A suggestion for Microsoft, for SSDs.

[dac7nco]

I suggest in 8.2/9 that there should be more novice-friendly SSD management and application installations; I see us coming to a point where the default OEM configurations of store-bought PCs will have an SSD and platter disc. Don't default downloads to a the SSD's browser directory, but a spinning disc. Don't put Media directories on the SSD. MAKE people aware of where they are putting files... I've had many service calls with SSD users who claim their disc (SSD) is full. Fifteen minutes and $35 dollars later they're educated on file management.

Building PCs is my favorite thing among consulting jobs; a LOT of people actually view your intro to windows tutorials when they buy a new system. SSDs are not complicated... they all manage NTFS/TRIM/GBC without a second thought. "My Computer" is all these people need. Include SSD management tools in the next windows. Verify with OEMs (HP/Dell) that they have support packages for SSD/Hybrid storage plans. If my headaches are your future (on average my clients use 80GB Intel G2s, followed closely by various Crucial drives), then you need to change a few dozen links and lines of code at install, to look for a spinning drive.

Thank You,
Daimon

 

[Cerb]

IMO, what would be ideal would be to extend caching to larger drives, with pinned locations using the "spare" space, that isn't needed for effective IO caching. FI, take a 128GB drive, and have the Windows and Program Files directories pinned/prioritized, so they stay on the SSD, and writes to them hit the SSD first, but let everything else be handled as the cache manager sees fit.

Not you'd know it by my post history :whiste:, but I'm not a fan of tiny SSDs, though they were, until recently, necessities. What's relatively easy for us is a brand new concept to most users. The general ease of use of Windows has allowed them to not have to know or care up to now, even with removable media (you think, "F:," or look for a known volume label or disk size, while they think, "the window that pops up when I plug it in").

Caching as we have it is good, but more would be better, and would allow larger and faster SSDs to be used well, along with spindles, without additional file management by the user.

 

[dac7nco]

Do hybrid disc jobs pass along TRIM commands? I experimented with it when Sandy Bridge Z68 came out, and my conclusion was no.

 

[dac7nco]

I just built a hybrid disc on my 3770 HTPC (I use a 3770 as I expect it to transcode from a Ceton tuner); TRIM is not enabled using Intel's SSD cache crap; using Marvell 9230 it is. As an uninteresting aside: never use linux with Marvell 9230. I'm shortly going to use a 2375v3/C226 setup. I hear Intel's new SATA3 is incredible; supposedly a friend had a Plextor mSATA SSD combined with a Toshiba 3TB in an AIO... and the experience is flawless. Apps and updates go to the SSD, everything else goes to the platters.

 

[dac7nco]

HP 27" business/2560p AIO (about it's flawless hybrid disc); and it's a 1235v2 Ivy.

 

[Cerb]

Do hybrid disc jobs pass along TRIM commands?

The cache should remain nearly full, so TRIM would be mostly pointless.

 

[glugglug]

I think the reason this isn't done is that typically during the windows installing to the SSD there isn't a partition on the HDD available to put the \USERS folder on yet.

There are 2 things I would like to see as solutions to this:

1. During the part of the install where you select a partition to use or create and install windows to, add an option to specify 2 partitions to use (system and user). Maybe even 3 (system, user, application).
2. Instead of having to change the separate Location tabs on all of your \Users\username\xxx folders (with this failing on several of them like "Application Data" for instance because they are always in use if you are logged in) there should be a control panel to move all of your user folders at once (which would log you out to accomplish this).

But the current trend is clearly towards less options, not more. So this issue will almost certainly resolve itself before MS addresses it. SSDs will get bigger. HDDs can never fall below about $50 just because of the raw materials if nothing else -- even an obsolete drive goes for this price. SSDs potentially don't have a future price floor, and will ultimately be the defacto standard for all but fileserver/video storage.