HDD precautions

[Barc0de]

After reading the relevant threads here on the forums , regarding PC HDDs, I think it's a good time for planning ahead.

Is there a way to determine the health of an HDD? Which program should I use?

Mechanical failure is my biggest concern, because I ve had my drives for about 5 years, running almost everyday (even if not 24/7)

Thanks in advance

[madhatter256]

Go to the manufacturer's website and download their diagnostic program for your specific HDD. All major brands (Samsung, Seagate, Western Digital, and Hitachi) have the ability to do full scan tests, low-level format, and SMART status error report.

Having hdds that old and still relying on them, I suggest you start preparing and back up your data. Most hard drives that old start to become unreliable, regardless of brand. Especially, if they are on 24/7.

[Barc0de]

thnx for the post madhatter256.

Indeed , I do try to backup the most important things in an external solution.

the trouble is doing it every now and then, if u know what i mean. backups take time, and u always seem to postpone them!lol

[Yakumo]

How about this then, I have 3 HDs in this PC with the oldest being an 8gig Fujitsu drive from 6 years back yet never a days trouble with it. Though I guess It shouldn't be a major problem if it dies since all it hosts are the program files which I have on back up discs or originals anyway. All important data is on the other drives. The others are a 5 year old 40gig Seagate and a 8 month old 250gig Samsung.

Yakumo

[GaijinPunch]

Listen to what everyone told Agent Mulder. "Trust No One". Back yo shit up... or at least replicate it on another machine. Rsync for linux is easy as piss, and fantastic. There's likely a Winblows version.

[Alchy]

Regardless of HDD age, backup your important data. I read an article recently which was talking about Google's findings based on the millions of HDDs they've gone through over the years: HDD's don't consistently get less reliable as they get older, a lot of them die after a year or two and most that survive will survive a lot longer.

EDIT: link

[Taucias]

Get a Dual Layer DVD+RW drive and back up a little at a time if it seems too much at once. Also you can write over older archives with newer ones.

You should always back up important stuff, yeah!

[Barc0de]

in my experience, DVD-R/+R have not been as reliable as CDs.

I have lost far too much information to DVD-Rs (different brands too) to actually trust backing up data on them.

Before someone jumps and comments on my drive's performance, the same exact scenario holds water for a friend, with a different DVD-R drive.

I have an LG one, which is very reliable as a drive. I use it to write GameCube games (Which should be indicative of high quality, since GC disks are nothing to scoff at - the GC drive will only accept the 'finest' writer+disks)

CDs are dogs, DVDs are not.

is there such thing as a Firewire or USB2-based tape solution?

PS: for extremely important data, I would recommend MO-Disks. Indestructable!:p

[Alchy]

in my experience, DVD-R/+R have not been as reliable as CDs.

I have lost far too much information to DVD-Rs (different brands too) to actually trust backing up data on them.

Same here, and I've seen many different DVD burners and countless varieties of media now. Burned DVDs just don't last as long as CDRs, no argument.

is there such thing as a Firewire or USB2-based tape solution?

There may be, but there'd be little point; tape backup units are bandwidth limited at the tape reading apparatus. Quite seriously, the last I checked.

[Taucias]

I've never had a problem with DVD-R/+Rs in all the time I have used them. Just keep them out of direct sunlight and they will last for a great number of years. I have some from 4 years back that still work completely fine. In my experience they are just as reliable as CD-Rs. Obviously you need to handle them with respect rather than leaving them around to gather dust/scratches/finger prints etc.

Go with a good brand and don't scrimp on price. Keep them in a proper jewel case with a back to it too.

[Barc0de]

Alchy, the main reason i was interested in the FW or USB connection format is compatibility and Plug-n-Pray.

Serial and Parallel devices are now considered legacy and they don't offer the ease of USB or FW (to laptops for example).

Obviously, USB is more widespread, but I can't hide my secret preference for FW =)

@Taucias:

Regarding CDs vs DVDs, I ve used crappy-no-name-CD-R and they re still fully functional, and I ve used top-of-the-line expensive DVD-Rs and they bitrotted. The main argument here being that:

The average CDr, irrespective of brand (ie even no-name products), is by far safer than the average DVD-R

[Alchy]

Go with a good brand and don't scrimp on price. Keep them in a proper jewel case with a back to it too.

I take good care of my discs as a matter of course, and I've always paid for mid-range DVD-Rs and decent drives; there's no point buying less. Most of my early DVD-Rs (2002-3 or so) are dying and many of the mid-term ones are giving me read errors. Older burns from mates' cheaper drives are all but worthless. In contrast I can still copy files from the some of cheapest CDRs in my collection, and they're knocking on a decade old. This is an experience I've seen over and over again, at work and elsewhere. I'm glad you haven't had any problems yet but my advice would be not to trust DVDRs (of either variety) with vital data. CDRs either for that matter, but they're certainly hardier, which I suppose is my real point.

EDIT: Barc0de, yeah there's USB tape drives. They can go for pretty cheap, too.

[babu]

How about DVD-RAM? Is that a good storage solution? I know my writer can handle them.

[Barc0de]

depends, what type of DVD-RAM?

The hard-shell-type DVD-RAM is not supported by my LG-drive. Those were quite reliable I believe.

shell-less DVD-RAM are reliable, but naturally not as much, due to the lack of the physical protection. Still better than DVD-R Dual Layer though, but more expensive too.

[babu]

depends, what type of DVD-RAM?

The hard-shell-type DVD-RAM is not supported by my LG-drive. Those were quite reliable I believe.

shell-less DVD-RAM are reliable, but naturally not as much, due to the lack of the physical protection. Still better than DVD-R Dual Layer though, but more expensive too.

I was foremost thinking of the shell-less DVD-RAM as my writer (also LG :thumbsup:) can't handle the other type.

[Alchy]

DVD-RAM is more for frequently-changing data. They act like a HDD from what I remember, albeit one with atrocious write times. The media is quite expensive, too, although hopefully that's an indicator of quality.

Just been looking at some USB tape drives on ebay, they're surprisingly cheap. Given all the HDD troubles I've been dealing with recently it's a temptation.

[babu]

Nice to know.. think I might got one disc with the writer.. maybe I should start use it for the more 'precious' data :)

[madhatter256]

I'm sure there is a tape backup solution via USA or Firewire. I know there are external ones for SCSI and they cost in the thousands, but can store 400gigs and their transfer speed is much better than in the past.

Tape backup is still widely used for enterprise level backup solutions and for good reason.

But to save tons of money, buy a decent and large hard drive, and then buy a good external hard drive kit for it. Go with USB as PnP compatibility is almost gauranteed in anything that has WinXP and Win2k.

[ConsoleFun]

I prefer to simply setup mirroring. Every SATA controller I've seen lately support it too. But I need a good solution for my laptop...

CF

[Barc0de]

mirroring means double the hardware and double the cost (or near double) unfortunately.

I ll look through the USB tape drive options and depending on cost I might prefer them to other solutions.

Tapes are of course slow in writing and reading, and they have an extremely slow seek time (serial access) but they can't be beat for security.

Considering that I want to backup primarily about 200GB tops, one tape is enough - most of the data I want to backup is data that i will never modify anyway, like .mp3s, game images etc.

is this: http://www.itreviews.co.uk/hardware/h214.htm any good? Has anyone had any hands-on experience with it?

Each disk can hold up 10GB uncompressed data (20GB tops for 2:1 compression), and costs 25 pounds. that's 25 pounds for 10 physical GBytes. 2.5 pounds per GB. Not exactly what I would call cheap, but it all boils down on how much you love your data and how paranoid you are about it.