Am I asking for trouble using consumer SSDs in a server?

[mikeyur]

Looking to purchase another box to colo and want a pair of 480GB+ SSDs (will be running them in RAID 1).

I'm seeing other folks using Intel 530 series, Samsung 840/850 PROs & EVOs in their boxes. Just wondering if I'm asking for trouble using a pair of consumer 480GB or 1TB SSDs in a fairly light-use box (more read-heavy duties)?

Can get a pair of 500GB 850 EVO/PROs for roughly the cost of a single S3500 480GB. <- I know that probably should answer my question, but looking for real life experience

 

[rds100]

I wouldn't use an "EVO", but a Samsung "PRO" is a relatively safe bet. If you want to make it even safer, use two SSDs from two different vendors in RAID1. Say one Samsung Pro and one sandforce based.

 

[GIANT_CRAB]

 Say one Samsung Pro and one sandforce based.

Won't that cause issues with RAID if their write/read speeds are different?

I tried doing something similar with hard disks of different brands in RAID setups and it causes some instability issues, not sure about SSDs...

 

[rds100]

I don't think there would be any issue due to different speeds. Besides the read / write speeds of most 0.5T / 1T SSDs should be close to the SATA port maximum, i.e. around 500MB/s.

 

[DomainBop]

Just wondering if I'm asking for trouble using a pair of consumer 480GB or 1TB SSDs in a fairly light-use box (more read-heavy duties)?

You're asking for (eventual) trouble using any drive in any computer.  A few decades of experience has put me in the camp that believes the whole "enterprise" vs "consumer" debate is largely a marketing gimmick so manufacturers can make a few extra bucks, and paying extra for "enterprise" doesn't really bring any meaningful increase in product longevity or reliability (here is a study by Backblaze that came to a similar conclusion https://www.backblaze.com/blog/enterprise-drive-reliability/ )

looking for real life experience

I have a server with Corsair Force GS's that gets heavy duty action and hasn't experienced any problems since the server was deployed 2 years ago, and another server that also gets heavy action and has been using Corsair Force LS's for over a year without any problem.

If you scroll down the list of VPSB topics you'll also see I had a relatively new (14K hours) Crucial M500  die a painful death yesterday.

TL;DR for your uses I think you'll be OK with consumer SSDs but make backups because disaster can strike any drive, consumer or enterprise, any time.

I tried doing something similar with hard disks of different brands in RAID setups and it causes some instability issues, not sure about SSDs...

I try to avoid mixing different drives in RAID setups.

 

[mikeyur]

I wouldn't use an "EVO", but a Samsung "PRO" is a relatively safe bet. If you want to make it even safer, use two SSDs from two different vendors in RAID1. Say one Samsung Pro and one sandforce based.

Cheers. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I have a 128GB 840 PRO in my desktop for the last ~2 years and its been flawless, got an 840 EVO in another and that's been fine too, but the performance is definitely better on the PRO. I'll should probably err to the PRO side, it's ~$70 extra per drive to go PRO vs EVO at the 500GB size.

You're asking for (eventual) trouble using any drive in any computer.  A few decades of experience has put me in the camp that believes the whole "enterprise" vs "consumer" debate is largely a marketing gimmick so manufacturers can make a few extra bucks, and paying extra for "enterprise" doesn't really bring any meaningful increase in product longevity or reliability (here is a study by Backblaze that came to a similar conclusion https://www.backblaze.com/blog/enterprise-drive-reliability/ )

TL;DR for your uses I think you'll be OK with consumer SSDs but make backups because disaster can strike any drive, consumer or enterprise, any time.

I try to avoid mixing different drives in RAID setups.

Yeah, I hear ya. I trust the "Enterprise"-ness of some brands, but it may not mean a whole lot - guess I'm just a sucker for the enterprise label (hence this thread).

I do nightlies on most stuff and this box will host some bigger WordPress sites (among other things) that do real-time backups. I'm also just going to spend the extra and go with 2 SSDs in RAID 1, even though that's read overkill, just for some additional fault tolerance.

 

[zionvps]

If you use different drive types in a RAID setup, the effective speed will be the speed of slowest performing drive.

That being said, it doesn't matter if you get a consumer grade as long as you use RAID and do backups.

 

[mikeyur]

Thanks guys. I ended up grabbing a pair of 512GB Samsung 850 PROs that I'll be putting in RAID 1.

 

[drmike]

Enterprise is what you buy when it someone else (i.e. customer using such).  Cost justification.

There are features and durability claims that are loftier in most enterprise gear. 

When it comes to SSDs, I buy what is well reviewed and solid.   I don't use any enterprise models, since they cost more.   Haven't had an SSD fail yet like 5+ years into it.  Again, not client use or environment where such applies.

 

[mikeyur]

Enterprise is what you buy when it someone else (i.e. customer using such).  Cost justification.

There are features and durability claims that are loftier in most enterprise gear. 

When it comes to SSDs, I buy what is well reviewed and solid.   I don't use any enterprise models, since they cost more.   Haven't had an SSD fail yet like 5+ years into it.  Again, not client use or environment where such applies.

Makes sense. I appreciate the feedback. I've been looking at some of the posts on BackBlaze after DomainBop posted one, I could probably utilize consumer drives in most of my gear. I'm looking at some 1TB drives for one of my servers, and I can easily afford to order a couple spares and still save money over enterprise drives.

I'm not dealing with anything so mission critical that it couldn't handle being down for a few hours while I get a spare swapped out and rebuild - or pull backups for a full restore. Anything mission critical has a failover strategy in place & real time backups.

 

[drmike]

Failover strategy and live copies / frequent backups are more vital than fancy drives.

You will be long term happier with that approach if you can formulate and manage it than spending on enterprise drives alone.  Wear happens on everything, drives break at random often - all of them.

I buy a lot of refurbs and whitelabels lately for my own gear and so far, so good.

 

[jclutter]

Great choice on the Pro drives.