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How do drives fail?

njmyers3
By njmyers3
in Storage Devices
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Go to solution Solved by Captain_WD,

Can someone explain IN DETAIL how HDDs AND SSDs fail. I understand the basic explanation but don't understand HOW.

 

Hey njmyers3,
 
As @Frankie explained, HDD is in fact a mechanical unit and failures can occur for different reasons. The magnetic platter itself can get damaged by vibrations, scratches from the read/write head or external magnetic influences. The read/write head itself can get stuck or any of its parts can break and thus make the drive inoperable. The PCB (motherboard of the drive) can get damaged (electrical fluctuations, etc.) and burn. The connectors of the drive can be bent or broken off. Each drive eventually wears off, but this is long before you've replaced it due to other reasons. 
 
SSDs have a limit of the amount of data that you can write to them, after that they become read-only. They are very susceptible to static electricity due to the nature of storing the data (electrical impulses on NAND cells). 
 
Damage can be caused by heat, electricity, magnetic fields, vibrations and other external factors. 
 
Captain_WD.
Posted

Can someone explain IN DETAIL how HDDs AND SSDs fail. I understand the basic explanation but don't understand HOW.

My main computer:

i7 6700k || GTX 1070 || Asus Z170 RGB || C.M. Hyper 212 EVO || 16GB RAM || 256GB NVMe SSD || 500GB SATA SSD || 12TB total HDD || Define R5 Blackout || 850W PSU

More Details Below :) 

Spoiler

 

| CPU: Intel Core i7 6700k                             | GPU:  EVGA GTX 1070 FTW                                  |  Motherboard: Asus Z170 Pro Gaming Aura
| CPU Cooler: C.M. Hyper 212 EVO             | RAM: 16GB Kingston Fury 4x4 DDR4 2400MHz         | SSD:  Intel 256GB NVMe SSD & Plextor 500GB SATA SSD

| Hard Drive:  WD 2TB Black, 2TB WD Blue, 8TB WD Red     | Case:  Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Edition   | PSU:  Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W

 

| Additional Computer Parts: NZXT Hue for LEDs

| Peripherals: Dell U2414H (x2) || Corsair Sabre RGB || Corsair K95 Platinum || Sennheiser 558's || Modmic

 

Pictures of setup:

 

 

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Tiny gremlins and goblins come during the night and steal all of the HDD / SSD Magic Blue Smoke. They target your Drives as they have the greatest volume of smoke. They use this blue smoke to create magic potions, which they require to survive due to their size problems. All technology requires Magic blue smoke to run properly. Components die without it...

 

But, you can restore them with this device: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/retired/10622

My AMD Build:

Spoiler

FX 6300 @ 4.8GHz, Zalman CNPS14X, MSI 970 Gaming, 16gb 1866MHz AData Ram, 3D Club R9 280X, Corsair 600M Psu, Thermaltake V3 AMD Edition Case, D-link 1200AC WiFi, 240gb Mushkin SSD, 2tb WD HDD, 140gb WD HDD (recording gameplay), 5x CoolerMaster SickleFlow 120mm fans, Windows 10 64Bit

Sisters Intel Build:

Spoiler

I7 4790k @ 4.4GHz, CoolerMaster 212 Evo, Gigabyte Gaming 5, 16gb 1866MHz Corsair Ram, 3D Club R9 390, EVGA 650GS Psu, NZXT S340 Case, D-Link 1200AC WiFi Card, HyperX 240gb SSD, 2tb WD HDD, Windows 10 64 Bit

 

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Drives die when too much porn is on them.

 

It's true, I saw it on the internet. I saw drives fail, not porn. Like who even watches porn...

I don't do signatures.

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HDDs are mechanical devices, it will sooner or later wear out as any mechanical device will. There are stupidly small tolerances every little bump, vibration even temperature can technically speaking shorten the life of the HDD meaning plotter get scratched up, the reading head will stuck, stuff like that.

