Redazione RHC : 27 November 2025 09:26
XDA Developers reminds us that using solid-state drives for long-term storage is risky. If SSDs are left without power for years, data can become corrupted or even disappear entirely.
Unlike HDDs , which store data on magnetized platters, SSDs write information by changing the electrical charge in NAND flash cells . Flash memory is considered non-volatile: data is retained even after power is lost.
However, the length of time an SSD can reliably store data without being connected to a power source is limited.
According to Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) specifications, even inexpensive drives with QLC NAND can retain data for about a year without power.
Higher-quality TLC NAND lasts up to three years, MLC NAND up to five years, and premium SLC NAND up to ten years. The problem is that most consumer SSDs use TLC or QLC NAND, which means users who leave their drives without power for more than a year risk losing their data.
Journalists point out that the reliability of QLC memory has improved in recent years, so a realistic limit for data storage without power is considered to be 2-3 years. Without power, the charge in the NAND cells gradually dissipates, causing data loss or complete SSD failure.
This means that standard consumer SSDs are not a reliable storage option, especially for photographers, videographers, and researchers. HDDs are also subject to degradation over time, but are more resistant to prolonged power outages.
It’s worth noting that this scenario isn’t relevant to everyone. Regular users with SSDs installed in their work PCs have nothing to worry about: their computers aren’t left off for long periods of time. Data loss in these cases is most often caused by power surges or defective drives.
XDA Developers also reminds us that SSDs don’t last forever , even if you don’t leave them gathering dust in a closet. The limited number of write cycles that NAND flash memory can withstand will eventually wear out the drive, but most users will replace it before it reaches the end of its lifespan.
As a solution, the publication reminds us of the need for backups, the simplest way to protect against problems with any storage medium. The well-known 3-2-1 rule stipulates that three copies of data should be stored on at least two different types of storage media, one of which must be remote. This is often easily achieved using a main PC, a NAS, and a cloud storage device.
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