Any tips on mounting a 10k RPM SATA drive?

[dg]

I have 1 of those new 10k rpm sata drives in my machine and every once in a
while I can hear vibration from the drive. I know this can't be really good
for the drive, and also slightly annoying. I am not sure where the noise is
actually coming from but if I touch the cage the drive is in, the noise
stops.

I am getting ready to add another 10k rpm drive and raid 0 them. Can
anybody give me any tips on mounting these suckers?

THanks,
--Dan

 

[Rod Speed]

I have 1 of those new 10k rpm sata drives in my machine and every once
in a while I can hear vibration from the drive. I know this can't be really good
for the drive, and also slightly annoying. I am not sure where the noise is
actually coming from but if I touch the cage the drive is in, the noise stops.

Its likely just the cage thats a bit loose and is resonating.

I am getting ready to add another 10k rpm drive and raid 0 them.

Do you really need that purported increase in speed ?

Can anybody give me any tips on mounting these suckers?

Just get a better case with a more rigid hard drive bay stack.

 

[J. Clarke]

I have 1 of those new 10k rpm sata drives in my machine and every once in
a
while I can hear vibration from the drive. I know this can't be really
good
for the drive, and also slightly annoying. I am not sure where the noise
is actually coming from but if I touch the cage the drive is in, the noise
stops.

I am getting ready to add another 10k rpm drive and raid 0 them. Can
anybody give me any tips on mounting these suckers?

Could be a resonance with the case structure--try putting the drive in the
bay above or below where you have it now and see if the nose goes away.

 

[dg]

I don't NEED the speed increase. Mostly I just can't stand to have the
ability use a high quality raid interface (built into the motherboard) but
not use it. I have never done it, and I already have 1 perfect drive for
it, I could only think rationally for so long before I had to see what it is
like.

I wonder what I could do to the cage to reduce vibration? It is an Antec
case, the cage slides in and locks with a lever/hook. Any ideas? I like
the case too much to swap it over this issue, Im sure it'll get fixed one
way or another.

Thanks,
--Dan

 

[Wayne Youngman]

I don't NEED the speed increase. Mostly I just can't stand to have the
ability use a high quality raid interface (built into the motherboard) but
not use it. I have never done it, and I already have 1 perfect drive for
it, I could only think rationally for so long before I had to see what it is
like.

I wonder what I could do to the cage to reduce vibration? It is an Antec
case, the cage slides in and locks with a lever/hook. Any ideas? I like
the case too much to swap it over this issue, Im sure it'll get fixed one
way or another.

Hi,
I just set-up 2x 36GB Raptors in my ANTEC case (SX835II). I put one in the
lower part of the caddy and the other in the upper part. They are excellent
drives!. I was a bit worried about all the reports of them being noisy, but
the reports are misleading. Once I powered up the system both Raptors
emitted an unusual high pitched whining, hard to describe it, but it's
certainly nothing like what I heard before. The noise they make when
reading/writing is fine, kinda deep *growl*.

Well one thing is for sure, they are certainly allot faster than my previous
WD-SE SATA 240GB (2x120) RAID-0 array running on the ABIT NF7-S (nForce2
mobo). On that old system I was getting 109MB/s burst rates, now using the
Raptor RAID-0 array running on the ABIT AI7 (i865PE - ICH5R) it's reaching
168MB/s burst!.

Don't worry too much, just treat them like normal drives when installing. I
used four screws on each drive to secure them to the ANTEC caddy, and they
both are running cool with a nice 80mm intake fan blowing cool over them. .

enjoy,

 

[Rod Speed]

I don't NEED the speed increase.

Then you are completely mad to be using RAID0
which substantiall risks ALL your data because
you will lose the lot if one hard drive dies.

Mostly I just can't stand to have the ability use a
high quality raid interface (built into the motherboard)
but not use it. I have never done it, and I already
have 1 perfect drive for it, I could only think rationally
for so long before I had to see what it is like.

If you want to have a play, use RAID 1. That will at least
provide some protection against single drive failure.

BUT hardware RAID has the big problem that if the
motherboard dies, you cant necessarily plug the
drive into a replacement and carry on regardless.

Makes more sense to use OS level mirroring instead.

I wonder what I could do to the cage to reduce vibration?

The simplest thing to try is a different hard drive
slot. You may find that its a resonance effect that
you wont be able to hear if its in a different bay.

It is an Antec case, the cage slides in
and locks with a lever/hook. Any ideas?

