Question m.2 SSDs for cold backup

[fafaforza]

Hi there, new to the forum.

Most stuff I read about SSD reliability centers around people using m.2 or SATA SSDs for OS installs or actual backup pools (zfs, etc). What I'm looking for, at least currently, is an SSD drive to back up my backup of my ZFS pool to. So it's a backup of a backup of a zpool.

I've had too many WD Blues and Reds go bad on me with literally minimal use (turn my nas on once every 2 months to back up my laptop) to trust them, hence solid state.

There are many brands out there I've never heard of (gigastone,King*), lots of posts about whether they use DRAM or offload to storage, heat generation, etc.

The most paramount thing I care about is reliability.

The question is: what is a cost effective SSD in the 4tb range that would give me reliable cold storage without breaking the bank.

I'm paranoid about losing anything, so I'd prefer to buy two or more of the cheaper drives over one Samsung or WD, and just mirror my data to them manually periodically.

The other thing I'm pondering is m.2 or SATA SSD. My miroATX could easily take SATASSDs so I could gradually switch from spinny WD Reds to SATASSDs, whereas reusing the m.2's would require more work and probably physical space inside. Would using m.2 in a SATA enclosure be possible? Easy? Or easier to go the SATA SSD route? Response time and speed are less important to reliability to me.

TIA

 

[Ralston18]

What is "breaking the bank" in terms of your budget?

How much is too much?

 

[USAFRet]

Would using m.2 in a SATA enclosure be possible?

No.

Just go with good quality, known brand 2.5" SSDs.

I say 'known brand' due to the probably MUCH better warranty action.
A few years ago one of my SanDisk SATA SSDs died suddenly.

It was 33 days past the 3 year warranty.
I knew it, SanDisk knew it....they gave me a new one anyway.
5 years later, the replacement is still going strong.

Those second/third rate drive people wouldn't do that.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

There is an anantech article about data retention on ssd. The part used for the test was close to eol and the data retention was about a year. It gives an indication for a worst case scenario.

I’d look at SATA ssd parts, reputable name and warranty also double up on them, have 2 copies.

A few years ago, not many, the place at which I was working was still using Travan tapes multiple sets of 3, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, each stored in different buildings, all within fire safes.

 

[fafaforza]

What is "breaking the bank" in terms of your budget?

How much is too much?

It's all relative, but I already got 4 4tb WD Blues, realized they weren't up to the task, got 4 4tb WD Reds. I've seen $500 Sandisk 4tb SSDs. Would two $150 lesser known m.2's offer me more flexibility and failover over a single expensive known brand.

 

[USAFRet]

but I already got 4 4tb WD Blues, realized they weren't up to the task

What failed with using the WD Blues?

 

[Ralston18]

This:

"Would two $150 lesser known m.2's"

Begs the question what lesser known m.2's?

 

[fafaforza]

This:

"Would two $150 lesser known m.2's"

Begs the question what lesser known m.2's?

If you search for SSDs, you'll see lots of new names, like Kingspec (aping the Kingston brand name), Nextorage, Team Group, fanxiang, Gigastone.

Basically is making NVME storage so easy where brands that aren't Seagate, Samsung, WD, Crucial, MSI, etc can be trusted for a mostly reliable cold backup-of-a-backup.

 

[fafaforza]

What failed with using the WD Blues?

They kept dropping off the zpool, I think at least some of them showed fault in WD's test utility. It's been a while since I used them so memory is foggy. The one failed Red was making repeated spinup noises, that one seemed faulty from the getgo. The Blues might have gotten overused from NAS use.

 

[Ralston18]

It would not surprise me if many of those "new names" are from the same manufacturer and just branded differently.

And targeted to the applicable markets.

So many of them are made, distributed, and sold as quickly as possible, Discount bins being the final destination.

By the time word gets around about defective products the sellers are long gone and starting some other company to repeat the process.

If the SSDs are not crucial for storing backup data or otherwise expendable then all that is at risk is the money spent.

And what you are willing to lose.

 

[USAFRet]

It would not surprise me if many of those "new names" are from the same manufacturer and just branded differently.

And targeted to the applicable markets.

And those are made from chips that don't quite meet the QA of Crucial/Samsung/WD/etc.
They 'work', but not necessarily up to the same spec.

Sold and then repackaged into Kingspec, etc.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

A backup is only as good as the media on which you store it and how you manage your backups.

If you intend to write once and then forget your backup to SSD this https://ssdsphere.com/ssd-data-retention/ may be relevant.

if you are refreshing the backup periodically then the link is moot. Consider having redundant backups, lose one and there is a spare. The old adage was data doesn’t exist unless it’s in 3 places.

The SSD will be a backup drive, you won’t be writing repeatedly to the ssd so endurance (number of writes) won’t matter.

If your data matters enough to back it up, don’t cheap out on the drive(s) buy the best you can according to your budget.

 

[Richj444]

If you search for SSDs, you'll see lots of new names, like Kingspec (aping the Kingston brand name), Nextorage, Team Group, fanxiang, Gigastone.

I don't think Team Group belongs with the rest of those names, they are newer, but seem to be well respected and good quality drives.