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Thanks. The hysteria over SSD lifespans seems overblown yet I had no concrete info to counter it. When I saw large enterprise storage arrays adopting SSD technology, I wondered how true the lifetime may be. Yet I've had Seagate drives die within weeks of first use. Backup, backup, backup...

EMC is selling petabyte all flash storage arrays. Impressive. SSD's can't be all that bad.

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I had to refresh the cells of a TLC after a year of use because it had become unbearably slow.
 
I had to refresh the cells of a TLC after a year of use because it had become unbearably slow.

TLC? Not enough coffee yet to follow that. And 'refresh cells'?

Be gentle. I'm a noob on this SSD thing. Just inherited a MBP with an SSD. It starts faster. Nice upgrade from my old one.
 
TLC? Not enough coffee yet to follow that. And 'refresh cells'?

Be gentle. I'm a noob on this SSD thing. Just inherited a MBP with an SSD. It starts faster. Nice upgrade from my old one.
SLC = Single Level Cell - Stores 1 bit per cell. The fastest and most expensive
MLC = Multi Level Cell - 2 bits per cell
TLC = Triple Level Cell - 3 bits per cell - The cheapest, slowest, and with less endurance

Of course, these can be combined with 3D layering, so that 3D MLC could be cheaper than single layer TLC, for example.

To refresh the cells of an SSD, you use a program that reads and writes back every block. This must not be done often, as you're shortening the lifespan of the SSD by one full disk write.
 
SLC = Single Level Cell - Stores 1 bit per cell. The fastest and most expensive
MLC = Multi Level Cell - 2 bits per cell
TLC = Triple Level Cell - 3 bits per cell - The cheapest, slowest, and with less endurance

Of course, these can be combined with 3D layering, so that 3D MLC could be cheaper than single layer TLC, for example.

To refresh the cells of an SSD, you use a program that reads and writes back every block. This must not be done often, as you're shortening the lifespan of the SSD by one full disk write.

Yeah, after I posted that, I found out what it meant. ICK, huh...
 
Does anyone have opinions, pro or con, about the external hard drives Costco sells? I don't have many options other than Best Buy locally for me to purchase some. Thanks in advance.
 
Does anyone have opinions, pro or con, about the external hard drives Costco sells? I don't have many options other than Best Buy locally for me to purchase some. Thanks in advance.
From looking at their web site, it looks like they are selling Seagate drives and those are just fine.
 
Hi again, not sure I should start a new thread or pick up from this one. Picked up 2 WD 1TB from Best Buy two weeks ago, along with the Belkin 4 hub. I followed the advice to reformat and attached one of them to my AE using the USB. Set time machine and all has been running well. Thanks to the experts here!

This is now where I need some advice and/or guidance. Apple replaced my 2012 MBP failed 750gb hard drive with a 512gb ssd in Oct 2015. I bought the WD to replace a much smaller backup hard drive. Currently the ssd has about 200gb left of storage. Also running 10.10.5 and it's up to date. Yes, I know I should upgrade my OS, lol.

Is it possible to use the 2nd WD to both time machine backup and put my photos, books and itunes libraries on it as well?

At this point, I can still exchange the WD for a seagate 2Tb that's on sale now and also purchase whatever else is recommended.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanxs
 
Hi again, not sure I should start a new thread or pick up from this one. Picked up 2 WD 1TB from Best Buy two weeks ago, along with the Belkin 4 hub. I followed the advice to reformat and attached one of them to my AE using the USB. Set time machine and all has been running well. Thanks to the experts here!

This is now where I need some advice and/or guidance. Apple replaced my 2012 MBP failed 750gb hard drive with a 512gb ssd in Oct 2015. I bought the WD to replace a much smaller backup hard drive. Currently the ssd has about 200gb left of storage. Also running 10.10.5 and it's up to date. Yes, I know I should upgrade my OS, lol.

Is it possible to use the 2nd WD to both time machine backup and put my photos, books and itunes libraries on it as well?

