Re: Opinions on SSDs

On Mon, 12 Aug 2013 16:05:04 -0400
Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote:

> On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 08:33:04AM -0700, Joshua D. Drake wrote:

> > Put the pg_xlog on spindles, they are more than fast enough and
> > won't eat up the write life of your SSDs.

> Given its small size and need for fast fsync, I have WAL on SSDs, and
> the data on magnetic disk.  You are right the WAL can generate a lot
> of writes, but just use smartctl monitoring and replace the SSD when
> needed.

:-)  Nothing like consensus from Pg luminaries. :)

Anyway, I've decided to go with spinning disks for this server upgrade.  The
factors behind my decision:

o A server with 16 10Krpm disks will be substantially better than what we
  have now, and what we have now is managing to keep up with only occasional
  over-busy periods.

o My supplier cannot easily get the 320, 710 or S3700 Intel SSD disks; he
  claims a shortage of Intel SSD drives.  I know too little about non-Intel
  SSDs to feel comfortable with them.

o One of our two database servers is 200km away, so swapping out SSDs on
  a prophylactic basis is not particularly appetizing.

Regards,

David.