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I wonder how "Secure Erase" effects SSD life? Does it shorten?

And for re-installing OS which method is efficient (I mean SDD life and performance)?

  1. Secure Erase and install
  2. Format and install, let TRIM does its job.

TIA

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“Does it shorten?” Of course! All writes shorten the life. The question is if it matters. – Marco Sep 7 '12 at 10:11
+ 1 : I agree with @Marco – aliasgar Sep 7 '12 at 10:15
The answer of course is that any writ will shorten the life cycle of the drive. The solution of course is to delete the data and install new data over the existing data. This means a quick format and installation of the operating system. – Ramhound Sep 7 '12 at 12:22
Marco is wrong. Secure Erase does not write any data to the SSD. – Mr Alpha Sep 7 '12 at 16:03

closed as not constructive by techie007, 8088, Indrek, Oliver Salzburg♦ Sep 7 '12 at 21:46

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1 Answer

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There are two scenarios here, and the effect on the life span of your two options depends on the scenario.

Scenario 1: You are going to format the drive with a tool that supports TRIM

  1. When you Secure Erase the drive all LBAs on the are marked for deletion.
  2. When you quick format the drive all LBAs are TRIMed and thus marked for deletion.

Here the effect on the lifespan and performance is the same.

Scenario 2: You are going to format the drive with a tool that doesn't support TRIM

  1. In this scenario when you Secure Erase the effect is the same as in the first Scenario
  2. Since when formatting the partition the LBAs aren't TRIMed the SSD will keep track of the data on them until they are reused. This will cause extra wear on the SSD and hurt the life span and performance as compared to the first option.

The short of it is: Secure Erase will not hurt life span or performance compared to simply quick formatting the drive, and if the tool you use to reformat doesn't support TRIM if does in fact help life span.

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