Does SSD drive need to be idle to execute TRIM?

[idata]

I'm considering purchasing an intel SSD for a dedicated game server to be hosted in a colocation facility. I have an Intel SSD in my personal laptop and I'm familiar with the toolbox. I have a TRIM scheduled for 3AM every day, when I know I won't be using the computer. It works great.

However, the game server will be seeing heavy use at all hours (it is an international gaming community). There's no guarantee that it will be idle when the TRIM command is scheduled. My question is, will the TRIM command execute if the drive is not idle? If it can execute while the drive is in use (reading/writing) will there be a momentary decrease in performance?

Thanks!

[idata]

mistermokkori wrote:

free space helps, but it is not necessary for the free space to be in a separate partition or in unpartitioned space on the drive.

just don't fill the drive up and you'll be fine.

p.s. game servers are generally not heavily i/o bound.

Yup, there is no need to hard limit the partition. The SSD will use the space accordingly.

[idata]

The intent of partioning the SSD is to ensure that there is extra free space available, in case the SSD is filled for some reason. But as has been stated, it is not necessary.