Heat an issue for disk?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

I put a Western Digital 120Gig 7200rpm in a USB external case used in a
home office and I would like to leave it on 24/7 to backup up 4 PCs
over LAN. (If I have to remember to turn it on each day, I wont get
consistent backups)
The case has no fan, but good space around it and vents for convection
air flow. Nothing sits on top of it and feet elevate so air can get
underneath.

Is this going to be a heat issue for the unit that would accellerate a
failure? If I leave it on 24/7 how long should it theoritcally last?

thanks for any insight

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Previously rkruz <rkruz@cox.net> wrote:
> I put a Western Digital 120Gig 7200rpm in a USB external case used in a
> home office and I would like to leave it on 24/7 to backup up 4 PCs
> over LAN. (If I have to remember to turn it on each day, I wont get
> consistent backups)
> The case has no fan, but good space around it and vents for convection
> air flow. Nothing sits on top of it and feet elevate so air can get
> underneath.

> Is this going to be a heat issue for the unit that would accellerate a
> failure? If I leave it on 24/7 how long should it theoritcally last?

All are difficult to answer. What is your room temperature?
How long will the backup processes run? Still the most central
question is how well the case cools. Impossible to tell without
measurements under load. I bought an IR thermometer some time
ago because of a similar question.

Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

In article <372a71F56k7lpU1@individual.net>,
Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>Previously rkruz <rkruz@cox.net> wrote:
>> I put a Western Digital 120Gig 7200rpm in a USB external case used in a
>> home office and I would like to leave it on 24/7 to backup up 4 PCs
>> over LAN. (If I have to remember to turn it on each day, I wont get
>> consistent backups)
>> The case has no fan, but good space around it and vents for convection
>> air flow. Nothing sits on top of it and feet elevate so air can get
>> underneath.
>
>> Is this going to be a heat issue for the unit that would accellerate a
>> failure? If I leave it on 24/7 how long should it theoritcally last?
>
>All are difficult to answer. What is your room temperature?
>How long will the backup processes run? Still the most central
>question is how well the case cools. Impossible to tell without
>measurements under load. I bought an IR thermometer some time
>ago because of a similar question.
>
>Arno
>--
>For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
>GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
> "The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus
>
>


Look up the specs for you model disk on the manuffacturers web site
and look at the max and idle wattage heat dissapation. If the
and the recommended max temp. If it stays below that # most
of the day you're OK. At idle it probably uses a fraction of
fullpower.

--

a d y k e s @ p a n i x . c o m

Don't blame me. I voted for Gore.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

rkruz <rkruz@cox.net> wrote in message
news:1108078790.262916.146580@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

> I put a Western Digital 120Gig 7200rpm in a USB external
> case used in a home office and I would like to leave it on
> 24/7 to backup up 4 PCs over LAN. (If I have to remember
> to turn it on each day, I wont get consistent backups)

> The case has no fan, but good space around it and
> vents for convection air flow. Nothing sits on top of
> it and feet elevate so air can get underneath.

> Is this going to be a heat issue for the unit that would accellerate a
> failure?

Very likely.

Really depends on how hot it gets in summer tho.

> If I leave it on 24/7 how long should it theoritcally last?

There are no nice tidy numbers on that.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

In article <372d74F56hq20U1@individual.net>,
Rod Speed <rod_speed@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>rkruz <rkruz@cox.net> wrote in message
>news:1108078790.262916.146580@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
>> I put a Western Digital 120Gig 7200rpm in a USB external
>> case used in a home office and I would like to leave it on
>> 24/7 to backup up 4 PCs over LAN. (If I have to remember
>> to turn it on each day, I wont get consistent backups)
>
>> The case has no fan, but good space around it and
>> vents for convection air flow. Nothing sits on top of
>> it and feet elevate so air can get underneath.
>
>> Is this going to be a heat issue for the unit that would accellerate a
>> failure?
>
>Very likely.
>
>Really depends on how hot it gets in summer tho.
>
>> If I leave it on 24/7 how long should it theoritcally last?
>
>There are no nice tidy numbers on that.
>
>

The hotter it is the shorter the probable life.


