Solid state drives (SSDs) have become increasingly popular in computers over the past decade. They offer faster read/write speeds, better reliability, and lower power consumption compared to traditional hard disk drives (HDDs). However, like any storage device, SSDs can experience issues or failures over time. Testing your SSD regularly can help identify problems early and prevent potential data loss. There are several methods available for testing the health and performance of an SSD.
Check SSD health using built-in tools
Most SSDs come with proprietary software from the manufacturer that allows you to monitor the drive’s health and lifespan. For example, Samsung SSDs have the Samsung Magician software. Crucial SSDs come with the Crucial Storage Executive tool. These tools provide SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) data on the SSD which indicates the current drive health based on various attributes like bad sectors, wear leveling count, total bytes written, etc. The tools also provide diagnostics to test drive performance by measuring sequential and random read/write speeds. Checking the SMART data and running diagnostics regularly can help detect issues before they become catastrophic failures.
Test with free tools
In addition to the manufacturer tools, there are many free third party utilities for testing SSD health and performance:
CrystalDiskInfo
This is a lightweight portable app that monitors SMART attributes and drive health status. It displays info like disk temperature, power on hours, total bytes written, and lets you know if any parameters fall below a good threshold.
CrystalDiskMark
This benchmarking tool measures sequential and random read/write speeds for your SSD. It helps give an indication of real world performance.
AS SSD Benchmark
This program provides an in-depth evaluation of SSD performance. It measures sequential and random read/write speeds as well as access time for different file sizes. Helpful for assessing SSD capabilities.
HD Tune
HD Tune has a benchmark feature to measure SSD transfer speeds across the full capacity. This can help identify slow zones or bad sectors on the drive. It also monitors drive health using SMART data.
ADATA SSD Toolbox
While designed for ADATA brand SSDs, this toolbox also works for other solid state drive brands. It monitors drive health, optimizes system settings, provides diagnostics, and securely erases data.
Check S.M.A.R.T. attributes
S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a monitoring system built into SSDs to detect and report on various drive attributes related to reliability and performance.
Here are some key S.M.A.R.T. attributes to check on an SSD:
Total host writes:
This indicates how many terabytes (TB) of data have been written to the SSD throughout its life. Higher values mean more wear.
Wear leveling count:
Counts how many times data has been rewritten (erased and re-programmed) to ensure all NAND flash cells wear evenly. Higher values indicate heavier use.
Uncorrectable errors:
Tracks the number of errors the ECC (error correction code) cannot fix. Higher values indicate issues.
Temperature:
Current internal temperature of the SSD. Higher temperatures reduce longevity.
Reallocated sectors:
Total number of bad sectors that have been remapped to spare good sectors. Too many indicates a failing drive.
Monitoring these SMART attributes can reveal the current health status and help predict potential failures before they result in data loss.
Benchmark drive performance
In addition to checking drive health, it’s also important to benchmark your SSD’s performance to see if it is functioning at expected speeds.
Some ways to test SSD performance:
Sequential read/write –
Measures max sequential read and write speeds when accessing large files on your SSD.
Random read/write –
Measures random access speeds when reading/writing small bits of data in random locations.
Access time –
The response time for individual read and write operations.
IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) –
Measures max number of read/write operations the SSD can handle per second.
There are programs like CrystalDiskMark, AS SSD Benchmark, ATTO, and Anvil’s Storage Utilities that measure all these data transfer performance metrics.
Comparing the benchmark results against your SSD model’s specs helps determine if it’s running as expected. A significant drop can indicate issues.
Check TRIM and garbage collection
TRIM and garbage collection are two important SSD maintenance commands.
TRIM allows the operating system to notify the SSD which blocks of deleted data no longer need to be stored. This enables garbage collection to work more efficiently.
To test TRIM, first fill up the SSD drive with files, then delete those files so space still looks full in the file system. Use a tool like hdparm to trigger TRIM and observe if disk space is then freed up by checking in the OS.
For garbage collection, tools like fio can artificially induce a fragmented state on the SSD. Garbage collection routines will then run in the background to clean up and consolidate data. Monitoring SSD performance before and after can help determine if GC is functioning properly.
Stress test with drive fill-up
Writing files until the SSD is completely filled up can act as a stress test methodology. Filling up the drive forces background garbage collection to run more frequently to free up space.
Monitoring health metrics and benchmarking speeds while the drive is full can sometimes reveal problems that are not apparent on an empty SSD. Once testing is complete, make sure to free up space for normal operation.
Scan for bad sectors
Scanning for bad sectors helps identify problem areas on the physical NAND flash media that should be avoided.
Tools like Victoria for Windows or badblocks in Linux can perform a surface scan by writing test patterns across the full drive capacity, reading them back, and reporting any mismatches due to bad sectors.
Resolving these bad sectors proactively can prevent future data corruption.
Verify data integrity
Maintaining data integrity is the most important aspect of any storage device. Testing should always include verifying the SSD can correctly read and write data without errors.
This can be checked in Windows using “chkdsk /R” to scan file system metadata and scan & repair bad sectors.
Third party tools like Hard Disk Sentinel provide “surface test” tools to thoroughly scan the physical media for detecting reliability issues.
Data integrity validation should be part of any regular SSD test regimen.
Monitor drive temperature
Excessive heat can degrade NAND flash memory cells over time. Monitoring SSD temperature ensures it stays within a safe operating range.
Tools like SSD Observer allow checking current drive temperature. Under normal workloads, SSD temperature should not exceed 70°C (158°F).
If temperature exceeds 75-80°C under heavy workloads, additional cooling or throttling may be required to prevent premature failure.
Test with a SSD stress tool
Stress testing utilities like FIO put heavy demands on the SSD drive to simulate worst-case scenarios.
fio can configure settings like:
- 100% drive fill up
- Large block sequential reads/writes
- Random 4K reads/writes
- Mixed sequential and random IO
Monitoring SMART data and performance metrics during these stressful test runs provides an added level of reliability testing for your SSD.
Conclusion
SSDs are generally reliable, but still require periodic testing and maintenance to identify problems early. Following best practices like:
- Check SMART health stats
- Run disk benchmark tests
- Verify TRIM/garbage collection
- Scan for bad sectors
- Stress test under heavy IO
Will help ensure your SSD continues operating at peak performance while avoiding unexpected failures. Test regularly and take action on any issues to maximize SSD lifespan.