Is any hard drive hot swappable?

[NewSysAdmin]

I've noticed that some hard drives are listed as hot swappable specifically, which leads me to wonder: is the ability to hot swap a drive determine by the RAID controller, the tray, the drive, or a combination? I have a standard Seagate internal hard disk desktop drive. Can I use it in a hot swap?

 

[Paul NZ]

I think you have to install the right drivers , as well for it to support hotswap

 

[JaredDM]

Any SATA or SAS hard drive is inherently hot swappable. The drive isn't the determining factor at all, it's the controller, motherboard, OS, etc. that's what determines whether hotswap will work.

 

[jsmithepa]

What does WIKI say?

I think lately, vendors is been using "hot swap" waaaaay too loosely. I've been looking at HD cages and they all boast hot swap capability, then folks who buy these cages go, my system is hot swappable! -NOT. Just because you can remove the drive wo opening the case doesn't mean you can do it while the power is on and the OS still running.

RAID vendors too, waaay too loose. Don't tell me your rig is hot swappable unless I can change a failed drive without stopping or pausing while the stuff is being re-built. After all true RAID=24x7 uptime.

 

[NewSysAdmin]

Any SATA or SAS hard drive is inherently hot swappable. The drive isn't the determining factor at all, it's the controller, motherboard, OS, etc. that's what determines whether hotswap will work.

OK so bottom line, if we've been able to hot swap with this server before, than there's no foreseeable reason why my brand new, standard desktop hard drive won't work. Correct?

 

[CountMike]

eSATA controller and Dynamic volume setting should give a very hot swappable combination.

 

[ArtPog]

JaredDM's comment is correct. Given a relatively modern motherboard the vast majority of PC users are working with there should be no problem "hot-swapping" SATA HDDs/SSDs.

We've been working with removable HDDs/SSDs (mobile racks) for more than a dozen years now, using a wide variety of makes/models of those disks and I'm hard-pressed to think of a single problem we've encountered involving "hot-swapping". (I suppose it's understood that we're referring to invoking "hot-swapping" as it involves SECONDARY drives in the system, NOT the boot disk.)

Note that in recent years many motherboard BIOS settings contain an "Enable/Disable" option as it pertains to "hot-swapping".

 

[NewSysAdmin]

JaredDM's comment is correct. Given a relatively modern motherboard the vast majority of PC users are working with there should be no problem "hot-swapping" SATA HDDs/SSDs.

We've been working with removable HDDs/SSDs (mobile racks) for more than a dozen years now, using a wide variety of makes/models of those disks and I'm hard-pressed to think of a single problem we've encountered involving "hot-swapping". (I suppose it's understood that we're referring to invoking "hot-swapping" as it involves SECONDARY drives in the system, NOT the boot disk.)

Note that in recent years many motherboard BIOS settings contain an "Enable/Disable" option as it pertains to "hot-swapping".

Do you know why some hard drives list "Hot Swappable" as a spec but others do not?

Examples:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/seagate-500gb-internal-sata-hard-drive-for-desktops/8294632.p?id=1172880157923&skuId=8294632
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/seagate-barracuda-es-2-500-gb-3-5-internal-hard-drive-multi/1308466796.p?id=mp1308466796&skuId=1308466796

The first says nothing about being hot swappable but the second one does.

 

[ArtPog]

It's probably just a matter of the format used by the vendor to list the specs. Both disks are "hot-swappable" as long as supported by your motherboard as the previous comments in this thread indicated.