Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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HDD or SSD? (feddit.de)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hello, everybody. I've been looking for a new storage solution. I know, that HDDs are reliable and SSDs are for fast access, but I've been an HDD user ever since. I have an SSD, but I only have the OS on it. Likewise, I want to do some basic File operations, as writing documents or copy files. It would also be great if I could use it as a Backup kind of sorts device. It would be great if I could move my data from my old WD-Elements external HDD, quickly, to an intern HDD without any fuss. I just need a Storage medium that's cheap and good. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks in advance!

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

SSDs are way more reliable than spinning disks

That's true, with one caveat: if an SSD fails, it's usually catastrophically and without warning. HDDs usually give some warning signs before they fail completely (bad sectors, read/write errors, strange noises).

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The SSD memory cell failure mode is to retain the last written contents, so I actually don't think I agree. In the SMART diagnostics, it shows how many of these bad cells are present, which is a reasonable indicator of impending failure from age

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

One major failure mode of SSDs is that they can corrupt their FTL map. That kills all of the data instantly.

(Now, a major reliability advantage of SSDs is that by being faster, you can also make a backup of them faster. And if backups goes faster, you're more likely to actually do them. Right? Right!?)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The biggest factor in making good, automatic backups for my home server wasn't speed (it's an older machine with a SAS array of spinning discs) but the availability of affordable cloud based backup storage (I use Backblaze and sync my files to a storage bucket once a day). Then it becomes automatic, and no one has to remember to do it, and it's offsite.

Even when external USB discs got cheap you had to remember to do it regularly and many people would forget.