Because SSDs (and other flash-based drives) are bad backup media. If not powered for longer time, they can lose data.
Comment on Is it a good idea to use an Android phone as an external SSD for backing up my home folder?
Skankhunt420@sh.itjust.works 18 hours agoWhy not an SSD?
Treczoks@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 hours ago
Op is distro hopping. I don’t think their data is going to disappear in the week they’re fucking around with their computer.
Treczoks@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
It’s still the safer option.
Successful_Try543@feddit.org 18 hours ago
IIrc, because unpowered SSDs loose data on the long term. Yet, simply for backing up and restoring some days or weeks later, they should be fine.
tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
Not the original commenter, but possibly because SSDs are eventually volatile.
SSDs store data by trapping electrons in cells to represent your ones and zeroes, and when the disk is unpowered those electrons can eventually escape, causing data loss.
This may take years to happen though, so if you use the disk frequently you are unlikely to experience it.
That said, the time to unpowered data loss gets worse the more cumulative data you have written to the disk over its life. SSDs that are extremely badly worn out could lose data in months, not years.
Traditional spinning disks don’t have this issue as the magnetic storage doesn’t depend on power to stay magnetised, so it’s a better choice for archival storage.