Estimated life remaining - When to replace?

[CJM]

Hi guys. Intel memory and storage tool informs me that the Intel SSD 530 has a estimated life remaining of 49%, after nearly 4 years. If we assume my usage is the same as before, can we estimate when in time I should replace the SSD with a new one to be on the "safe side" (whatever that is)?

On a side note. I was a bit surprised to see that total NAND writes was about 340TB and host writes 21TB. That's a ratio of about 34:2. Sounds like something is broken to me but perhaps this is all good and not affecting performance or lifetime of the SSD?

About host writes, 21TB. If I estimate I've running and using my workstation for 1000 days, that is about 21Gb of data writes per day. It's difficult for me to accept that number if take into account what I use my workstation for, internet browsing and programming. No big or thousands of smaller files are being written daily as far as I know of that would make up to 21Gb. Anyhow, Do you have any suggestions of software to monitor what program is writing to the SSD in the longer run so I can find out what's writing so much? A quick look at the windows resource manager, the system process is constantly writing about 80kb/second so I guess that'll write some gigs per day.

[BrusC_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hello, @CJM.

Thank you for contacting the Intel Community Support.

I received your ticket regarding the Intel SSD 530 Series, I will be  glad to assist you.

According to the SMART details and all the information provided, the drive could be suffering from the Write Amplification.

There is a special firmware that can be applied in this scenario to correct this behavior and possibly extend the life of the SSD a bit more, you can find all the details and the download in the following link:

- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000027328/memory-and-storage/client-ssds.ht...

Regarding the "replacement threshold" or when to replace, I'm not sure if there is a good number, personally, I would say that once it reaches 5~10% I would start looking for a replacement, or if I notice that the drive starts acting-up, but always making sure I have a backup of my information, just in case. 

Let me know if there is anything else.

Regards,

Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A contingent Worker at Intel