--

a d y k e s @ p a n i x . c o m

Don't blame me. I voted for Gore.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

rkruz wrote:

> I put a Western Digital 120Gig 7200rpm in a USB external case used in a
> home office and I would like to leave it on 24/7 to backup up 4 PCs
> over LAN. (If I have to remember to turn it on each day, I wont get
> consistent backups)
> The case has no fan, but good space around it and vents for convection
> air flow. Nothing sits on top of it and feet elevate so air can get
> underneath.
>
> Is this going to be a heat issue for the unit that would accellerate a
> failure? If I leave it on 24/7 how long should it theoritcally last?
>
> thanks for any insight
>

With decent power and cooling, a modern HD should last for years running
24x7; some HD vendors quote ~1,000,000 hour MTBF, or >1 century. With
inadequate cooling, turning if off when unused won't help, because the
heat produced when unused is a fraction of the heat produced when
seeking and/or writing.

Decent cooling is enough that you can comfortably leave your hand on
the HD's case when in use; in some boxes, passive cooling is adequate;
in most PCs, a case fan or two is enough.
--
Cheers, Bob

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

What's the surface temp. of the drive after it's been in the case for
hours running hard? - this is the critical factor at play.

You should aim for <50 degrees C (under 45 prefered) under high stress
operations. If it goes above that, then you'll easily fry a drive (eg.
at 60C) in short order.

Most of the time, you won't care what the ambient temp. is outside the
drive, or the airflow through a drive -- drive temp. is the most
important factor to pay attention to.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

In article <cujfpq$rrl$2@news.service.uci.edu>,
David Chien <chiendh@uci.edu> wrote:
>What's the surface temp. of the drive after it's been in the case for
>hours running hard? - this is the critical factor at play.
>
>You should aim for <50 degrees C (under 45 prefered) under high stress
>operations. If it goes above that, then you'll easily fry a drive (eg.
>at 60C) in short order.
>
>Most of the time, you won't care what the ambient temp. is outside the
>drive, or the airflow through a drive -- drive temp. is the most
>important factor to pay attention to.


Ambient air is what the gets heated, so the correct way to describe
what's inside any box of electronics is "degrees above ambient", i.e.
if the room is at 72 and the inside is 90 then you can know that if
the room temp is 80 the inside temp will be 98.

--

a d y k e s @ p a n i x . c o m

Don't blame me. I voted for Gore.

 

[peter]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

> With decent power and cooling, a modern HD should last for years running
> 24x7; some HD vendors quote ~1,000,000 hour MTBF, or >1 century.

While I agree that it "should last for years", it is extremely unlikely that
it could run for "> 1 century", even if it has 5,000,000 hour MTBF.
That is because MTBF does not specify an average life time of an electronic
component, but reflects statistical failure rate in relatively short period
of time, when that rate is the lowest.
That could mean, that on average, for drives which survived the first 6
months, one drive out of a thousand will fail in the next 1,000 hours of
operation.
Remember a bathtub curve. MTBF applies to the "bottom" of the bathub period
only. Other data is not published.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

thanks....nice insights!

"Peter" <peterfoxghost@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:3755opF57mv6gU1@individual.net...
>> With decent power and cooling, a modern HD should last for years running
>> 24x7; some HD vendors quote ~1,000,000 hour MTBF, or >1 century.
>
> While I agree that it "should last for years", it is extremely unlikely
> that
> it could run for "> 1 century", even if it has 5,000,000 hour MTBF.
> That is because MTBF does not specify an average life time of an
> electronic
> component, but reflects statistical failure rate in relatively short
> period
> of time, when that rate is the lowest.
> That could mean, that on average, for drives which survived the first 6
> months, one drive out of a thousand will fail in the next 1,000 hours of
> operation.
> Remember a bathtub curve. MTBF applies to the "bottom" of the bathub
> period
> only. Other data is not published.
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

"Al Dykes" <adykes@panix.com> wrote in message
news:cuiksr$gia$1@panix5.panix.com...
> In article <372d74F56hq20U1@individual.net>,
> Rod Speed <rod_speed@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>rkruz <rkruz@cox.net> wrote in message
>>news:1108078790.262916.146580@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>> I put a Western Digital 120Gig 7200rpm in a USB external
>>> case used in a home office and I would like to leave it on
>>> 24/7 to backup up 4 PCs over LAN. (If I have to remember
>>> to turn it on each day, I wont get consistent backups)
>>
>>> The case has no fan, but good space around it and
>>> vents for convection air flow. Nothing sits on top of
>>> it and feet elevate so air can get underneath.
>>
>>> Is this going to be a heat issue for the unit that would accellerate a
>>> failure?
>>
>>Very likely.
>>
>>Really depends on how hot it gets in summer tho.
>>
>>> If I leave it on 24/7 how long should it theoritcally last?
>>
>>There are no nice tidy numbers on that.
>>
>>
>
> The hotter it is the shorter the probable life.

