How does one keep an SSD powered without actually mounting it or working with it? I have backups on SSDs and old drives I would like to keep somewhat live.

Should I pop them in an old server? Is there an appliance that just supplies power? Is there a self-hosted thing I can monitor disks which I have 0 access usage for and don't want connected to anything but want to keep "live"

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nirui 21 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The simplest trick is just don't use SSD for long term backup, use a normal magnetic hard drive instead, those thing way lasts _longer_ (but not forever, even in human timescale).

I have a HDD that was 17+ years since it last powered on. I dug it out recently to re-establish some memories, and discovered that it still reads. But of course you need to take care of them well, put them in an Anti-Static Bag or something similar, and make sure the storage environment is dry.

It's not prefect, but at least you don't have to struggle that much maintaining SSDs.

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ziml77 20 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm seeing threads where even for HDDs people are recommending you mount them yearly to do a full check of the data and to ensure that everything keeps moving freely.

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procaryote 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

regardless if it actually helps the longevity, it's probably a pretty good way to notice when you need another copy of the data. If you have your precious data on three harddrives and one starts thowing errors during your yearly check, you can get a replacement in good time

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lofaszvanitt 19 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Superstition....

	▲	akimbostrawman 16 hours ago \| parent [-]
		While unlikely solar flares or other environmental conditions could damage data over a long time.

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Brybry 20 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There are cheap USB<->PATA/SATA or USB<->NVME adapters out there that usually also come with 120v AC -> 3/5/12v DC PATA/SATA power supplies (and if the SATA SSDs only need 5v then some adapters might work with USB alone).

I use them for working with old unmounted hard drives or for cloning drives for family members before swapping them. But they would probably work for just supplying power too?

The one I use the most is an 18 year old Rosewill RCW-608.

I don't know if the firmware/controller would do what it needs to do with only power connected. I wonder if there's some way to use SMART value tracking to tell? Like if power on hours increments surely the controller was doing the things it needs to do?