Question about RAID - runs hotters? Shortens life?

  • Thread starter Thread starter John
  • Start date Start date
J

John

Ive always been meaning to run it in RAID but an article - review at a
website claimed when he measured the HDs temps it was significantly
hotter , I mean WAY hotter in RAID config. Thats made me think - do I
really need RAID if it does that ?

BUt does it? I dont see it mentioned at all. Does it significantly
heat up your HDs ? And does it shorten the life of both signicantly?
 
Don't really see how it can cause drives to run hotter...?
Where did you read this?
What are your reasons for wanting to use RAID anyway?

Regards,

ChrisM
 
Don't really see how it can cause drives to run hotter...?
Where did you read this?
What are your reasons for wanting to use RAID anyway?

Regards,

ChrisM
Click to expand...

Faster access when using humongoid photoshop files or video editing.

This was talked about in thread a while back but I want to see if it
makes any difference.

Some guy who was doing review. Cant remember where the link is but it
was a really old review when RAID was just becoming popular. It was
unusual because he attached something to the harddisk and took the
temps and claimed the HDs really ran hot in raid config and seemed
really surprised about it. I havent seen anyone else mention it.
 
(e-mail address removed)'s log on stardate 19 svi 2004
BUt does it? I dont see it mentioned at all. Does it significantly
heat up your HDs ? And does it shorten the life of both signicantly?
Click to expand...

Since drives in RAID works together simultaneously, it figures that they
will eventualy get hotter, but nothing that proper cooling solutions can't
handle. The same thing is for "shortening the life", whatever that means.
 
Ive always been meaning to run it in RAID but an article - review at a
website claimed when he measured the HDs temps it was significantly
hotter , I mean WAY hotter in RAID config. Thats made me think - do I
really need RAID if it does that ?

BUt does it? I dont see it mentioned at all. Does it significantly
heat up your HDs ? And does it shorten the life of both signicantly?
Click to expand...

Odd... odd... odd... (the website review that claimed
that). I'd like to read that to see what was missed or
if they were comparing apples-to-oranges.

Heat will definitely kill a drive, and will definitely
shorten the lifespan.

Modern hard drives, 7200rpm and above almost always
require active air flow across them in order to stay
within spec temps, even in a single-drive configuration.
Whether that means using a bay cooler to push air across
them, or good case design to draw air in across them, or
a dedicated internal fan blowing across the drives is an
exercise left to the system builder. It doesn't take a
lot of air movement to cool most drives, a gentle breeze
is plenty. If you don't have good airflow, try to use
5400rpm drives instead (which usually run cool enough to
touch, even without air flowing across them).

Now, the disclaimers (chuckle). Not all 7200rpm drives
run as hot as others. I have a 7200 SATA (Maxtor I
think) that without any active air flow runs too hot to
touch (I've since fixed that setup). Also, some 7200rpm
drives are more forgiving of excess heat then others
(IBM DeskStars cook *quickly* if not ventilated
properly). My preference is to either use bay cooling
fans (noisy) or a case like the Antec Sonata/p160 where
there are (4) internal drive bays with a dedicated 120mm
fan to blow air across them.
 
Odd... odd... odd... (the website review that claimed
that). I'd like to read that to see what was missed or
if they were comparing apples-to-oranges.

Heat will definitely kill a drive, and will definitely
shorten the lifespan.
Click to expand...
My antec has a place to put a 80mm fan in front of the drive bay
brackets. Its the first case Ive owned that has that feature. I like
it.


Id like to see someone test it.

Heres a free software program that reads temps in HDs :

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/...epair_Utilities/HDD_Thermometer_Download.html

A test over a day or so of a drive in various use modes noting the
temps (it keeps a log if you want it to ) before putting it in RAID
config and after would be interesting.

Unfortunately I just noticed my MAXTORS dont have or wont provide a
temp reading . Both my Maxtors wont but my WD does.

Do all Maxtors not have this SMART feature ?

My WD puts out a steady 105 F

To test it Im doing a search of the disk. Still 105.
One thing I have it sitting outside of the case , its an extra HD that
I connect to store stuff.

My maxtors are in the case but have the 80mm fan blow on them. I cant
get their reading though. Bummer.

I guess to do the experiment youd have to use WDs , maybe Seagates ,
Samsungs etc or put an external temp monitor on them.
 
Back
Top