Vertically mounted HDD and its replacement..

type2human · November 1, 2022

Hey all!

I've had this hard drive for awhile and I had it installed vertically for about couple of years. Recently (though I don't know exactly when it started) I started hearing noises coming from my HDD. It's not a ticking noise, but rather a scraping noise when the disc is spinning. It doesn't happen all the time and the drive still works but it's still a cause for concern. This had me wondering if having it installed this way mattered at all. I will be replacing it regardless and was planning on placing it vertically again (I think it looks great in the Thermaltake View 31 case, but that's just about the only reason) but wanted to ask if vertical mounting an HDD has any effect on its longevity/lifespan, or the issue was with any other factors..

HDD is installed on a sled/caddy with all four screws and is on a vertical slot on the case that fits the sled. It was purchased on September 2018 through Amazon so it was delivered. As you see in the picture, it is a WD Blue 4TB one, and it was moved from my old case to the current one on January 2020. It is also partitioned to two separate logical drives.

For its replacement, I was looking to get a NAS drive as I generally understand them as more reliable, but I had some lingering questions about them. I will not be using this drive in a server/NAS set up so does it matter? I do still want to consider it if it'll still last longer than regular HDD. Also, all of these NAS drives that I found advertise that they are designed for 24/7 operation and with vibration tolerance from other HDD, but I will just be using it on a regular PC that I turn on and off at least once on a daily basis, and without any other HDD in the case. Would doing so have an opposite effect and could actually be worse on these drives?

Sorry for the long post and please do let me know if there are any bad practices with what I did. Also if there are any recommendations, I'll take them too! Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!