At this point, I can still exchange the WD for a seagate 2Tb that's on sale now and also purchase whatever else is recommended.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanxs

Is this a Retina MBP? Or the mid-2012 with the Superdrive? Apple chose the replacement drive? Or did you pay to upgrade it to SSD?

Anyway, Apple does not recommend using a Time Machine drive for anything but your time machine backup.

Now that you have an SSD in the MacBook, have you given any thought to using an external SSD to speed up the backup?
 
Is this a Retina MBP? Or the mid-2012 with the Superdrive? Apple chose the replacement drive? Or did you pay to upgrade it to SSD?

Anyway, Apple does not recommend using a Time Machine drive for anything but your time machine backup.

Now that you have an SSD in the MacBook, have you given any thought to using an external SSD to speed up the backup?
2012 superdrive. Yes Applecare replaced it with a 512gb ssd I did not pay for upgrade. This was the first MB/MBP I purchased brand spanking new. All my others were Apple refurbished units. All which are currently running ok, just super slow.

Only thought I've given is purchasing another 2015/16 refurbished MBP. Speed on the backup really isn't an issue to me. Reliability is since I lost that hard drive.
 
2012 superdrive. Yes Applecare replaced it with a 512gb ssd I did not pay for upgrade. This was the first MB/MBP I purchased brand spanking new. All my others were Apple refurbished units. All which are currently running ok, just super slow.

Only thought I've given is purchasing another 2015/16 refurbished MBP. Speed on the backup really isn't an issue to me. Reliability is since I lost that hard drive.

I'm stunned Apple would replace a HDD with an SSD under AppleCare. By the way, my display has come unstuck and I continually have to press it back on the display cover. I'm gonna have to take it in. Any issues with yours?

As for the speed/reliability issue -- I'd like the best of both. Still haven't gotten an answer as to whether I'd realize a substantial speed increase if I used and external Thunderbolt enclosure with one, as the internal SATA bus ultimately limits the transfer between the internal disk and external. I'll probably bite the bullet and buy another Samsung 850 Evo SSD to use as backup at some point, since it has been a flawless workhorse for me.
 
I'm stunned Apple would replace a HDD with an SSD under AppleCare. By the way, my display has come unstuck and I continually have to press it back on the display cover. I'm gonna have to take it in. Any issues with yours?

As for the speed/reliability issue -- I'd like the best of both. Still haven't gotten an answer as to whether I'd realize a substantial speed increase if I used and external Thunderbolt enclosure with one, as the internal SATA bus ultimately limits the transfer between the internal disk and external. I'll probably bite the bullet and buy another Samsung 850 Evo SSD to use as backup at some point, since it has been a flawless workhorse for me.
It's a long detailed story but it had a happy ending for me. Basically it was a genius bar failure to properly diagnose the failing hard drive. Lots of documentation and Apple took responsibility and made my MBP better, without me asking. I generally upgrade every 6 years, so I'm due.

To add insult to all my woes, the backup hardrive had failed weeks before the MBP hard drive did, and I neglected to replace it immediately. So not only did I lose a backup I lost the original. 3 years of photos and files. I still have the hard drive, but can't find a reputable company to retrieve them.

No issues with my display.
 
Is it possible to use the 2nd WD to both time machine backup and put my photos, books and itunes libraries on it as well?

I should think it's possible. For instance, you could partition the drive into two partitions and use one for backup and one for general "stuff". Whether it's desirable, I don't know; for instance, will TM back up that data partition to your other drive? I've not tried such a thing so I don't know. You can probably arrange backups of the data using other backup software though.
 
I should think it's possible. For instance, you could partition the drive into two partitions and use one for backup and one for general "stuff". Whether it's desirable, I don't know; for instance, will TM back up that data partition to your other drive? I've not tried such a thing so I don't know. You can probably arrange backups of the data using other backup software though.
If you go to Time Machine "Preferences", then "Options", you should be able to exclude that partition from TM backup.
 
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