Do I need to worry about HDD failures?

[Ennead]

I have my new Amahi server up and running, and I think it's great! However, I find myself worrying about the life of my HDD. I'm not used to running my computers 24/7, so it's on about 30% more than usual. I'm not so concerned about losing data (at this point). My whole home network is now based around my Amahi server (which is really pretty cool ), but if my server goes down, my network goes down, too. Any advice from the Pros?

[bsk]

Well, you have to look at it this way. That HDD is not spinning ALL the time, it does get rest time.

Also, you can get an external, hook it up, and backup things with whatever program you like to it just in case, that way that HDD is only on for say, 1-2 hours a day, or a week if you only backup weekly.

But the chances of an HDD going out are very slim and will give signs when they are. Unless you have a really old or really cheap drive.

How old is the drive and what kind is it?

[lou1z]

always back up. the amount of hard drive failures that i have to deal with is unreal. i'd say 80% of issues are related to hard drive failures. missing & corrupt files etc. they do wear out and you could have a friday afternoon hard drive!
keeping them cool (as with everything) will help to extend their life. also, leaving the pc on is better. when does the light bulb blow in your house. more than likely when you turn it on because there is a surge in power for a millisecond. if a car breaks down, it's harder to push and get it going initially than to keep it running once it's up to speed.
a weekly backup will suffice for most and all you need to backup is the config and your data.
alternatively, do an image of the whole system which will allow you to recover faster should the worst happen.

[pjcrux]

I have my new Amahi server up and running, and I think it's great! However, I find myself worrying about the life of my HDD. I'm not used to running my computers 24/7, so it's on about 30% more than usual. I'm not so concerned about losing data (at this point). My whole home network is now based around my Amahi server (which is really pretty cool ), but if my server goes down, my network goes down, too. Any advice from the Pros?

The MTBF of a consumer hard drive is actually quite long. Today's average drive can/may run for years without failure. The motor on the drive that spins the disk (which in turn creates the rotational Latency of a drive, 1 of the three main performance measurements of a drive when speaking of Data I/O) often will outlast a disk's plate. Most of my drives have stopped because not that it was on all the time but that I had written so much data a disk sector would no longer hold the "write" from the needle head.

Wikipedia has a basic article on MTBF (mean time between failure) here. I would also contact the manufacturer of your drive and ask "what is the MTBF of my drives it's a WHATEVERYOURDRIVESIZEANDMODELHERE?"

[lou1z]

MTBF's are alright but not something to rely on. things still breakdown. the only true way to be safe is have a backup.
you may be lucky and have a server that runs for years. been there, done it. but i've also seen a server fail 6 15000rpm sas drives within a year and those were expensive drives.
bottom line, back up and lose the worry!

[Ennead]

Thank you all for your advice. The HDD in my server is a WD 120Gb. I've had very good luck with WD drives, and an occasional checkup with Spinrite. But, I hear you - back it up and stop worrying! Thanks again

[cpg]

also, the life of hard drives is reduced by the amount of time it gets shut down and up and the temperature.

i like to keep my drives really well ventilated (i have a large but good case), and monitor their temperature.

yes, always back up!

i keep several drives in my HDA and back up from one (precious) disk to one of the others, to minimize chances that i may lose data.

however, it's not reliable. i only do it when i remember. i'd like to set up rsnapshot!

[lou1z]

well, i gotta swear by mondoarchive. it just works. a little complicated for the average user to get in and set a cronjob but once it's done, you can forget it.