SSD Question, what would you do?

[Platypus]

I've taken delivery of my new PC about two weeks ago now. It has a large-ish SSD C: drive, 256 GB, and 1TB D: drive. Windoze has been set up (not by me) so that "My Documents" "My Pictures" etc is on the "data" drive i.e. the D: drive. There's loads of free space on the SSD so I'm pondering moving "My Documents" back from the hard drive to the SSD. For several years now I've kept "My Docs" to a conservative size (< 100GB) so I reckon it may as well be on the fast drive.

Another reason for moving stuff back to C: is that I can backup the C: drive (Novabackup Image Backup) and get "the lot" in one go.

Pros and Cons? What would you do, and why?

[AtW]

Don't trust SSDs to keep your data safe.

I would recommend avoiding having swap file on it also.

If you keep some valueable data on one disk make sure you have good backup strategy to copy data to another disk or better regularly burn DVD.

[vetran]

put 'My Documents' on SSD but sync to conventional disk regularly. Back up nightly / on close down to NAS hidden in the house.

[PAH]

Like any hard drive you should backup regularly, so the frighteners people like AtW like to apply to anyone mentioning SSD is a moot point.

To make sure you're getting the most from the SSD, store your most frequently accessed stuff on it, ensure you're using Windows 7 or newer for Trim support, and use the free version of SSD Life to keep tabs on it.

Then sit back and laugh at the mugs still on mechanical drives as they believe all SSDs are prone to spontaneous combustion.

Personally I've got 3 SSDs (two in my main PC and one in my laptop), the earliest going back a few years and not supporting Trim. Even so SSD Life says it's still 80% healthy and will last another 10 years (the ones supporting trim are still at 100%). I have a NAS and a backup for the NAS, so all my stuff is pretty well protected.

Enjoy the SSD they're ******* great.

[quackhandle]

Just a security question, is it not a bad idea to store your personal files in the Win provided folder 'My Documents' as that is one of the places a worm or virus will always look to infect?

qh

[Platypus]

put 'My Documents' on SSD but sync to conventional disk regularly. Back up nightly / on close down to NAS hidden in the house.

Like any hard drive you should backup regularly, so the frighteners people like AtW like to apply to anyone mentioning SSD is a moot point.

To make sure you're getting the most from the SSD, store your most frequently accessed stuff on it, ensure you're using Windows 7 or newer for Trim support, and use the free version of SSD Life to keep tabs on it.

Then sit back and laugh at the mugs still on mechanical drives as they believe all SSDs are prone to spontaneous combustion.

Personally I've got 3 SSDs (two in my main PC and one in my laptop), the earliest going back a few years and not supporting Trim. Even so SSD Life says it's still 80% healthy and will last another 10 years (the ones supporting trim are still at 100%). I have a NAS and a backup for the NAS, so all my stuff is pretty well protected.

Enjoy the SSD they're ******* great.

Thanks, guys!

[Scrag Meister]

Anything I want loading fast and can replace easily, ala Windows, Office and business apps, go on my SSDs, anything that is important, ala accounts, daughters school work, wife's study docs go on the NAS.

[Durbs]

Another option, partition the SSD off, 60GB for cache and the rest for OS and programs then use the 60GB as a cache drive to speed up the 1TB main drive. This assumes you're on Z68 or a chipset that supports it.

I've got my main PC set up with everything on a 1TB HDD with a 64GB SATA3 SSD serving it as cache. Its really quick and gets quicker as it learns how you use the PC (not as quick as native SSD, granted).

That way you'd have a super speedy system drive and also a decent speed boost for the stuff on your TB drive.

Also, ignore those saying they are unreliable, they are no more likely to fail than a mechanical HD.

[Platypus]

Anything I want loading fast and can replace easily, ala Windows, Office and business apps, go on my SSDs, anything that is important, ala accounts, daughters school work, wife's study docs go on the NAS.

And do you backup the NAS?

I have some NAS but I don't keep anything irreplaceable on them.

[Dark Black]

I backup the NAS to a couple of USB HDD regularly (I rotate the 2 USB drives - i.e alternate backups)