SSDs are faster, more convenient, and more power efficient than HDDs for primary use, but they are unreliable for unpowered long term (i.e. cold) storage. If left without power for extended periods, SSDs can suffer from data corruption or loss. For reliable archival storage, users often prefer HDDs, magnetic tape, cloud, or M-Disc.
https://www.xda-developers.com/your-unpowered-ssd-is-slowly-losing-your-data/
@nixCraft Thanks for the tip. I was unaware the SSDs can slowly lose data and are not suitable for long term storage. I need to make better storage plans.
@nixCraft I experienced this myself. It was back when I bought a new NVMe SSD to install Linux, and swapped my old one with Windows on it. The SSD I took out stayed unused for about three years. And when I used it as an external drive using a conversion case, it didn't boot. I had to clear the drive since it got corrupted. That changed my view of HDDs being useless and outdated completely.
@nixCraft
Thanks for the warning. 馃檮
@nixCraft I telling you all along... DVD no die yet
That's a good question in the comments:
"So, how do I prevent this ? Is it ok to just power the SSD for a limited duration or do I have to read and rewrite every file in order to keep the data for another year ?"
