SSD Endurance

Estimated SSD wear out, endurance table

There are various approaches to picking a great plotting SSD, and a lot will depend on the physical system it is going into for form factor and interface compatibility (NVMe/PCIe, SATA, or SAS). The one thing in common will be that you need high endurance, due to the fact that it take almost ~1.8TB of writes to create a single K=32 plot.

Endurance is how much data can be written to the SSD before it wears out. In Chia this is important because a plotting SSD will generally be at 100% duty cycle and writing all day.

A mixed use or high endurance data center or enterprise SSD is the best choice for plotting. Used SSDs with plenty of endurance can be found for a good value on eBay, Craigslist, or similar.

Consumer NVMe SSDs are generally not recommended due to the lower endurance, and they often employ caching algorithms to faster media (SLC, or single level cell) for great bursty performance. They do not perform well under heavy workload sustained IO. There are very high performance consumer NVMe SSDs that will offer great plotting performance, but the lower rated endurance in TBW will result in a faster wearout.

working model can be found here

Vendor	Model	Form Factor	Interface	Class	$ASP	$/GB	User Capacity (GB):	usable GiB in OS	Raw Capacity (GiB)	Raw Capacity (GB)	Overprovisioning / Spare area	NAND P/E Cycles	Write Amplification Factor (WAF)	rated life in years	estimated NAND endurance (TBW, WAF=1)	Calculated Endurance (TBW)	Spec sheet rated TBW	DWPD over 5 years (calculated)		GiB/min	Num concurrent k=32	User write bandwidth (MB/s)	SSD NAND write bandwidth (MB/s)	days to wear out (drive full, worst case)	years to wear out (drive full, worst case)	days to wear out (WAF=1)	years to wear out (WAF=1)	total amount plotted before wear out worse case (TiB)	total amount plotted before wear out best case (TiB)	$/TiB plotted worst case (high WAF)	$/TiB plotted best case (WAF=1)
Intel	P3700	U.2 & AIC	NVMe	enterprise mixed use	$250.00	$0.16	1600	1455.5	2400	2577	37.9%	25000	1.5	5	64425	42950	43800	14.71		0.2	4	286	429	1736	4.76	2604	7.13	1953	2930	$0.13	$0.09
Intel	P3600	U.2 & AIC	NVMe	enterprise mixed use	$140.00	$0.09	1600	1455.5	2000	2147	25.5%	10000	2.5	5	21475	8590	8760	2.94		0.2	4	286	716	347	0.95	868	2.38	391	977	$0.36	$0.14
Intel	P4600	U.2 & AIC	NVMe	enterprise mixed use	$352.00	$0.11	3200	2910.9	5000	5369	40.4%	10000	1.8	5	53687	29826	18200	5.11		0.2	8	573	1031	603	1.65	1085	2.97	1356	2441	$0.26	$0.14
Intel	P3600	U.2 & AIC	NVMe	enterprise mixed use	$115.00	$0.10	1200	1091.6	1500	1611	25.5%	10000	2.5	5	16106	6442	6570	2.94		0.2	3	215	537	347	0.95	868	2.38	293	732	$0.39	$0.16
Intel	P4600	U.2 & AIC	NVMe	enterprise mixed use	$176.00	$0.11	1600	1455.5	2500	2684	40.4%	6000	1.8	5	16106	8948	8990	3.06		0.2	4	286	515	362	0.99	651	1.78	407	732	$0.43	$0.24
Intel	P4600	U.2 & AIC	NVMe	enterprise mixed use	$220.00	$0.11	2000	1819.3	3125	3355	40.4%	6000	1.8	5	20133	11185	11080	3.06		0.2	5	358	644	362	0.99	651	1.78	509	916	$0.43	$0.24
Intel	P3700	U.2 & AIC	NVMe	enterprise mixed use	$120.00	$0.30	400	363.9	510	548	27.0%	20000	1.5	5	10952	7301	7300	10.00		0.2	1	72	107	1181	3.23	1771	4.85	332	498	$0.36	$0.24
Micron	5300 Max	SATA 2.5in	SATA	enterprise SATA	$307.20	$0.16	1920	1746.6	2600	2792	31.2%	10000	2.28	5	27917	12244	17520	3.49		0.15	5	268	612	528	1.45	1204	3.30	557	1270	$0.55	$0.24
Micron	5300 Max	SATA 2.5in	SATA	enterprise SATA	$614.40	$0.16	3840	3493.1	5200	5583	31.2%	10000	2.28	5	55835	24489	24528	3.49		0.15	10	537	1224	528	1.45	1204	3.30	1114	2539	$0.55	$0.24
Intel	S4610	SATA 2.5in	SATA	enterprise mixed use	$144.00	$0.15	960	873.3	1200	1288	25.5%	10000	2.2	5	12885	5857	5800	3.34		0.15	2	107	236	631	1.73	1389	3.81	266	586	$0.54	$0.25
