Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@×××××.com>
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Re: File synchronisation utility (searching for/about to program it)
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 08:23:50
Message-Id: 200907261015.04889.alan.mckinnon@gmail.com
In Reply to: [gentoo-user] Re: File synchronisation utility (searching for/about to program it) by walt
1 On Saturday 25 July 2009 16:56:57 walt wrote:
2 > On 07/24/2009 07:43 PM, Alan E. Davis wrote:
3 > > ...I am using a flash drive as a cache, so to speak...
4 >
5 > I recently learned that flash drives wear out after about
6 > 10,000 write operations, which came as an unpleasant surprise.
7
8 That's a gross over-simplification of reality.
9
10 Individual elements of a flash drive will eventually wear out - they are not
11 infinitely over-writable.
12
13 The ultra-super-duper-cheapie crap ones average out at about 10,000 writes per
14 cell, meaning that's the point where the manufacturer won't guarantee much.
15 You may well get more on such a device in practice.
16
17 Decent drives go up to 100,000 writes before cell failures become
18 statistically significant
19
20 > Just be aware that you are drastically shortening the life of
21 > a flash drive by writing to it frequently. (or so I've read)
22
23 Which is why you should use wear-levelling
24
25
26 --
27 alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com