External Solid State Drives

External solid state drives are becoming increasingly affordable; they are both fast and reliable. However, just because a drive is solid state does not mean it is immune from degrading.  SSDs undergo a periodic process called wear-leveling / TRIM, which keeps them in good health.  Because external SSDs are not always attached to your computer, it is necessary to invoke wear-leveling manually.  This is done on a PC by right clicking the drive, properties, tools, optimize.  On a MAC, go to disk utilities and perform first-aid on the drive.  As long as wear-leveling is implemented on a regular basis, for example monthly, the drive should remain in good health for many years.  SSDs only wear during write cycles. SSDs used for write intensive applications such as video recording and editing will degrade faster than the advertised MTBF (mean time between failure).  The only way to prevent data loss from any device is to have a backup.