[mythtv-users] Dec 2008 - State of the Art - Hard Drive Recommendations?

Michael T. Dean mtdean at thirdcontact.com
Thu Dec 18 19:53:49 UTC 2008


On 12/18/2008 02:41 PM, David Brodbeck wrote:
> Michael T. Dean wrote:
>   
>> The nonoperating shock level that the drive can experience without 
>> incurring physical damage or degradation in performance when 
>> subsequently put into operation is 300 Gs based on a nonrepetitive 
>> half-sine shock pulse of 2 msec duration.
>>     
> That sounds impressive until you realize it's about a 1.5 inch drop to
> concrete, for a bare drive.

And, I'll admit that if newegg shipped me a bare drive without 
packaging, I would be recommending against purchasing through them.

>   (Obviously packaging helps a lot by
> spreading out the deceleration.)
>   

That's why we need the real tests.  If you look on the 'net, you'll find 
pundits shouting all sorts of numbers--sometimes with equations (both 
obviously flawed and sometimes seemingly reasonable).  They often speak 
of their physics prowess, too, to make it sound more believable.  In 
general, though, I'd say there are a /lot/ of things that have to be 
taken into account before you can get to any kind of numbers.  And I 
won't even mention the engineering factor.

>> So, just get Tom's Hardware (or whomever) to do some real-world tests to 
>> see how well today's HDD's tolerate shock under various conditions (bare 
>> and bubble wrapped drives dropped onto various surfaces from various 
>> heights with various areas--side, bottom, corner--making first contact 
>> as well as drives in boxes, with various packaging methods).  I'd read 
>> the article.
>>     
> Me too.  That would be pretty interesting.

Yeah.  I'm not going to believe /any/ of the numbers I see that aren't 
backed up by real-world evidence (i.e. actual tests).  And, for a rule 
of thumb, I won't consider anything that doesn't show the work.  I have 
a feeling--based on some of the mishandling I've seen drives 
endure--that many of the claims on the 'net are a bit overly dramatic.

Mike




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