>Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 18:43:01 -0700 >From: Obi-Wan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>On 10/17/02 2:40 PM, "Joe Melinis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Spew into the >Cybertrough: > >> I disagree too. >> My Western Digital has a mean time between failures >> specified at one million hours. >> (That's 24hrs x 365 days x 114 years) > >I think he was being a bit pessimistic, and you are being a bit optimistic. >I agree that a HD will last between 6-8 years. If you think that your >Western Digital Hard Drive (one of the crappier drive manufacturers) will >last 114 years, then I have a bridge to sell you. > >Hard drives are moving parts, with motors and drive arms and heads. Things >break. It happens. The important thing to remember is that if the info on >that drive is important to you, then you should back it up. I suspect that those numbers that manufacturers put on the drives are under ideal conditions with lots of cooling air flow and such. I have come to believe that most cases don't provide near enough air flow. My evidence is anecdotal, and I'd be happy to change my opinion but I found that after I devoted a fan to each drive in my array, the ST32550 drives which kept crapping out on me lasted for six years without a hiccough until I took them out of service. They're still good, they're just too loud for me to tolerate powering them on. The ST32550 is an early Barracuda which is loud, very hot, prone to failure without cooling (in my experience) and slow by today's standards. Other experiences support this hypothesis so far. So, I think you're more likely to see long drive life if you arrange a fan to blow over each drive in your case. Second, those numbers are the "mean time" which means you're probably looking at a bell curve or something similar. You can always hit the anti-jackpot and have the drive that's at the left side of the curve. So, as Kyle said, if your data is important, back it up--regularly. Drives fail. Any given drive can fail at any time, no matter what the numbers are for its family of drives. Also regardless of the make and model of drive. All drives have a chance of failing at any time. Not backing up is gambling pure and simple. The odds may be in your favor at any moment, but the house wins (you lose) in the end. How much do you have on the table? The problem is that a good backup system which is convenient enough that folks will use it regularly can easily cost as much as a decent computer--but it's still far cheaper than a data recovery service. Jeff Walther -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:pci-powermacs@;mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:pci-powermacs-off@;mail.maclaunch.com> For digest mode, email: <mailto:pci-powermacs-digest@;mail.maclaunch.com> Subscription questions: <mailto:listmom@;lowendmac.com> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
