Hi guys,

I plan to buy a 2.5" 256GB Solid State Drive and use it as external backup storage.

Because SSDs don't have moving parts I hope that the power from 1 USB 2.0 port (500 mA) will be enough to use the SSD without any problems, but I am not sure so I wanted to ask you guys if this is possible.

Can 1 USB 2.0 port (500 mA) provide enough power to use a 2.5" 256GB SSD without any problems?
And can you guys recommend me a 256GB SSD for external backup storage that uses low power and is nicely built and durable to last longer?

Thanks for your time.

Why you want to use slow USB and fast SSD? You have USB3.0 10x faster then USB2.
For good SSD search on other PC hardware forums.

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Hi, thanks for replying.

I already have 1 USB 3.0 Flash Drive, and I wanted to buy 1 more for security.

But I read somewhere that Solid State Drives have a bit better quality and have longer durability than USB Flash Drives. Is this true?

That is why I was considering to buy a Solid State Drive for backup instead of another USB Flash Drive.

I want to ask you guys 1 more thing, I plan to fill the full 256 GB device with data and then let it sit powered off for 5-10 years if possible.

Which would be the best to use for this situation: USB Flash Drive, Solid State Drive or normal Hard Disk Drive?

Don't expect it to be a certain thing that single USB 2.0 is enough to power an SSD. For ancient models like Intel X25-M G1 (2.5W) it is just enough, but for an OCZ Trion 100 (4.8W), not even a single USB 3.0 is sufficient. Not to mention that the SATA bridge on the USB adapter might matter too.

Indeed an SSD probably has a higher endurance than a simple thumb drive, but that might not matter a lot if the data are gonna be static for years.

I heard that flash memory cannot hold data for too long without power too, but I don't know exactly how often you need to "charge" it. You can't be bothered to at least connect it to power once a year or so?

But to be honest, HDD seems to suit your case most.

[quote="we3fan"]I want to ask you guys 1 more thing, I plan to fill the full 256 GB device with data and then let it sit powered off for 5-10 years if possible.

I wouldn't use a flash device for this. I would probably use a HDD or 2, being so small and cheap and if data was extremely important, cloud storage as well.