Blackblaze’s 2022 SSD Edition Report: SSD vs. HDD Failure Rates and Temperature Performance

Data storage company Blackblaze has published its 2022 SSD Edition study, which investigates the failure rates of solid state drives (SSDs) used as boot drives for their cloud storage platform. The analysis was made available on Blackblaze’s website. The widespread perception that hard disc drives (HDDs) fail more quickly due to their many moving parts and sophisticated functioning is refuted by the findings of the paper, which show that the failure rates of solid-state drives (SSDs) and HDDs are comparable in the first few years of use. The data demonstrates that the failure rate of both storage types follow a virtually same dependability trajectory, with a statistically 1 and 1.85 percent of all SSDs and HDDs failing in the fourth year of usage, respectively, as compared to the overall population.

The temperature of solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disc drives (HDDs) is compared in the paper as well, and the results show that SSDs do not necessarily operate at lower temperatures. Blackblaze suggests that the cost efficiency for cloud storage providers and consumers is not significantly impacted in the short term, even though the findings of the report are technically correct. However, it remains to be seen whether SSDs can maintain their theoretically longer reliability over the long term. It is important to keep in mind that when analysing the data presented in the report, certain qualifiers should be used. Blackblaze notes that many of the solid-state drives (SSDs) that were tested had not been in use for a sufficient amount of time to provide an accurate assessment of the average failure rate across a greater span of time.

In addition, the hard disc drives that were tested are getting on in years; some of the models have already been in use for an average of more than 5 years and millions of drive days, but the number of solid-state drives that were tested was far lower. According to Backblaze’s research, the failure rates of solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disc drives (HDDs) follow a similar trajectory. In the first year, there are scarcely any failures, but in the second year there are a significant number of failures, and in the third year there is a slight decline. According to the statistics, one percent of all solid-state drives (SSDs) and 1.85 percent of all hard disc drives (HDDs) fail in their fourth year of usage. After that point, the failure rate of hard disc drives (HDDs) dramatically increases, while it is unknown if solid-state drives (SSDs) will be able to retain their theoretically extended durability.

According to the findings of this paper, solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disc drives (HDDs) have a failure rate that is comparable in the short term, but HDDs have a greater failure rate over the long term. On the other hand, this has very little impact on the cost-effectiveness of using cloud storage for either the supplier or the customer. The findings of Blackblaze offer useful insights into the lifespan of storage drives and can assist users in making informed judgements when selecting between solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disc drives (HDDs) to fulfil their storage requirements.