On Fri, 11 Nov 2022 19:58:04 +0000 Todd Gruhn <[email protected]> wrote:
> Western Digital WD2500AAJS 250 GB Caviar Blue Hard Drive > > It was used, and made in 2010. How long do these drives work? > > SCSI drives only lasted for about 5yr to 7ys -- but that was 20yr ago... I always thought of spinning-rust drives like cars: they don't last an amount of time, they wear with use. Like cars lifespan has increased over the years. Unlike cars leaving them parked (properly protected) for years at a time isn't harmful. I'd say plug it in, and run a smart test on it. It's old, but new enough it should give an absolute stop/start count as well as hours powered on. Under 20,000 or so hours and/or only a couple hundred stop/starts, it's barely broken in, go ahead and use it. And also never forget to backup. Even if your drives are new. In mid-2020 I finally retired my last IBM DCHS04Y, built in 1997. It was heavily used when I first got the disk in 2004, and I ran it 24x7 from at least 2009 if not earlier. I believe it would still work if I happened to turn that computer back on. -- Aaron B. <[email protected]>
