are SATA drives cooler to the touch than IDE?

AFN:

but then why would SATA also have the higher MTBF? I really think
that there's a difference but hopefully someone knows better than me.

Where are you getting your MTBF numbers from? I just checked a few
websites, Western Digital, Maxtor and Seagate, here is what I found:

WD
Enterprise: no difference in MTBF between ATA & SATA
IDE: Desktop: no difference in MTBF between ATA & SATA
Enterprise drives have a higher MTBF than desktop drives
WD no longer builds SCSI drives

Seagate
SCSI: MTBF same as WD Enterprise drives
IDE: same as Desktop class WD drives
Seagate does not appear to build enterprise class IDE drives

Maxtor
SCSI: MTBF slightly higher than WD or Seagate enterprise class
IDE: same as Seagate & WD desktop class

Conclusions based on the web specs from these 3 manufacturers:

There is no difference in MTBF between ATA, SATA & SCSI in enterprise
class drives.

There is no difference in MTBF between ATA & SATA.

Western Digital is the only one of the three that is providing
enterprise class IDE drives.

Maxtor and Seagate are targeting desktop users with their IDE lines.

Seagate & Maxtor have decided to focus on SCSI drives for their
enterprise customers.

Recomendations:

You should focus on buying a drive targeted to the level of reliability
you need and they can afford. If you wish to use desktop class drives
then set them up with an automated backup system so that when a drive
inevitably fails, you can replace the drive and restore the system with
a minimum of downtime and lost data.
--
Mac Cool

AFN wrote:
"Miss Perspicacia Tick" wrote in message
...
AFN wrote:
I need to buy some drives for a company server, to be used in a RAID
configuration. I'm used to buying SCSI drives, because I love 1)
that they feel cool to the touch when running and 2) they have a
high "mean time between failure" number (MTBF). I just hate the
price of SCSI drives and this is for a small business.

Now, I see that SATA drives have a good MTBF number comparable to
SCSI. So I'm thinking of buying the Maxtor 9 or 10 series SATA
drives or the WD Raptors that spin at 10k. They all have MTBF
numbers like SCSI drives but can someone tell me how cool or hot
they are to the touch?

If an IDE (regular ATA) drive runs warm/hot, and a SCSI drive in
the same enclosure runs cool, where does SATA fall? Does anyone
know from experience touching these drives while they're running?


They might be the most reliable drives on the planet these days, but
once bitten...and these days I steer clear of Crapster - I've yet to
see one last longer than four or five months. I have three WD
Raptors in my system and they are surprisingly cool - in fact I'd go
as far as to say cold and relatively quiet.
--
My great-grandfather was born and raised in Elgin - did he eventually
lose his marbles?






Thanks for the reply. Is there anything unusual about the Raptors
in your case that might have made them crash (like you live in humid
Hawaii or a hot desert without A/C)? Could you tell me how many
Raptors you've had and how many of those have had true mechanical
(really not working) problems?


Hot and humid?! Here in Blighty?! Naw - stable 22°C all year round. How many
have I had? Three - the three I have now. It's Maxtors I hate. Most
unreliable drives in the known Universe.
--
My great-grandfather was born and raised in Elgin - did he eventually
lose his marbles?

In article ,
says...
I need to buy some drives for a company server, to be used in a RAID
configuration. I'm used to buying SCSI drives, because I love 1) that
they feel cool to the touch when running and 2) they have a high "mean time
between failure" number (MTBF). I just hate the price of SCSI drives and
this is for a small business.

Now, I see that SATA drives have a good MTBF number comparable to SCSI. So
I'm thinking of buying the Maxtor 9 or 10 series SATA drives or the WD
Raptors that spin at 10k. They all have MTBF numbers like SCSI drives but
can someone tell me how cool or hot they are to the touch?

The Maxtor SATA 250GB that I have ran extremely hot to
the touch without active airflow. The only drives that
I trust to run in a poorly cooled environment are
5400rpm drives. Anything 7200rpm or faster almost
always needs active cooling (fans blowing directly over
the drive, or a very well designed air flow).

However, I plan for ambient temps approaching 30C when
building systems, in case the A/C fails.