Kingston A400 SSD price shootout

That was it… Took 2 minutes.

Drive is fast!

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I wrote that in the OP. Enclosure came in and it works.

Remainder of this post has been withdrawn. Deal did not work out. I was cheated.

This is slightly OT, but probably better than starting a new thread.

I was considering using SSDs for offline backup / archival storage and came across a few articles talking about data retention of powered-off drives. The conclusion is that unpowered SSDs don’t retain data as long as magnetic or optical drives. The length depends on underlying NAND technology, wear, and ambient temperature. The most referenced chart shows that it could be something between one month and 30 years. Here’s one of the better summaries I’ve seen if anyone is interested.

I’m going to stick with HDDs for offline backup and hope that something better comes along before HDDs are completely phased out.

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Yikes! That’s pretty scary. Amazingly, they don’t plaster than info in their “fast, fast, fast” ads.

Coincidentally, over the last two weeks, I’ve been tossing HDDs that I used for backups - not because I found anything better, but I was afraid my USB-IDE connectors would fail. These drives were made in the late 90’s and have been safely stored once they were filled. I also finally copied over some CDs and diskettes from the same era. Two of the CDs had a couple of bad spots, but eventually were readable. The drives and diskettes were expected to be good, but the CDs kind of surprised me. I guess as long as they are kept in a decent environment and in the dark, their longevity is pretty good. These were not archival CDs.

Oh, I didn’t switch to another media for the backups - just to SATA drives, and slightly fewer of them. :relaxed:

Oh noes! Best fridge magnets inside!

Just remember to keep multiple backups. Fewer drives means fewer points of failure. Personally I’ve always been a fan of the “3-2-1 backup strategy” without even realizing it had a name.

Just for the record when it comes to archival storage:

Commencing about 2005, perhaps a few years prior, I began relying on tape for my archival storage. Used DDS-3 and a few DDS-4 tapes, hundreds of 'em, and SCSI connected tape drives.

HUGE MISTAKE!!!

Fast forward to 2019:

Got nothing. Zip Zero Nada All data lost. Wiped out!

Must have missed class the day lesson about earth’s magnetic field was taught. I am hopeless.

Latest try:

Am using high quality 3.5" 3T disk drive.

Q: But Shin, that’s magnetic, too. Maybe you thought the earth makes an exception for disk drives? Are you the consummate jackass, or what?

Probably. :cry:

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Disk drives are probably the best and most practical option for retaining local backups that you store at home or office. They also fit nicely in the bank safe deposit box. That said, they are not immune to data loss and having them sit idle for years may shorten their lifespan.

Best practice is to keep multiple generations of your backups (at least three, and encrypted) in different locations. But I also use a cloud-based backup service as a last resort. That helps in automating incremental backups since the last full, and also means there’s one medium for backup that I don’t have to worry about degrading - that’s their problem.

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If you didn’t need 'em for 14 years, you probably don’t need 'em.

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And skin pinchers, and tool holders. Oh, and stud finders … at least they stick to me. :blush:

I tried those and the Exabytes a few years earlier. Despite all the ads and supposed happy customers, I never had any luck with them … don’t know what I was doing wrong, but I was consistently doing it. Gave up on them and started using hard drives, but they didn’t hold much 2 - 3 GB. They weren’t as practical as the removable disk packs, but didn’t take up as much space or electricity.

128 GB Samsung MicroSD $19.99

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Whats that link supposed to be/?

Update

Acknowledgement: I realize the OP features 120G drives

However, this might be of interest nevertheless:

Wally has done a price rollback on their 240G A400s. Dunno how long this will last. Here is your link:

Get the 240G A400 now from Wally for $26.99

Q: Will they do a Memorial Day special on the 120G?

I dunno. But I am watching. It would not surprise me. I think there is room in their current 120G price to do a special, at least for a short while.

Meanwhile, that 240G price is attractive. No? Has decent number of five star reviews.

ETA

Just checked Amazon price on the 240G. They also are offering the drive at $26.99.