That system is more prone to resonance effects.

I like the case too much to swap it over this
issue, Im sure it'll get fixed one way or another.

Maybe. Or maybe the mechanical design isnt really
that well suited to those higher RPM drives which
by their nature are going to vibrate a bit more.

 

[Rod Speed]

"dg" wrote

I just set-up 2x 36GB Raptors in my ANTEC case (SX835II). I put
one in the lower part of the caddy and the other in the upper part.
They are excellent drives!. I was a bit worried about all the reports
of them being noisy, but the reports are misleading. Once I powered
up the system both Raptors emitted an unusual high pitched whining,
hard to describe it, but it's certainly nothing like what I heard before.

They're protesting about what you are doing to them.

The noise they make when reading/writing is fine, kinda deep *growl*.

And there they're making snide comments on your data, all that porn.

Just show them who is boss by whacking them with
a baseball bat until they stop doing that sort of thing.

Well one thing is for sure, they are certainly allot faster than my
previous WD-SE SATA 240GB (2x120) RAID-0 array running on
the ABIT NF7-S (nForce2 mobo). On that old system I was getting
109MB/s burst rates, now using the Raptor RAID-0 array running
on the ABIT AI7 (i865PE - ICH5R) it's reaching 168MB/s burst!.

Or some pathetic excuse for a benchmark claims that, anyway.

Don't worry too much, just treat them like normal drives when installing.
I used four screws on each drive to secure them to the ANTEC caddy, and
they both are running cool with a nice 80mm intake fan blowing cool over them. .

That's why they are whining, about the draught.

 

[dg]

Then you are completely mad to be using RAID0
which substantiall risks ALL your data because
you will lose the lot if one hard drive dies.

Believe me, I have thought long and hard about this. I do realize the risks
involved in a plain RAID0 scheme, and I am doing it anyway. I really don't
mind losing all of the data, as I will backup the *important* data at
regular intervals. If a drive fails, I will just end up having to replace
the drive, create a new array, and reinstall windows and apps. A pain in
the ass yes, the end of the world no.

If you want to have a play, use RAID 1. That will at least
provide some protection against single drive failure.

BUT hardware RAID has the big problem that if the
motherboard dies, you cant necessarily plug the
drive into a replacement and carry on regardless.

Makes more sense to use OS level mirroring instead.

Its not that I just want to play, I want to play FAST. I don't know that
RAID 1 has anything to offer me except fault tolerance and maybe even a
small performance decrease. If I had the money, I would do both, that is
mirror a striped array. As far as hardware vs. software, I totally agree
that OS level raiding has its advantages. Like you said, I might not be
able to just replace the MB and be on my way. In addition to that, an extra
hardware RAID card just adds one more point of failure, however I want to
build the system to be totally optimized for performance. I haven't even
told you the whole story, it gets worse (from your point of view): I also
just ordered an LSI SATA 150-4 raid card because when I add the 2nd Raptor
drive I will have to remove a 250GB SATA drive from the motherboard. I will
also be adding another 250GB drive and RAID 0'ing it too. Then I will have
2 RAID 0 arrays, one 148GB (2x74gb WD raptors) and one 500GB (2x250gb WD
special editions). For backup I have a DVD burner and 2 mobile PATA drive
racks-a 250GB and a 120GB-both special edition WDs. I actually have very
little data that would make me cry if I lost it (photos and financial info),
probably in the neighborhood of 15GB, though I sure would like to
keepeverything. This is going to be one sick ****ing system! I am soooo
glad I decided to build my own PC, it is EXACTLY what I wanted and I have
had a LOT of fun-and thats what its all about.

The simplest thing to try is a different hard drive
slot. You may find that its a resonance effect that
you wont be able to hear if its in a different bay.


That system is more prone to resonance effects.

I think you are right, it doesn't lock up quite like it should. I may have
to beef it up a little or like you say, replace the case. Do you have any
case suggestions?

Thanks,
--Dan

 

[Rod Speed]

Believe me, I have thought long and hard about this.

You havent done that very well in fact.

I do realize the risks involved in a plain
RAID0 scheme, and I am doing it anyway.

Completely mad when you dont need the purported better speed.

I really don't mind losing all of the data, as I will
backup the *important* data at regular intervals.

And if the 'regular intervals' allows a substantial
amount of *important* data to be accumulated
between them, you are still risking THAT data.

If a drive fails, I will just end up having to replace the
drive, create a new array, and reinstall windows and
apps. A pain in the ass yes, the end of the world no.

