Build servers offline due to failed SSD

[Andrew Udvare]

> On 2021-03-07, at 01:20, Dave C via macports-users <macports-users at lists.macports.org> wrote:
> 
> Isn’t SSD a bad choice for server duty? No server farms use them, apparently due to short lifespan.
> 
> Dave

Plenty of servers use SSDs now, usually with HDDs to lower cost. The default option on AWS EC2 is to use an SSD.

There are enterprise grade SSDs that basically have the same characteristics as enterprise HDDs. Usually they are not as cheap as HDDs but sometimes are due to the underlying technology. Spinning discs will remain useful for long term storage that can tolerate large delays, but I don't see them being used for much else soon.

If SSDs become as cheap as HDDs with the same expected enterprise-level tolerances, there will be no reason to keep HDDs. That would mean you get the same benefits as an HDD, but with huge performance increases, and huge decreases in power usage.

Andrew