SSD Optimization & TRIM
Detailed guides and notes on optimizing Solid State Drives (SSD) performance and longevity.
Resources
- Debian Wiki - SSD Optimization
- ArchWiki - Solid State Drive
- Wikipedia - TRIM
- Unix StackExchange - TRIM explanation
TRIM Overview
TRIM does at least three things:
- Minimize write amplification.
- Prevent long-term performance degradation.
- Irrecoverably delete your data.
Implementation Types
- Continuous TRIM
- Controlled by the filesystem.
- Mount option:
-o discard
- Periodic TRIM
- Run manually or via cron/systemd timer (e.g., once a week).
Commands & Verification
# Verify TRIM support
# DISC-GRAN (discard granularity)
# DISC-MAX (discard max bytes)
lsblk --discard
# Check features via hdparm
apk add hdparm
hdparm -I /dev/sda | grep TRIM
# Check drive health and attributes
apk add smartmontools
smartctl -a /dev/sda
# Enable discard option on ext4
tune2fs -o discard /dev/sdXY
# Securely wipe data (requires unmount)
# blkdiscard /dev/sdX
fstab Example
/dev/sda1 / ext4 defaults,discard 0 1
SSD Utility Scripts
cat << 'SHELL' > ssh-info.sh
#!/bin/bash
#######################################
# Variables #
#######################################
SSD_DEVICE=${1:-/dev/sda}
ON_TIME_TAG="Power_On_Hours"
WEAR_COUNT_TAG="Wear_Leveling_Count"
LBAS_WRITTEN_TAG="Total_LBAs_Written"
LBA_SIZE=512 # Value in bytes
BYTES_PER_MB=1048576
BYTES_PER_GB=1073741824
BYTES_PER_TB=1099511627776
#######################################
# Get total data written... #
#######################################
# Get SMART attributes
SMART_INFO=$(sudo /usr/sbin/smartctl -A "$SSD_DEVICE")
# Extract required attributes
ON_TIME=$(echo "$SMART_INFO" | grep "$ON_TIME_TAG" | awk '{print $10}')
WEAR_COUNT=$(echo "$SMART_INFO" | grep "$WEAR_COUNT_TAG" | awk '{print $4}' | sed 's/^0*//')
LBAS_WRITTEN=$(echo "$SMART_INFO" | grep "$LBAS_WRITTEN_TAG" | awk '{print $10}')
# Convert LBAs -> bytes
BYTES_WRITTEN=$(echo "$LBAS_WRITTEN * $LBA_SIZE" | bc)
MB_WRITTEN=$(echo "scale=3; $BYTES_WRITTEN / $BYTES_PER_MB" | bc)
GB_WRITTEN=$(echo "scale=3; $BYTES_WRITTEN / $BYTES_PER_GB" | bc)
TB_WRITTEN=$(echo "scale=3; $BYTES_WRITTEN / $BYTES_PER_TB" | bc)
# Output results...
echo "------------------------------"
echo " SSD Status: $SSD_DEVICE"
echo "------------------------------"
echo " On time: $(echo $ON_TIME | sed ':a;s/\B[0-9]\{3\}\>/,&/;ta') hr"
echo "------------------------------"
echo " Data written:"
echo " MB: $(echo $MB_WRITTEN | sed ':a;s/\B[0-9]\{3\}\>/,&/;ta')"
echo " GB: $(echo $GB_WRITTEN | sed ':a;s/\B[0-9]\{3\}\>/,&/;ta')"
echo " TB: $(echo $TB_WRITTEN | sed ':a;s/\B[0-9]\{3\}\>/,&/;ta')"
echo "------------------------------"
echo " Mean write rate:"
echo " MB/hr: $(echo "scale=3; $MB_WRITTEN / $ON_TIME" | bc | sed ':a;s/\B[0-9]\{3\}\>/,&/;ta')"
echo "------------------------------"
echo " Drive health: ${WEAR_COUNT} %"
echo "------------------------------"
SHELL
chmod +x ssh-info.sh
sudo ./ssh-info.sh /dev/sda
smartctl -a ssd
smartctl 7.1 2019-12-30 r5022 [x86_64-linux-5.4.43-1-lts] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-19, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Samsung based SSDs
Device Model: Samsung SSD 750 EVO 120GB
Serial Number: S2TTNDAH131915J
LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 da03bb229
Firmware Version: MAT01B6Q
User Capacity: 120,034,123,776 bytes [120 GB]
Sector Size: 512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate: Solid State Device
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: ACS-2, ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4c
SATA Version is: SATA 3.1, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is: Fri Aug 21 16:57:08 2020 CST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 0) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x53) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
No Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 64) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x003d) SCT Status supported.
SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.
SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 6710
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 1517
177 Wear_Leveling_Count 0x0013 094 094 000 Pre-fail Always - 30
179 Used_Rsvd_Blk_Cnt_Tot 0x0013 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0
181 Program_Fail_Cnt_Total 0x0032 100 100 010 Old_age Always - 0
182 Erase_Fail_Count_Total 0x0032 100 100 010 Old_age Always - 0
183 Runtime_Bad_Block 0x0013 100 099 010 Pre-fail Always - 0
187 Uncorrectable_Error_Cnt 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0032 059 046 000 Old_age Always - 41
195 ECC_Error_Rate 0x001a 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
199 CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 49
235 POR_Recovery_Count 0x0012 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 109
241 Total_LBAs_Written 0x0032 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 7409347670
SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]
SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
255 0 65535 Read_scanning was never started
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.
hdparam -I
ATA device, with non-removable media
Model Number: Samsung SSD 750 EVO 120GB
Serial Number: S2TTNDAH131915J
Firmware Revision: MAT01B6Q
Transport: Serial, ATA8-AST, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6, SATA Rev 3.0
Standards:
Used: unknown (minor revision code 0x0039)
Supported: 9 8 7 6 5
Likely used: 9
Configuration:
Logical max current
cylinders 16383 16383
heads 16 16
sectors/track 63 63
--
CHS current addressable sectors: 16514064
LBA user addressable sectors: 234441648
LBA48 user addressable sectors: 234441648
Logical Sector size: 512 bytes
Physical Sector size: 512 bytes
Logical Sector-0 offset: 0 bytes
device size with M = 1024*1024: 114473 MBytes
device size with M = 1000*1000: 120034 MBytes (120 GB)
cache/buffer size = unknown
Nominal Media Rotation Rate: Solid State Device
Capabilities:
LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
Queue depth: 32
Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, no device specific minimum
R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 1 Current = 1
DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
Cycle time: no flow control=120ns IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
Enabled Supported:
* SMART feature set
Security Mode feature set
* Power Management feature set
* Write cache
* Look-ahead
* Host Protected Area feature set
* WRITE_BUFFER command
* READ_BUFFER command
* NOP cmd
* DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
SET_MAX security extension
* 48-bit Address feature set
* Device Configuration Overlay feature set
* Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
* FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
* SMART error logging
* SMART self-test
* General Purpose Logging feature set
* WRITE_{DMA|MULTIPLE}_FUA_EXT
* 64-bit World wide name
Write-Read-Verify feature set
* WRITE_UNCORRECTABLE_EXT command
* {READ,WRITE}_DMA_EXT_GPL commands
* Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
* Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
* Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
* Gen3 signaling speed (6.0Gb/s)
* Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
* Phy event counters
* READ_LOG_DMA_EXT equivalent to READ_LOG_EXT
* DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
* Device-initiated interface power management
* Asynchronous notification (eg. media change)
* Software settings preservation
Device Sleep (DEVSLP)
* SMART Command Transport (SCT) feature set
* SCT Write Same (AC2)
* SCT Error Recovery Control (AC3)
* SCT Features Control (AC4)
* SCT Data Tables (AC5)
* reserved 69[4]
* DOWNLOAD MICROCODE DMA command
* SET MAX SETPASSWORD/UNLOCK DMA commands
* WRITE BUFFER DMA command
* READ BUFFER DMA command
* Data Set Management TRIM supported (limit 8 blocks)
Security:
Master password revision code = 65534
supported
not enabled
not locked
frozen
not expired: security count
supported: enhanced erase
2min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 8min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
Logical Unit WWN Device Identifier: 5002538da03bb229
NAA : 5
IEEE OUI : 002538
Unique ID : da03bb229
Device Sleep:
DEVSLP Exit Timeout (DETO): 50 ms (drive)
Minimum DEVSLP Assertion Time (MDAT): 30 ms (drive)
Checksum: correct