Its not that I just want to play, I want to play FAST.

Mindlessly silly with drives as fast as that already.

And you'll likely be quite disappointed about how much
faster RAID0 actually is with that hardware config anyway.

I don't know that RAID 1 has anything to offer me except fault
tolerance and maybe even a small performance decrease. If
I had the money, I would do both, that is mirror a striped array.

So you're basically just interested in bragging about how fast it is eh ?

As far as hardware vs. software, I totally agree that OS level
raiding has its advantages. Like you said, I might not be able to
just replace the MB and be on my way. In addition to that, an
extra hardware RAID card just adds one more point of failure,

Nope. In practice thats just a theoretical limitation. The failure
rate is quite low, much lower than with hard drives themselves.

however I want to build the system to
be totally optimized for performance.

Pretty puerile when its reliable performance that actually matters.

I haven't even told you the whole story, it gets worse (from
your point of view): I also just ordered an LSI SATA 150-4
raid card because when I add the 2nd Raptor drive I will
have to remove a 250GB SATA drive from the motherboard.
I will also be adding another 250GB drive and RAID 0'ing it
too. Then I will have 2 RAID 0 arrays, one 148GB (2x74gb
WD raptors) and one 500GB (2x250gb WD special editions).

All when you dont actually need the speed. Completely silly.

For backup I have a DVD burner and 2 mobile PATA drive
racks-a 250GB and a 120GB-both special edition WDs.

Racks flout the ATA standard.

I actually have very little data that would make me cry if I lost it
(photos and financial info), probably in the neighborhood of 15GB,

How fast does the financial info change
and how often do you back that up ?

though I sure would like to keep everything.

Yep, even when backups are available, its a pain in the
arse to have to use them. Makes a lot more sense to have
a decent fault tolerant system where you can just identify the
failed drive, replace it at your leasure and carry on regardless.

Specially with WD drives that leave something to
be desired reliability wise and with less than an ideal
approach to what they shaft you with replacement wise.

This is going to be one sick ****ing system!

Yeah, thats clearly what its all about, bragging rights.

I am soooo glad I decided to build my own PC, it is EXACTLY what
I wanted and I have had a LOT of fun-and thats what its all about.

What its really about is sensible design that
doesnt involve risking a pain in the arse.

I think you are right, it doesn't lock up quite like it should.
I may have to beef it up a little or like you say, replace
the case. Do you have any case suggestions?

I prefer the traditional approach of screwing
the drives directly into the drive bay stack.

Not as convenient, but I prefer the solid
result you get over the convenience when
you dont change hard drives all that often.

 

[dg]

After reading your posts, it feels like your goal is not to help me, but
rather to rain on my parade. You seem like a very negative person.

--Dan

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Hi,
I just set-up 2x 36GB Raptors in my ANTEC case (SX835II). I put one in the
lower part of the caddy and the other in the upper part. They are excellent
drives!. I was a bit worried about all the reports of them being noisy, but
the reports are misleading. Once I powered up the system both Raptors
emitted an unusual high pitched whining, hard to describe it, but it's
certainly nothing like what I heard before. The noise they make when
reading/writing is fine, kinda deep *growl*.

Well one thing is for sure, they are certainly allot faster than my previous
WD-SE SATA 240GB (2x120) RAID-0 array running on the ABIT NF7-S
(nForce2 mobo).

On that old system I was getting 109MB/s burst rates, now using the
Raptor RAID-0 array running on the ABIT AI7 (i865PE - ICH5R) it's reaching 168MB/s burst!.

Aren't they a bitch, those learning disabilities, eh Wayne.

 

[Rod Speed]

After reading your posts, it feels like your goal is
not to help me, but rather to rain on my parade.

Its actually to rub your silly little nose in your stupidity.

You seem like a very negative person.

Even someone as stupid as you should be able to use
groups.google and discover that thats just the usual
childish response thats no surprise coming from some silly
little kid thats only interested in posturing about its system.

 

[S.Heenan]

I have 1 of those new 10k rpm sata drives in my machine and every
once in a while I can hear vibration from the drive. I know this
can't be really good for the drive, and also slightly annoying. I am
not sure where the noise is actually coming from but if I touch the
cage the drive is in, the noise stops.

I am getting ready to add another 10k rpm drive and raid 0 them. Can
anybody give me any tips on mounting these suckers?

You can likely find small, thin rubber washers to fit the four hard drive
mounting screws. Try those.