Hard Drive Install

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lou Pratt
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Lou Pratt

Is there any reason why I shouldn't mount a hard drive (Maxtor 40
gb 7200 rpm) upside down? By doing so I'd be able to separate the
two hd's I now have installed and achieve better cooling. There
are mounting brackets that extend below the case's hard drive
holder and the the only way the hd can be mounted using them is
upside down. I'm just wondering if there are any adverse effects
by mounting the hd that way.

Thanks
 
Lou Pratt said:
Is there any reason why I shouldn't mount a hard drive (Maxtor 40
gb 7200 rpm) upside down? By doing so I'd be able to separate the
two hd's I now have installed and achieve better cooling. There
are mounting brackets that extend below the case's hard drive
holder and the the only way the hd can be mounted using them is
upside down. I'm just wondering if there are any adverse effects
by mounting the hd that way.

Thanks
Click to expand...

As far as I know that would be satisfactory.

I heard that mounting 90 degrees off after they've been running for some
time is not a great idea though.
 
Lou Pratt said:
Is there any reason why I shouldn't mount a hard drive
(Maxtor 40 gb 7200 rpm) upside down? By doing so
I'd be able to separate the two hd's I now have installed
and achieve better cooling. There are mounting brackets
that extend below the case's hard drive holder and the
the only way the hd can be mounted using them is upside
down. I'm just wondering if there are any adverse effects
by mounting the hd that way.
Click to expand...


I asked both Western Digital and Maxtor tech reps
about orientation of their hard drives. The WD reps said
that there was no preferred orientation. The Maxtor rep
said that any orientation was OK as long it lined up with
the case. The term he used was "not slanted". Further
questioning established that it could be on any face, side
or end, as long as it was "90 degrees" with the case. It
could be circuit board down, label down, on either side,
and on its end (presumably connector up). I could only
imagine that it mattered due to orientation of the platter
and/or armature bearings with respect to the direction
of the pull of gravity.

The hard drive should also be solidly mounted - which
I believe is more important than the orientation. The reason
is to remove movement of the HD casing as an element
that the arm positioning mechanism has to deal with. If
a quick movement of the arm resulted in a reactive and
perhaps complex jiggling movement of the casing - and
thus the platter - read and write errors could result from
mispositioning of the head over the track in the platter.
Keeping the casing of the HD solidly stationary makes
the quick positioning of the head simpler and more predict-
able.


*TimDaniels*
 
Is there any reason why I shouldn't mount a hard drive (Maxtor 40
gb 7200 rpm) upside down? By doing so I'd be able to separate the
two hd's I now have installed and achieve better cooling. There
are mounting brackets that extend below the case's hard drive
holder and the the only way the hd can be mounted using them is
upside down. I'm just wondering if there are any adverse effects
by mounting the hd that way.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help. I switched the drives and noticed there isn't nearly
as much heat buildup now around the hd's.
 
Did you have any problems with the cable(s)? If they were on the same cable
(as master and slave) I would think that might be tricky (especially with a
flat cable).

Pete
 
Lou Pratt said:
Is there any reason why I shouldn't mount a hard drive (Maxtor 40
gb 7200 rpm) upside down? By doing so I'd be able to separate the
two hd's I now have installed and achieve better cooling. There
are mounting brackets that extend below the case's hard drive
holder and the the only way the hd can be mounted using them is
upside down. I'm just wondering if there are any adverse effects
by mounting the hd that way.
Click to expand...

Historically, mfg. recommendations vary.
None to my knowledge, approved upside down..

NOT a good idea, I don't care who says what..
Cooling is the main OBVIOUS reason..
 
Did you have any problems with the cable(s)? If they were on the same cable
(as master and slave) I would think that might be tricky (especially with a
flat cable).

Pete
Click to expand...


I'm using a flat cable. Coming from the master I had to twist the cable so
I could attatch it to the slave. There is enough length between the two
connectors to do this without straining the cable. From the slave to the
board is no problem. I've used the round cables in another system and it
seems they would be better suited for that type of setup.

Lou
 
mchiper said:
Historically, mfg. recommendations vary.
None to my knowledge, approved upside down..

NOT a good idea, I don't care who says what..
Cooling is the main OBVIOUS reason..
Click to expand...


What orientation is "upside down"?

The manual for my Dell Dimension shows the
#2 HD horizontal with the circuit board on top, and
the mounting bracket is formed for that orientation,
and the ribbon cable needn't be twisted to fit onto
the pins of the primary and secondary drives when
the secondary drive is oriented that way. As for the
primary HD, it's stock orientation is standing on end
with connector the pins on the top. Evidently, Dell and
their HD supplier for my PC (Maxtor) feel that HD
orientation is a non-issue. And when both drives are
bathed on all sides in a constant flow of cool air, of
what importance is the orientation of the label and the
circuit board? Indeed, there is no "Top" or "Bottom"
or "This Side Up" written anywhere on Maxtor's hard
drives, and there is no such instruction in the Maxtor
owner manuals. I wonder why not.


