This might be a really stupid noob question, but I am looking to move to Linux from Windows/Mac, and am about to install an SSD into my very old test machine for Linux distros.

You might have seen my recent post asking for recommends: it has the hardware specs of my test box, and I’ve updated it with the list of distros I intend to try.

My test box still has a working HDD in it, so no action is required immediately.

But my question is: once I decide on a distro and start moving machines over to Linux, what kind of manual care do I have to put in to maintain my SSD drives, if any?

For each box with a SSD drive and Linux as the OS, do I need to do TRIM manually, do I need to turn it on for a “set and forget” type scenario, or are recent and regularly upgraded distros able to spot a SSD and do the necessary without my intervention?

I guess what I’m really asking is: is SSD TRIM support pretty much standard now across distros, or is it something I need to investigate individually for each distro I install?

I recognize I may just need to ask this again once I settle on a distro, but since I’m trying so many – and may fully install more than one – I thought I’d get a jump on it.

EDITED TO ADD: Many thanks to all who took the time to answer. Now I know exactly what to read up on, and if necessary, look up how to do manually for whatever distro(s) I settle on. I -really- appreciate the help. Thank you!

  • @SpaceCadetEnglish
    8•9 months ago

    You typically use either discard or the fstrim.timer, but not both at the same time.

    Using the discard option means that trims are being done on the fly every time blocks are deleted, using fstrim.timer means that trims are being done periodically. The former carries a performance penalty, so it’s usually not recommended unless you need it (for example, if you regularly do huge amounts of writes and deletes on this drive).

    • WadamTEnglish
      2•9 months ago

      Thanks for this. I got confused writhing this as I used discard on my previous install.