https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-check-ssd-health-in-linux/
Published December 17, 2024
Written by Jack Wallen
Table of Contents
Installation
Usage
The obvious caveatsDo you use Linux machines in your data center? If so, it's probably a good idea to regularly check the health of the SSD drives used on those machines. Here's how to do it.If your data center makes use of Linux machines, one of the administrative tasks you’ll want to undertake is regularly checking the health of the SSD drives used on those machines. Why? Because, even though solid state drives will dramatically outlast rotating platter drives, they do have a finite lifespan. The last thing you want to do is fall victim to that particular end of days.
How do you check the health of those drives? As with everything in Linux, there are options. Although a GUI solution exists (GNOME Disks), I highly recommend going with a command line tool for this task. Why? Most of the time, your Linux servers won’t include a GUI; with the command line, you can easily make use of it by securely shelling into your remote Linux server and running your tests from the terminal.
The tool in question is smartctl. With this command, you can quickly glimpse your SSD health. Of course, how much mileage you get from the command will depend upon the make/model of SSD you employ. Unfortunately, the S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) tools aren’t always up to date with every SSD drive.
Because of this, you cannot be certain of the number of times your SSD chips have been written to. Even with that in mind, you can get a good estimate of the wear and tear on your drives.
Let’s install and use smartctl....