*TimDaniels*
 
"Conor" breathed:
(e-mail address removed) says...
Oh dear....
Click to expand...


Oh dear, what can the matter be?

According to Tech Support at both Maxtor and Western
Digital, there is no preferred orientation. There is no "top",
and there is no "bottom", and there is no "side". All that
they recommend is a firm steady mounting. Western Digital
adds that the orientation of the major axes be parallel with
the major axes of the case, or, in the rep's own words, "not
slanted". In my own Dell PC, as I wrote, the stock orientation
of the primary hard drive is on "end" with the connector pins
pointing upward, and I have had no hard drive problems in
the 4 years that I've had the system. To state the case for
HD orientation explicitly, there is no "upside down" nor
"sideways" nor "backwards". There is only "steady" and
"unsteady", and "steady" is Good.


*TimDaniels*
 
Timothy Daniels said:
What orientation is "upside down"?
Click to expand...
I helped manufacture hard disks.
If you and Dell can't tell up from down,
then clearly it doesn't matter to either of you.
 
mchiper said:
I helped manufacture hard disks.
If you and Dell can't tell up from down,
then clearly it doesn't matter to either of you.
Click to expand...


I and Dell and Maxtor and Western Digital
for starters....


*TimDaniels*
 
mchiper said:
Re: I helped mfg hard disks.
I am retired and am no longer udated on changes
to the Laws of Physics... Maybe your Dell rep is?
Click to expand...


The laws of physics have no restriction on the
orientation of the hard drive. Why should they?
Should the armature and the access arm and the
read/write head care which way gravity pulls?
Should the platter care? Should the film of air
between the head and platter care? Given the
acceleration forces designed for the arm and
head to undergo and which they do undergo,
is the force of gravity significant to them at all?
Given a cooling flow of air over the entire outer
surface of the hard drive, should there be a
preferred orientation for cooling purposes? A
very analogous question is "Does a Sparrow
air-to-air missile care which way is "down"?
At the speeds through which it travels through
the air, the forces acting on it are great enough to
make gravity virtually insignificant. The only forces
that it need deal with is the accelerative force of its
motor and the airflow over its control surfaces.
There is no "upside down" for a Sparrow missile.
Similarly, there is no "upside down" for the components
of a modern hard drive. If there were, all of Dell's
PCs would be sent back for hard drive replacement,
and Maxtor would cease to sell their product to Dell
because of the negative image they were getting.
And the same could be said for Western Digital.
I do not dispute your experiences with hard drive
manufacture, but rather only maintain that things have
changed since then.


*TimDaniels*
 
Timothy Daniels said:
The laws of physics have no restriction on the
orientation of the hard drive. Why should they?
Should the armature and the access arm and the
read/write head care which way gravity pulls?
Click to expand...
Every suspension I ever saw flew on an air bearing
and had a spring to hold it DOWN..
Should the platter care?
Click to expand...
No.. Except for leaking bearings..
Should the film of air between the head and platter care?
Click to expand...
Yes.. The head and suspension are affected by gravity..
Given the acceleration forces designed for the arm and
head to undergo and which they do undergo,
is the force of gravity significant to them at all?
Click to expand...
Up down acceleration??
Better not be very much compared to gravity.
The head will smash into the disk if it is..
You are over your head..
Quit now..
Given a cooling flow of air over the entire outer
surface of the hard drive, should there be a
preferred orientation for cooling purposes?
Click to expand...
Better question..
Is the top cover on your drive plastic or metal..
Why?
Touch it does it feel warm.. now touch the board.
Does it?

<snip sparrow shit>
 
You are over your head..
Quit now..
Click to expand...


What? And turn this NG over to you and your fake
minions? Get serious.

The truth is - hard drives don't fail when mounted
contrary to your pronouncements. Bearings don't
"leak" because of orientation. All a hard drive needs
is a firm mounting and cool air flow over it. All else
is ancient history from your "manufacturing" daze.


*TimDaniels*
 
Timothy Daniels said:
in the style of "Rod Speed": OK..
What? And turn this NG over to you and your fake
minions? Get serious.

The truth is - hard drives don't fail when mounted
contrary to your pronouncements. Bearings don't
"leak" because of orientation. All a hard drive needs
is a firm mounting and cool air flow over it. All else
is ancient history from your "manufacturing" daze.
Click to expand...

Some do, some don't, I'll grant you that.
This was your prior authority,
And what you "imagined".
I still think cooling from the top is more efficient.
 
"Conor" breathed:

Oh dear, what can the matter be?
Click to expand...
According to Tech Support at both Maxtor and Western
Digital, there is no preferred orientation. There is no "top",
and there is no "bottom", and there is no "side". All that
they recommend is a firm steady mounting. There is only "steady" and
"unsteady", and "steady" is Good.
Click to expand...

Oh dear...
And I who let them hang dangling from their cables... :-)
- Excellent cooling though.


ancra
 
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