Thats not even a number, just a generalisation.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Peter wrote:

>>With decent power and cooling, a modern HD should last for years running
>>24x7; some HD vendors quote ~1,000,000 hour MTBF, or >1 century.
>
>
> While I agree that it "should last for years", it is extremely unlikely that
> it could run for "> 1 century", even if it has 5,000,000 hour MTBF.

So, you agree with what I said and you disagree with what I didn't say. OK.
--
Cheers, Bob

 

[peter]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

> Peter wrote:
>
> >>With decent power and cooling, a modern HD should last for years running
> >>24x7; some HD vendors quote ~1,000,000 hour MTBF, or >1 century.
> >
> >
> > While I agree that it "should last for years", it is extremely unlikely
that
> > it could run for "> 1 century", even if it has 5,000,000 hour MTBF.
>
> So, you agree with what I said and you disagree with what I didn't say.
OK.
> --
> Cheers, Bob

You have implied that MTBF rating describes how long a hard drive will last.
I disagree with that interpretation.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Peter wrote:
>>Peter wrote:
>>
>>
>>>>With decent power and cooling, a modern HD should last for years running
>>>>24x7; some HD vendors quote ~1,000,000 hour MTBF, or >1 century.
>>>
>>>
>>>While I agree that it "should last for years", it is extremely unlikely
>
> that
>
>>>it could run for "> 1 century", even if it has 5,000,000 hour MTBF.
>>
>>So, you agree with what I said and you disagree with what I didn't say.
>
> OK.
>
>>--
>>Cheers, Bob
>
>
> You have implied that MTBF rating describes how long a hard drive will last.
> I disagree with that interpretation.
>
>

I think your understanding of MTBF is better than your understanding
of English, since I did not say (and do not believe) that MTBF implies
life expectancy.
--
Cheers, Bob

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

You are some kinda major dweeboid nerd huh? Is this how you establish your
self worth.? Babbling nonense to strangers who you then believe go away
impressed?

"Bob Willard" <BobwBSGS@TrashThis.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:5-OdnSsVWNN6GJPfRVn-ig@comcast.com...
> Peter wrote:
>>>Peter wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>>With decent power and cooling, a modern HD should last for years
>>>>>running
>>>>>24x7; some HD vendors quote ~1,000,000 hour MTBF, or >1 century.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>While I agree that it "should last for years", it is extremely unlikely
>>
>> that
>>
>>>>it could run for "> 1 century", even if it has 5,000,000 hour MTBF.
>>>
>>>So, you agree with what I said and you disagree with what I didn't say.
>>
>> OK.
>>
>>>--
>>>Cheers, Bob
>>
>>
>> You have implied that MTBF rating describes how long a hard drive will
>> last.
>> I disagree with that interpretation.
>>
>>
>
> I think your understanding of MTBF is better than your understanding
> of English, since I did not say (and do not believe) that MTBF implies
> life expectancy.
> --
> Cheers, Bob

 

[peter]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

"Bob Willard" <BobwBSGS@TrashThis.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:5-OdnSsVWNN6GJPfRVn-ig@comcast.com...
> Peter wrote:
> >>Peter wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>>With decent power and cooling, a modern HD should last for years
running
> >>>>24x7; some HD vendors quote ~1,000,000 hour MTBF, or >1 century.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>While I agree that it "should last for years", it is extremely unlikely
> >
> > that
> >
> >>>it could run for "> 1 century", even if it has 5,000,000 hour MTBF.
> >>
> >>So, you agree with what I said and you disagree with what I didn't say.
> >
> > OK.
> >
> >>--
> >>Cheers, Bob
> >
> >
> > You have implied that MTBF rating describes how long a hard drive will
last.
> > I disagree with that interpretation.
> >
> >
>
> I think your understanding of MTBF is better than your understanding
> of English, since I did not say (and do not believe) that MTBF implies
> life expectancy.
> --
> Cheers, Bob

Thanks.