hard drive fans?

[murcury]

What are hard drive fans and what benefits do they bring to a computer?

 

[Ian]

Some people use them to keep hard drives cool - as if you have say 3 drives in a standard desktop all on top of eachother, they could overheat. For a single or dual drive configuration there isn't much point, but if you have a server with lots of drives stacked then it can keep them cool enough to run 24/7 with a reasonably long lifespan

 

[TriplexDread]

Altho depending on the case and the way you position the drives can make a difference aswell. I have an all aluminium case (Thermaltake2000) with six drives in, never have problem with the drives at all!

 

[floppybootstomp]

What are hard drive fans and what benefits do they bring to a computer?

They keep hard drives cool. Not many.

Is the simple answer.

In theory, they should prolong the life of a hard drive, that would seem to make sense as heat is one of the enemies of mechanical/electronic devices.

But I don't think there's ever been any long term research into the subject.

Also, a hard drive is more liable to break down from mechanical failure than from overheating.

Then you could say the heat contributed to the mechanical failure.....

Hang on, I'm talking to myself now....

 

[muckshifter]

What are hard drive fans and what benefits do they bring to a computer?

In days of old when SCSI was bold they were a necessity ... you could quite happily fry your bacon & eggs on a SCSI drive.

Today, a bit o' waste of money ... if you burn your fingers on a HD drive today, you better get a new one quick. HD that is, not finger.