Micron	5300 Pro	SATA 2.5in	SATA	enterprise SATA	$249.60	$0.13	1920	1746.6	2048	2199	12.7%	10000	5	5	21990	4398	5256	1.26		0.15	5	268	1342	190	0.52	948	2.60	200	1000	$1.25	$0.25
Micron	5300 Pro	SATA 2.5in	SATA	enterprise SATA	$499.20	$0.13	3840	3493.1	4096	4398	12.7%	10000	5	5	43980	8796	8410	1.26		0.15	10	537	2684	190	0.52	948	2.60	400	2000	$1.25	$0.25
Samsung	PM1725b	U.2 & AIC	NVMe	enterprise mixed use	$267.00	$0.17	1600	1455.5	2048	2199	27.2%	10000	2.5	5	21990	8796	8760	3.01		0.2	4	286	716	356	0.97	889	2.44	400	1000	$0.67	$0.27
Intel	P4610	U.2	NVMe	enterprise mixed use	$300.00	$0.19	1600	1455.5	2112	2268	29.4%	10000	2.4	5	22677	9449	10613	3.24		0.2	4	286	687	382	1.05	917	2.51	430	1031	$0.70	$0.29
DRAM	DDR3	DIM	DDR3	memory	$768.00	$1.50	512	465.8	512	550	6.9%	100000	1	5	54976	54976		58.84		0.2	1	72	72	8889	24.35	8889	24.35	2500	2500	$0.31	$0.31
Intel	S3710	SATA 2.5in	SATA	enterprise mixed use	$68.00	$0.17	400	363.9	700	752	46.8%	6000	1.5	5	4510	3006	8300	4.12		0.15	1	54	81	648	1.78	972	2.66	137	205	$0.50	$0.33
Toshiba	PX04SVQ	2.5in SAS	SAS 12Gbps	enterprise SAS	$380.00	$0.24	1600	1455.5	2200	2362	32%	10000	2.7	5	23622	8749	8760	3.00		0.2	4	286	773	354	0.97	955	2.62	398	1074	$0.96	$0.35
Inland	Inland Premium 1TB SSD	M.2	NVMe	client mainstream	$125.00	$0.12	1024	931.5	1024	1100	7%	7000	4.81	5	7697	1600	1600	0.86		0.2	2	143	689	129	0.35	622	1.70	73	350	$1.72	$0.36
Micron	9300	U.2	NVMe	data center	$768.00	$0.20	3840	3493.1	4096	4398	13%	10000	5.5	5	43980	7996	8400	1.14		0.2	10	716	3937	129	0.35	711	1.95	364	2000	$2.11	$0.38
Samsung	PM983	U.2 and M.2	NVMe	data center	$172.80	$0.18	960	873.3	1045	1122	14.4%	7000	5.6	5	7854	1403	1366.56	0.80		0.2	2	143	802	113	0.31	635	1.74	64	357	$2.71	$0.48
Intel	S4600	SATA 2.5in	SATA	enterprise mixed use	$96.00	$0.20	480	436.6	768	825	41.8%	5000	1.8	5	4123	2291	2950	2.61		0.15	1	54	97	494	1.35	889	2.44	104	188	$0.92	$0.51
DRAM	DDR4	DIM	DDR4	memory	$1,536.00	$3.00	512	465.8	512	550	6.9%	100000	1	5	54976	54976		58.84		0.2	1	72	72	8889	24.35	8889	24.35	2500	2500	$0.61	$0.61
Intel	P4510	U.2	NVMe	data center	$400.00	$0.20	2000	1819.3	2112	2268	11.8%	5000	4.5	5	11339	2520	2054	0.69		0.2	5	358	1611	81	0.22	367	1.00	115	516	$3.49	$0.78
WD	SN750	M.2	NVMe	client mainstream	$60.00	$0.12	500	454.8	512	550	9%	3000	5.5	5	1649	300	300	0.33		0.2	1	72	394	48	0.13	267	0.73	14	75	$4.40	$0.80
WD	SN750	M.2	NVMe	client mainstream	$120.00	$0.12	1000	909.7	1024	1100	9%	3000	5.5	5	3299	600	600	0.33		0.2	2	143	787	48	0.13	267	0.73	27	150	$4.40	$0.80
Seagate	Nitro 1551	SATA 2.5in	SATA	data center SATA	$255.00	$0.27	960	873.3	1250	1342	28%	5000	3	5	6711	2237	2390	1.28		0.15	2	107	322	241	0.66	723	1.98	102	305	$2.51	$0.84
Samsung	970 Evo	M.2	NVMe	client maintream	$163.84	$0.16	1024	931.5	1024	1100	6.9%	3000	5	5	3299	660	600	0.35		0.2	2	143	716	53	0.15	267	0.73	30	150	$5.46	$1.09
Intel	P4800X	U.2 & AIC	NVMe	enterprise	$2,062.50	$2.75	750	682.3	750	805	7%	50000	1	5	40265	40265	41000	29.42		0.2	2	143	143	3255	8.92	3255	8.92	1831	1831	$1.13	$1.13
Samsung	970 Pro	M.2	NVMe	client high end	$307.20	$0.30	1024	931.5	1024	1100	6.9%	5000	5	5	5498	1100	1200	0.59		0.2	2	143	716	89	0.24	444	1.22	50	250	$6.14	$1.23
Intel	905p	U.2 and M.2	NVMe	clinet high end	$1,152.00	$1.20	960	873.3	960	1031	7%	20000	1	5	20616	20616	17520	11.77		0.2	2	143	143	1667	4.57	1667	4.57	938	938	$1.23	$1.23
Intel	665p	M.2	NVMe	client mainstream	$102.40	$0.10	1024	931.5	1024	1100	6.9%	1500	5	5	1649	330	300	0.18		0.2	2	143	716	27	0.07	133	0.37	15	75	$6.83	$1.37
Intel	P4800X	U.2 & AIC	NVMe	enterprise	$2,062.50	$5.50	375	341.1	375	403	7%	50000	1	5	20133	20133	41000	29.42		0.2	1	72	72	3255	8.92	3255	8.92	916	916	$2.25	$2.25
Intel	660p	M.2	NVMe	client mainstream	$122.88	$0.12	1024	931.5	1024	1100	6.9%	1000	5	5	1100	220	200	0.12		0.2	2	143	716	18	0.05	89	0.24	10	50	$12.29	$2.46

