A few questions regarding mechanical hard drives.

[Tech_Dreamer]

Hi guys, Need your help in clearing out somethings regarding mechanical hard drives, you can answer the best possible way you can, or leave a troll comment , i don't mind

1. Will keeping the HDD in diferent orientations/Angles going to damage the disc platters, or could cause an issue with the drive on the long run?
2. Does the hdd need to be kept cool everytime, by keeping it under a system fan inorder to properly take care of it? extend the lifespan?
3. Will , Moving the drive constantly (as in transportation) going to harm the data drive easily?
4. is connecting the mechanical hard drive via extention cables such as Sata-to-usb going to allow datat corruption (if in case there aren't many sata ports on the mobo itself)
5. How often a hdd needs to be properly cared for (dusting/defragging/replace cables)
6. Does keeping the hard drive running for a long long time(as in heavy encoding processes) going to harm the drive or does it needs to be put in sleep mode every now & then?

Those are my questions . i'd appreciate if you can answer it in the same order or numbered or anyway you prefer.

 

Thanks again for reading it through this far..

[WoodenMarker]

1. Not for modern drives, no.

2. You can use software like CrystalDiskInfo to check the temps. You generally want the hdd below 45c. Lower is better.

3. It can--especially if the disk is spinning. Hdd's are quite fragile. 

4. No.

5. Depends on your usage. Window's automatic weekly scheduled defragging should take care of this. Dust isn't an issue as long as temps are fine. Cables shouldn't need to be replaced unless damaged.

6. Using a drive will wear it out over time but putting the drive doesn't really help prolong its life considering the disc would need to spin up and down to do so. 

[Rhyn]

1. Try to keep the drive level if possible.

2. You don't need to worry about extensively cooling the drive, temps are important for a hard drive though.  If it's in a computer with fans at all it should be fine, unless you're using the drive for a server or a nas then you may want to consider cooling.  

3. It shouldn't just as long as you aren't extensively rough with the drive, like don't drop it or drop things on it.  Just try to keep it safe during transit, if it is spinning then I wouldn't recommend moving it.

4. It shouldn't.

5. You really shouldn't need to worry about any of that.  If you clean your computer regularly then go ahead and dust off the hard drive, but if not don't worry about any of that.

6. Ya using the drive a lot will wear it out but really there isn't much to be done about that.  The drive will die when it dies.

[LogicalDrm]

Hi guys, Need your help in clearing out somethings regarding mechanical hard drives, you can answer the best possible way you can, or leave a troll comment , i don't mind

1. Will keeping the HDD in diferent orientations/Angles going to damage the disc platters, or could cause an issue with the drive on the long run?
2. Does the hdd need to be kept cool everytime, by keeping it under a system fan inorder to properly take care of it? extend the lifespan?
3. Will , Moving the drive constantly (as in transportation) going to harm the data drive easily?
4. is connecting the mechanical hard drive via extention cables such as Sata-to-usb going to allow datat corruption (if in case there aren't many sata ports on the mobo itself)
5. How often a hdd needs to be properly cared for (dusting/defragging/replace cables)
6. Does keeping the hard drive running for a long long time(as in heavy encoding processes) going to harm the drive or does it needs to be put in sleep mode every now & then?

Those are my questions . i'd appreciate if you can answer it in the same order or numbered or anyway you prefer.

 

Thanks again for reading it through this far..

 

Me too

 

2. It need some air to keep everthing cool. But slower HDDs (sub 5400rpm) stay pretty cool even after several hours in use. Faster drives need atleast some passive cooling, like ventilation of external enclosures.

3. Shocks are the biggest hazard while moving hdd. But I've had them survive small drops, like 30cm. But wouldn't recommend testing with important data.

4. There's always chance. If link get disconnected in middle of transfer. But just using adapter isn't going to do anything. You know, externals work that way all the time.

5. I haven't done such things never. Only things I have done is fresh installs and refragmentation but those are the software style. And I've had to open one enclosure because of broken usb connector. HDD is still in use.

6. Running it full speed all the time will reduce lifespan. Thats problem with every mechanical thing. But you can go for NAS etc. HDDs if you need such performance.