Question: I encrypted my Time Machine backup (A Western Digital 2tb external drive) then realised that Airport wont mount the backup over wifi, so am currently decrypting the drive (via Disk Utility).

I found the command:

```
diskutil cs list

```

which shows me the progress of the operation (it took a while to register at the under the the menu-bar icon).

Here's a snippet from the output:

```
    Sequence:               13
    Encryption Status:      Unlocked
    Encryption Type:        None
    Encryption Context:     Present
    Conversion Status:      Converting
    Has Encrypted Extents:  Yes
    Conversion Direction:   backward

```

Encrypting the backup took about 24 hours, and the time machine icon currently shows 'Decryptig Backup Disk (28%)'.

My question is: can I eject the drive without losing the backup? Will the decryption continue when I mount the drive again?

TIA, Tim

Answer: 
That’s just paranoia. Hibernate mode is perfectly healthy for an SSD. A SSD will last about 2-4 years of continuous writes. This means the time for which the SSD is powered. I have a 4 year old computer and its HD has been powered for 1.5 years (according to disk utility). Your SSD can definitely last a longer time.
I actually prefer [SmartSleep](http://www.jinx.de/SmartSleep.html). Using this little app gives you the best of both worlds. When you sleep your Mac (close the lid), SmartSleep will decide based on your remaining battery capacity whether to write the hibernation image or not. This is useful, because if you ever find yourself in a tricky situation, where your battery runs out, you will not loose your data.

I have been using SmartSleep ever since I had a SSD (2-3 years now) and really appreciate it. It also offers some nice shortcuts, like `caffeinate` or instant hibernation.