Reusing old very old SSDs

[CVeil]

Hi guys!

Couldnt find the answers I'm looking for so I thought I'd reach out on the forum. This is a question for my job.

Short version: I'm wondering if it's worth the risk of reusing old SSDs instead of buying new.

Long version:

The SSD model is the following: http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/SpeedTest/2723/INTEL-SSDSA2CW080G3 SSDSA2CW080G3. I believe it's a product from 2011. https://ark.intel.com/fr/products/56571/Intel-SSD-320-Series-80GB-2_5in-SATA-3Gbs-25nm-MLC Caractéristiques du produit Intel® SSD 320 Series (80GB, 2.5in SATA 3Gb/s, 25nm, MLC). We started using most of them in 2013 (a few thousands). Now we have a few hundreds of them that have been unused for a few years, stored in decent conditions. They're available to be reused,

We do reuse them in a different application (it works fine), and we perform basic tests with HD sentinel to see if they're in good shape. Almost all of them clear the tests and can be reused. They only have an average of 20GB of writing.

My question is, do you think those tests are sufficient? Should I worry that they are SSDs from 2011 and have been unplugged and stored most of the time? Most information i find on SSD failures and SSD lifetime considers read/write cycles and that the SSDs are being used.

I would approximate that it costs me 40-50$ to reuse them (tests etc.)... and yes I could purchase new ones for 100$. But we also do it for environmental reasons. The cost of a failure is about 300$ + bad customer/retailer experience.

I'm slightly leaning towards buying new and sending those SSDs to recycling.

Any thoughts?

many thanks!!

Charles

[idata]

Hi Charles_p_eng,

We understand your concern regarding the Intel® SSD 320 Series. In order to provide you with the proper suggestion, could you please let us know the following information: -What is going to be the usage of the SSDs? Are you going to use them in workstations? -What is going to be the workload of the SSDs? -We recommend you to check the estimated life remaining of the SSDs with the https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27330/Intel-Solid-State-Drive-Toolbox Intel® Solid State Drive Toolbox. Note: The SSDs need to be connected directly to the motherboard in order to be able to check the information. We look forward to hearing back from you.Regards,Junior M.

[CVeil]

Hi Junior,

thanks for your reply.

- About the toolbox, we couldnt make it work but i'll ask that they retest and look for support if needed.

- workload: about 120GB a year of writing (so that's 1.5 "cycle" out of 3000? 120/80)

- usage: workstation? not exactly, it's an OEM device/computer used in gaming. This device is connected to gaming machines. When this device fails, the gaming machines become non playable. But we can resolve the situation within a few hours.

Also, i believe we will still use those devices for 5-6 years (max).

I'm really trying to assess if those SSD are still >90% or 95% good. According to the sw we used, they are. We test them. But I'm wondering if there are other factors I should take into account.

thanks again!

[idata]

Hi Charles_p_eng,

Thanks for the information provided. We would like to let you know that the SSD will have a minimum of five years of useful life under typical client workloads with up to 20 GB of host writes per day as per the https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/ssdc/hpssd/sb/Intel_SSD_320_Series_Product... product specs. However, you need to keep in mind that the warranty could be expired since these are old SSDs. We would like to inform you that those are the factors you need to take into consideration.Please let us know if there is something else we can assist you with. Regards, Junior M.

[CVeil]

Hi,

Thanks for this information.

May I ask, would you go as far as saying that "shelf time" (as i would call it), i.e. the amount of time the SSD has been unplugged and stored (in correct conditions) is not an important factor? In other words, in good conditions, can we assume that the time spent in storage has no significant impact on the lifetime of the product?

I understand that you may not have official specifications for this, but maybe tests have been run and knowledge has been gathered over time, that you may know of.

Thanks again!

Charles