Backblaze: SSD failure rate has so far been remarkably similar to that of HDDs

Backblaze provides cloud storage and thus operates a number of data servers it also regularly publishes an overview of itthe failure rate of specific hard drive models. Sometimes it operates tens of thousands of pieces of a given type, but sometimes even only tens, for example, the statistics can be significantly affected by this fact, if we want to compare the failure rate of individual models. Now, however, it is generally all HDDs and all SSDs that serve on Backblaze servers. –

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The failure rate of HDDs and SSDs operated by Backblaze cannot be completely compared from the published data, as SSDs have been in their service since 2018, unlike hard disks, while HDDs have a four-year lead. However, we can compare at least the first four years of both types of storage shown in the curves, which are very similar, but with the difference that HDDs do not start at zero, but at 0.66% failure rate. In other cases, the hard disks came “dead” or failed shortly after installation, which is not usually the case with SSDs used by Backblaze.

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But now the question is whether the Backblaze SSD will also expect a sharp increase in failure rates next year, just like the HDD. Developments so far would indicate this, but of course this does not mean that the curves will continue to be similar. This will depend mainly on how much these SSDs are used, ie whether the first installed pieces are no longer close to the limits of the life of their memories. This is what distinguishes them from hard disks, where we do not deal with the lifetime associated with the number of rewrites, but they can be left by a drive that does not have SSDs.

We will see this in the coming years, however, currently Backblaz is currently doing better with SSDs with about 1% failure rate after the first four years, while HDDs were already approaching 2% in their time.

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