# SSD replacement for Notebook HDD?

## der bastler

The HDD in my Thinkpad T400s seems to be dying: kern.log shows failed commands (READ FPDMA QUEUED), smartd is reporting "Currently unreadable (pending) sectors" and my rsync backup script could not read a file twice.

Seems feasible, after more than 6594 hours of operation. And it spent many hours "on train" (i.e. it was suffering from vibrations and shocks during operation).

I'm looking forward to replacing the current drive (TOSHIBA MK2529GSG, 250 GB, 1.8") with an SSD (64-128 GB)

But which SSD works best with Gentoo and which will fit into my Thinkpad's HDD bay?

----------

## Veldrin

I am running Gentoo on a intel 320 ssd 2.5" - no issues there. and they also offer those as 1.8" models. 

reading their spec page show that 1.8" models have a height of 5mm, and are only available in 80, 160 or 300 GB.

just my .02$

V.

----------

## der bastler

Regarding cost, capacity and performance the OCZ Onyx 64GB (OCZSSD1-1ONX64G) looks promising.

Can I just cryptsetup, mke2fs -j and rsync my backup to it or do I need a different filesystem?

----------

## Veldrin

 *Quote:*   

> Regarding cost, capacity and performance the OCZ Onyx 64GB (OCZSSD1-1ONX64G) looks promising.

   :Confused:  Indilinx controller, and it is slower compared the intel 320.

Personally I would only buy what has intel on or sandforce in it, and if speed it a secondary issue, then look for a sandforce1 (sata2) controller (sandforce2 (sata3) are newer faster, but more expensive.

older cryptsetup does not support --allow-discards which passes trim commands through the encryption layer (which has some weaknesses) but allows trim to work properly - therefore I suggest to use at least cryptsetup-1.3 (1.4 is in portage).

As for the filesystem, use some that supports trim: ext4, xfs and btrfs come to my mind. as a general filesystem, I suggest ext4 (mkfs.ext4)

personally I use btrfs, but mainly for the snapshots. 

wheather you rsync, cp or tar you backup does not matter, but for sure, do NOT use dd!

V.

----------

## der bastler

 *Veldrin wrote:*   

>   Indilinx controller, and it is slower compared the intel 320.
> 
> Personally I would only buy what has intel on or sandforce in it, and if speed it a secondary issue, then look for a sandforce1 (sata2) controller (sandforce2 (sata3) are newer faster, but more expensive.

 

Is the Indilinx just slower compared to the SandForce controller? Or does it have stability issues?

----------

## Veldrin

Just slower.

----------

## der bastler

Though the Intel is far more expensive, I'll give it a try.

What appeals to me is the built-in AES-128 encryption. With hardware full disk encryption I won't need my self-constructed initramfs+LUKS+LVM and could simplify my new Gentoo system.

Or am I wrong? As fas as I can tell these Intel drives encrypt all data internally with AES (128 bits). It is used to provide a "secure erase", but you can also set an ATA password and thus use it as full disk encryption. And afaik the T400S BIOS allows me to set an ATA password...?

 :Question: 

----------

## Veldrin

I would need to double check the complete details on my X220. 

But AFAIR, you are correct. The ATA password is linked to the encryption key used on the SSD. 

And in a nutshell, the secure erase basically discards the encryption key, thus making it next to impossible to recreate any data. 

V.

----------

## gringo

 *Quote:*   

> The ATA password is linked to the encryption key used on the SSD.

 

yep, i own a 320 too and thats how it works.

cheers

----------

