Re: Measuring (or calculating) how many bytes are actually written to disk when I repeatedly save a file

[rhkramer@gmail.com]

On Monday, April 08, 2019 08:39:58 AM rhkramer@gmail.com wrote:
> On Monday, April 08, 2019 03:40:54 AM Curt wrote:
> > Maybe an SSD is not the most appropriate
> > storage device for frequent editing of large files.
> 
> That is what I'm trying to decide / determine.

I guess I'll amplify that a little bit -- I was going to write a longer email 
that would have included some of the following points, but for now, I'll just 
hit some as bullet points:

   * Until recently, I would have gone with an HDD (i.e., spinning magnetic 
media) on the assumption that it is more reliable than an SSD, but I'm less 
sure about that these days.

   * Typically when I buy something of some consequence, I try to read the 
reviews, and, if the site provides the feature, I read the lowest reviews first 
-- I read lots of horror stories in the reviews, like DOAs, failures after a 
short life, and I see other problems in the ads:

   * I see drives being sold as OEM drives, for which most( or some?) 
manufacturers do not provide a warranty.

   * Sometimes the ads for those drives don't mention that it is an OEM drive 
-- there may be clues (like it comes with no mounting bracket, screws, cables, 
software, and / or retail packaging, or it may be described as a "bare 
drive"), but sometimes there are no clues.

   * Quite often, even though the drive is sold as OEM, those ads mention the 
manufacturer's warranty, and don't mention that it is not being provided 
(sometimes I can think of it is somewhat accidental, as (I think) they sort of 
copy and paste the manufacturer's standard description (for that drive) which 
I'd expect to mention the warranty, but, sometimes in addition to that, in the 
list of specifications they mention the warranty).

   * I've seen lots of reviews which mention DOAs or failures after a short 
life for what used to be my go to drive (Western Digital), and today I looked 
at an HGST (which, iiuc, is the successor to Hitachi) which I thought might 
become my go to drive, but see similar problems listed in reviews of those 
drives.  (The ad does mention a 3-year warranty, but I don't trust that -- I'd 
plan to write to the vendor and / or manufacturer to confirm that before I 
bought the drive.)

Two asides (well, maybe the entire email is an aside, but) (and, apparently I 
can't count): ;-) 

   * I used to watch for hard drives with really good sale prices (maybe a 
rebate), and buy them in advance of my need, and store them, expecting them to 
just work when I was ready for them.  I no longer feel safe doing that -- I 
think I have to put them in service as soon as possible, certainly within the 
vendor's money back return period (typically 30 days, afaik) (if no warranty 
is provided), or well within the warranty period  if it is under warranty.

   * I will read the ad carefully before I buy, and, certainly if I have any 
doubt about whether it is an OEM drive or not, or has a warranty or not, I 
will write to the vendor to ask.  (I may do that even if I don't think there 
is any ambiguity in the ad.)

   * I am surprised at how many people (who bother to write reviews about 
their bad experiences) apparently don't bother to use the RMA procedure to 
return a drive if it is under warranty..  But, you typically do have to pay 
for return shipping, and additional horror stories in the reviews concern new 
drives returned under warranty replaced with refurbished drives, drives that 
have (retail?) packaging torn open (leading one to infer that it is not a new 
drive), and even completely different drives, perhaps in cases where a buyer 
returned a defective drive in the wrong package (and a vendor re-shipped it 
without ever checking the contents of the package received from their customer 
(which is two wrongs which don't make a right).

   * I sometimes wonder if the problems with so many drives come from poor 
handling by either the vendor or the manufacturer -- I mean I can imagine the 
forklift driver (or equivalent) banging a pallet against a wall or pillar, or 
dropping or spilling it.

I guess I'm pretty cynical sometimes.