Solid State HDD enclosure

[Sundi]

Hi does anyone know if enclosures/caddies currently exist for solid state hard drives? We currently have no way of backing up client data when a computer doesn't boot (power on, etc).

 

[vacunita]

The ones I've seen tend to have standard SATA connectors.

Find a SATA enclosure and you should be o.k.

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Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[kmcferrin]

Yup, they should work with a standard SATA enclosure (assuming that you use a 2.5" enclosure, as most SSDs are 2.5" form factor.

Of course, if you're hooking it up via USB then you're pretty much killing the performance of your SSD. It probably wouldn't be any faster than a mechanical hard disk.

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[Sundi]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, right after posting my co-worker found out about the normal SATA connectors. I was not aware of this.
Now kmcferrin said that connecting the drive via USB would "kill" the performance of the drive. Would connecting the drive USB really affect it? If so, does it require the drive to need more effort or possibly shorten the life of the drive?

I really need to know before doing this because there are many users now with Netbooks and other small form laptops who need data backed up and I definitely will not connect the drive externally if it may damage it.

 

[vacunita]

He means that connecting it to an enclosure just reduces its performance. Its in no way adverse or detrimental to it, it will just be slower than a direct connection.

However if you only want to use it for backups, I don't see performance being that much of an issue.

Sure it may take a little longer but other than that the drive should have no problems whatsoever.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[Sundi]

Thanks

 

[kmcferrin]

Correct, I meant that the performance of the SSD is far in excess of what is capable via a USB connection.

I will say that I highly recommend that you NOT use an SSD for a backup device. Because they are flash storage they have a limited number of write/erase cycles before they begin to go bad. The wear leveling algorithms on SSDs are pretty good at reducing the impact of write/erase cycles but they are tuned for "normal" usage patterns (i.e., drives that are primarily used to read data).

________________________________________
CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+
MCTS:Windows 7
MCTS:Hyper-V
MCTS:System Center Virtual Machine Manager
MCTS:Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization
MCSE:Security 2003
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator

 

[Sympology]

KMC

And normal HDD also wear out and suffer mechanical failures.

I wouldn't use them for backups for sheer cost reasons and if external, unless using the likes of fibre channel, you are getting no speed benefit (Unless using USB3 / Firewire).

Also be very careful wear talking about Solid state drives, there are two classes (just like HDD's), domestic and Enterprise. Enterprise drives hav a far better life and performance than domestic ones, but you pay for that extra.

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

 

[BadBigBen]

all valid points, but the original statement was:

"We currently have no way of backing up client data when a computer doesn't boot (power on, etc)."

with that in mind, a simple USB HDD would suffice if it is a laptop or desktop, from a consumer, whose OS is hosed. and you wish to safe keep the personal data for short periods of time, e.g. after a fresh install, to copy the data back onto the laptop/desktop in question.

and if it is a Business Client, then I would suggest looking more towards a NAS solution than a USB one...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
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