 

As for SSDs they use flash memory which can withstand limited amount of writes and it will slowly deteriorate. It's almost like a rechargeable battery, you can only charge it limited amount of times before it will deteriorate based on it's chemical properties.

 

This is only my understanding, anybody feel free to correct me. :)

My modded Air 540 build

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  • Solution

Can someone explain IN DETAIL how HDDs AND SSDs fail. I understand the basic explanation but don't understand HOW.

 

Hey njmyers3,
 
As @Frankie explained, HDD is in fact a mechanical unit and failures can occur for different reasons. The magnetic platter itself can get damaged by vibrations, scratches from the read/write head or external magnetic influences. The read/write head itself can get stuck or any of its parts can break and thus make the drive inoperable. The PCB (motherboard of the drive) can get damaged (electrical fluctuations, etc.) and burn. The connectors of the drive can be bent or broken off. Each drive eventually wears off, but this is long before you've replaced it due to other reasons. 
 
SSDs have a limit of the amount of data that you can write to them, after that they become read-only. They are very susceptible to static electricity due to the nature of storing the data (electrical impulses on NAND cells). 
 
Damage can be caused by heat, electricity, magnetic fields, vibrations and other external factors. 
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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  • Author

HDDs are mechanical devices, it will sooner or later wear out as any mechanical device will. There are stupidly small tolerances every little bump, vibration even temperature can technically speaking shorten the life of the HDD meaning plotter get scratched up, the reading head will stuck, stuff like that.

 

As for SSDs they use flash memory which can withstand limited amount of writes and it will slowly deteriorate. It's almost like a rechargeable battery, you can only charge it limited amount of times before it will deteriorate based on it's chemical properties.

 

This is only my understanding, anybody feel free to correct me. :)

 

 

 

Hey njmyers3,
 
As @Frankie explained, HDD is in fact a mechanical unit and failures can occur for different reasons. The magnetic platter itself can get damaged by vibrations, scratches from the read/write head or external magnetic influences. The read/write head itself can get stuck or any of its parts can break and thus make the drive inoperable. The PCB (motherboard of the drive) can get damaged (electrical fluctuations, etc.) and burn. The connectors of the drive can be bent or broken off. Each drive eventually wears off, but this is long before you've replaced it due to other reasons. 
 
SSDs have a limit of the amount of data that you can write to them, after that they become read-only. They are very susceptible to static electricity due to the nature of storing the data (electrical impulses on NAND cells). 
 
Damage can be caused by heat, electricity, magnetic fields, vibrations and other external factors. 
 
Captain_WD.

 

Thank you for taking this seriously :P

My main computer:

i7 6700k || GTX 1070 || Asus Z170 RGB || C.M. Hyper 212 EVO || 16GB RAM || 256GB NVMe SSD || 500GB SATA SSD || 12TB total HDD || Define R5 Blackout || 850W PSU

More Details Below :) 

Spoiler

 

| CPU: Intel Core i7 6700k                             | GPU:  EVGA GTX 1070 FTW                                  |  Motherboard: Asus Z170 Pro Gaming Aura
| CPU Cooler: C.M. Hyper 212 EVO             | RAM: 16GB Kingston Fury 4x4 DDR4 2400MHz         | SSD:  Intel 256GB NVMe SSD & Plextor 500GB SATA SSD

| Hard Drive:  WD 2TB Black, 2TB WD Blue, 8TB WD Red     | Case:  Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Edition   | PSU:  Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W

 

| Additional Computer Parts: NZXT Hue for LEDs

| Peripherals: Dell U2414H (x2) || Corsair Sabre RGB || Corsair K95 Platinum || Sennheiser 558's || Modmic

 

Pictures of setup:

 

 

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Thank you for taking this seriously :P

 

No problemo. There is always time for jokes, but you seemed like you really wanna know. :)

My modded Air 540 build

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