estimated GiB per minute based off class of drives for drives that have yet to be tested, for the drives in the wiki I have added the measured numbers.

Math

• NAND P/E Cycles = amount of program / erase cycles NAND can do before wearing out. NAND programs (writes) in pages and erases in blocks (contains many pages)
• Wearing out - SSD no longer meeting UBER (uncorrectable bit error rate), retention (keeping data safe while powered off), failure rate, or user capacity
• UBER = number of data errors / number of bits read
• WAF (Write Amplification Factor) = NAND writes / host writes
• TBW or PBW – amount of host writes to SSD before wearing out
• TBW = drive capacity * cycles / WAF
• DWPD (drive writes per day): amount of data you can write to device each day of the warranty (typically 5 years) without wearing out
• DWPD = TBW/365/5/drive capacity

Monitor Endurance in Linux

NVMe

https://github.com/linux-nvme/nvme-cli

https://nvmexpress.org/open-source-nvme-management-utility-nvme-command-line-interface-nvme-cli/

Reading endurance with NVMe-CLI - this is the gas gauge that shows total endurance used

sudo nvme smart-log /dev/nvme0 | grep percentage_used

Reading amount of writes that the drive have actually done

sudo nvme smart-log /dev/nvme0 | grep data_units_written

Bytes written = output * 1000 * 512B

TBW = output * 1000 * 512B / (1000^4) or (1024^4)

To find out NAND writes, you will have use the vendor plugins for NVMe-CLI.

sudo nvme <vendor name> help

Example with an Intel SSD

sudo nvme intel smart-log-add /dev/nvme0

SATA

In SATA you can use the following commands

sudo apt install smartmontools

sudo smartctl -x /dev/sda | grep Logical

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda

looking for Media_Wearout_Indicator

note this does also work for NVMe for basic SMART health info

sudo smartctl -a /dev/nvme0

SAS

sg_logs /dev/sg1 --page=0x11

look for

Percentage used endurance indicator: 0%

overview of SSD endurance testing from JEDEC industry standard here https://www.jedec.org/sites/default/files/Alvin_Cox%20%5BCompatibility%20Mode%5D_0.pdf

Adding new models

Please add your model string below if you want me to put it into my calculator and add to the list!