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For "end of life" I mean when some of the SSD cells won't erase anymore, and the S.O. starts complaining about write failures.

When this finally happens, will I still be able to safely copy all of the data without any errors?

And if I don't replace it soon, will it ever stop working? (for reads only)

JohnKiller
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  • You should be backing up *before* failure occurs. Waiting for a device to die, then backing up is too late. Don't forget, that is only *one* failure mode. You may have controller failure, or random ferret attacks making your SSD unusable as well – Journeyman Geek Oct 02 '14 at 01:45

1 Answers1

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Firstly, it's a bit of a myth that SSDs will wear out, especially for typical desktop use. But anyway:

From another superuser question:

In theory, it is possible to read data even after all program/erase (p/e) cycles have been used up. In fact, the JEDEC specifies that data on consumer-grade SSDs should be readable for one year after all p/e cycles have been exhausted. So the likelihood of losing data due to the drive reaching the end of its lifetime is small; it's more likely that you'll have replaced or upgraded your system by then.

And here:

Second, when an SSD is allowed to run right to the end of its useful life, most controllers put the SSD into a “Read-Only” state that allows the operator to remove the SSD, copy its contents onto another device, then re-start operations in the shortest amount of time.

So you can't write on it, but you will be able to copy its contents to your next SSD/HDD(for a reasonable amount of time).

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