I have a 4TB HDD that I use to store music, films, images, and text files. I have a 250GB SDD that I use to install my OS and video games. So far I didn't have any problem with this setup, obviously it's a bit slower when it reads the HDD but nothing too serious, but lately it's gotten way worse, where it just lags too much when I try to access files on that disk, and specially when it comes to listening to music, it's super annoying. I'm using Elisa music player and it just takes ages to load the albums.
Below is my system and HDD information. I think I'm supposed to use hardlinks or something to access those files, could that be a reason? I've never even fully filled my HDD and it's only 3 years old.
System Details Report
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Hardware Information:
- Hardware Model: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME A320M-K
- Memory: 16.0 GiB
- Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600G with Radeon™ Graphics × 12
- Graphics: AMD Radeon™ Graphics
- Disk Capacity: 4.2 TB
Software Information:
- Firmware Version: 6042
- OS Name: Fedora Linux 39 (Workstation Edition)
- OS Build: (null)
- OS Type: 64-bit
- GNOME Version: 45.5
- Windowing System: Wayland
- Kernel Version: Linux 6.7.11-200.fc39.x86_64
Get a new one, maybe a 4TB SATA SSD (if you have the space, SATA is just better than NVME imho, way cheaper and less heat) and DO A BACKUP.
"Spinning things" will break way easier than nonmoving parts.
These might very well be signs of failure.
Just because there are no moving parts doesn't mean there is no wear. SSDs have max program/ erase cycles that causes them to fail over time. They do tend to be more reliable than HDDs but it's not as dramatic as you might think. And would likely vary on the quality of the drive more than anything.
Some info: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/how-reliable-are-ssds/