to write that much data, unless it's a datacenter or a server that's constantly accessed by people.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Don't worry about write cycles on the MLC-based SSDs.

You're going to have to write beyond a petabyte (1024 terabytes) of data to it before it even remotely fails.

http://techreport.com/review/26523/...eriment-casualties-on-the-way-to-a-petabyte/3

I'm not sure about TLC drives though. The TLC-based 256GB Samsung 840 tested there managed to last 900 terabytes before failing.

Either way, I doubt you'll be able to write that much data, unless it's a datacenter or a server that's constantly accessed by people.

Thanks for the confirmation and link. You and Weasel have provided some good information for me to look over.

I am looking forward to not seeing bouncing apps when opening, along with beachballs from this stock HD. It wasn't so bad with Mountain Lion or even Mavericks. With Yosemite, the 5400 rpm drive has really struggled.

Unless I have misread Crucial's official position on trim, I don't have to enable trim with a third party trim program and kext editing, as it has built in garbage collection. I was concerned about the trim issue, which is why I was quick to learn on Angelbird early on. I feel better having bought the Crucial. It should bring new like to this 2011 MBP. I just have to be careful not to fill it up. lol