Probably this is old news for you tech-heads out there, but you can now get a Samsung 850 Evo 4TB SSD.  4TB!!  I can't believe it.  And it fits in a laptop!
I don't actually have an SSD at the moment but when I finally upgrade to Komplete 11 Ultimate it's going to need half a TB just for that, so these large sizes are all quite reassuring.  I'm thinking SSD is the way to go because I'm frequently browsing sounds across different instruments and the load time for a different instrument is annoyingly slow with a normal drive.
Only problem is the cost - £1,245 which is way too much for me, although apparently the per byte cost is competitive.

if you can fit 2 SSDs, I'd always opt for 2 smaller ones of half the intended capacity (one for sample libs, one for recording projects) - given you have enough RAM, there will be a lot less IO on the sample drive, so it should last longer ...
 
eventually it will break down (e.g. mine on the office laptop lasted only 3 years) so you'll be faced with only half the replacement costs.
 
there are external USB3 SSD drives (500 GB for less than $200) which could hold the entire K10 ultimate libraries ... probably worth exploring how that would fit your setup ...

The problem with external USB SSDs is that the USB protocols don't allow the TRIM command to be passed to the drive. Which has bad implications for drive speed and life.

The USB protocol itself would be the limiting factor in terms of data transmission as well, so the throughput advantages of an SSD don't make the huge jump over a spinning drive that yiu see with SATA SSDs. Though a USB SSD will stand being dropped or otherwise roughly handled better than an HDD which means they can be useful for some purposes.

External SSDs are best placed on eSata or Thunderbolt, both of which can pass TRIM commands to the drive, assuming the operating system allows it.

tlw
The problem with external USB SSDs is that the USB protocols don't allow the TRIM command to be passed to the drive. Which has bad implications for drive speed and life.

The USB protocol itself would be the limiting factor in terms of data transmission as well, so the throughput advantages of an SSD don't make the huge jump over a spinning drive that yiu see with SATA SSDs. Though a USB SSD will stand being dropped or otherwise roughly handled better than an HDD which means they can be useful for some purposes.

External SSDs are best placed on eSata or Thunderbolt, both of which can pass TRIM commands to the drive, assuming the operating system allows it.

would that also include USB Type C since, from what I've heard, Thunderbolt and Type C are "interchangable"?

"Sort of interchangable" would seem a more accurate way of putting it.

As I understand things, TRIM requires a SATA interface. So it would depend on the interface between the drive itself and the enclosure's chip and the chip in the computer itself. If the enclosure is USB, then no TRIM. Which is also the case with many current drives that have both USB and Thunderbolt sockets, but the enclosure/drive electronics are USB with the Thunderbolt socket basically being bolted on to that.

Some people claim that TRIM over USB might be achievable, so long as the "right" USB chips in the computer and drive are used and the driver and operating system also support TRIM in the way required to make it work over USB. Neither Windows nor OS X support this however, nor does there seem any way to find a chipset confoguration that would work or suitable drivers. In other words, as far as I'm aware TRIM over USB may be hypothetically possible but for real world purposes isn't. A situation kind of like audio interfaces and firewire on Windows, only even more complicated.

And some claim the TRIM command is superflous and the drive's own garbage collection plus the OS file system will do a good enough job without it. Though those claims are often found in articles concerning Yosemite and older OS X and using USB or other SSD drives (there were configuration issues with implementing TRIM on any non-Apple drive which I won't bore you with, and the issue is no more anyway). OS X and it's file system aren't Windows so even if the ”no TRIM required" claims are true for OS X that may not apply to Windows.

In any case, if TRIM isn't required, or at least very useful, why do MS and Apple bother implementing it at all?

tlw
The problem with external USB SSDs is that the USB protocols don't allow the TRIM command to be passed to the drive. Which has bad implications for drive speed and life.

The USB protocol itself would be the limiting factor in terms of data transmission as well, so the throughput advantages of an SSD don't make the huge jump over a spinning drive that yiu see with SATA SSDs. Though a USB SSD will stand being dropped or otherwise roughly handled better than an HDD which means they can be useful for some purposes.

External SSDs are best placed on eSata or Thunderbolt, both of which can pass TRIM commands to the drive, assuming the operating system allows it.

very enlightening. didn't know any of this. thanks.
 
so why do they sell external USB SSD drives?

Partly because they're still pretty fast.

Partly because they make a good choice for people who need mobility, therefore a laptop, and also want external drives that are resistant to things like being dropped on a concrete floor or getting very wet. They also have a lower power requirement than an HDD, so useful for helping battery life. And they're silent, if that matters.

And partly because they can, I guess.

Rob[atSound-Rehab]
if you can fit 2 SSDs, I'd always opt for 2 smaller ones of half the intended capacity (one for sample libs, one for recording projects) - given you have enough RAM, there will be a lot less IO on the sample drive, so it should last longer ...
 
eventually it will break down (e.g. mine on the office laptop lasted only 3 years) so you'll be faced with only half the replacement costs.
 
there are external USB3 SSD drives (500 GB for less than $200) which could hold the entire K10 ultimate libraries ... probably worth exploring how that would fit your setup ...

I'm thinking that the 1TB Samsung 850 Evo SSD would be the way to go, then move my 750GB traditional drive into the optical bay and move the optical drive outboard.  K11 Ultimate takes up more than 500GB and I'd want that on the SSD for fast instrument load times.  It leaves the question of what to put onto the 750GB drive?
 
Probably, I'll wait for Black Friday/Cyber Monday - last year you could pick up one of these drives 33% cheaper!