What wears out in an HDD?

What wears out in an HDD? Is it only the tone arm that breaks? or
can the bearings the platter rides on break??? Good watches use
jewels, rubies, as bearings; and cheap watches use metal. What do
hard drives use?

I googled but couldn't find much about this. Does the spindle really
ride on an air cushion? Even when the drive is positioned sideways?

On 1/14/2016 6:44 PM, Micky wrote:
What wears out in an HDD? Is it only the tone arm that breaks? or
can the bearings the platter rides on break???

Google once conducted a study on exactly your topic:

https://www.google.com.hk/search?q=g...KIfo0ASR6pioAg

And you can also read about RMA statistics from hard disk manufacturers:

https://www.google.com.hk/search?q=h...88.Mt994qa8-tI

Good watches use jewels, rubies, as bearings; and cheap watches
use metal. What do hard drives use?

IBM once made a hard disk with glass platters. The result was disastrous.

I googled but couldn't find much about this. Does the spindle really
ride on an air cushion? Even when the drive is positioned sideways?

Modern hard disks are very very reliable!

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On Thu, 14 Jan 2016 22:01:18 +0800, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

Modern hard disks are very very reliable!

No. Not really. Not all of them. It depends on the HDD manufacturing. Some
models are durable, and some are not.

My 160GB WD only lasted about a year while my 3 years old 40GB Seagate is
still fine.

FYI, my environment is somewhat harsh. No air conditioning (because it's in
an open room), and the air is not clean enough.

On 1/14/2016 10:24 PM, JJ wrote:
No. Not really. Not all of them. It depends on the HDD manufacturing. Some
models are durable, and some are not.

My 160GB WD only lasted about a year while my 3 years old 40GB Seagate is
still fine.

I have never had a dead hard disk, except that IBM Deathstar that used
glass platters. The other one I lost was a Seagate ST-251 40M (yes, 40M)
which was dropped accidentally.

FYI, my environment is somewhat harsh. No air conditioning (because it's in
an open room), and the air is not clean enough.

Outside air shouldn't be able to reach inside the hard disk, but the
circuit board might be affected.

--
@~@ Remain silent. Nothing from soldiers and magicians is real!
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and farces be with you!
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^ ^ 22:45:01 up 2:51 0 users load average: 0.00 0.01 0.05
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Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:
On 1/14/2016 10:24 PM, JJ wrote:
No. Not really. Not all of them. It depends on the HDD manufacturing.
Some
models are durable, and some are not.

My 160GB WD only lasted about a year while my 3 years old 40GB Seagate is
still fine.

I have never had a dead hard disk, except that IBM Deathstar that used
glass platters. The other one I lost was a Seagate ST-251 40M (yes, 40M)
which was dropped accidentally.

FYI, my environment is somewhat harsh. No air conditioning (because
it's in
an open room), and the air is not clean enough.

Outside air shouldn't be able to reach inside the hard disk, but the
circuit board might be affected.


Outside air *does* reach the platter. There is a hole
in the cover, with a hepafilter fastened by adhesive,
on the inside surface.

http://www.howtogeek.com/127433/what...n-hard-drives/

This is a datasheet for a filter disc for the HDA cover.
Just to illustrate they do exist.

https://www.donaldson.com/en/diskdri...ary/051290.pdf

*******

The only drives currently which are completely
sealed, are the Hitachi helium drives. (I don't know
if anyone else makes a helium drive yet or not. There
isn't a lot of helium to be wasted any more. The price
is getting quite high.)

Such a drive, wants to keep the helium inside.
(No need for a breather hole :-) )
I consider such a design to be truly miraculous,
as you know how hard it is to keep helium
gas in anything. Helium gas is used specifically
for lab testing, for the detection and removal
of leaks in vacuum systems. It's a bitch to
keep it from leaking.

Paul

On Thu, 14 Jan 2016 13:11:40 -0500, Paul wrote:



The only drives currently which are completely
sealed, are the Hitachi helium drives. (I don't know
if anyone else makes a helium drive yet or not. There
isn't a lot of helium to be wasted any more. The price
is getting quite high.)

Where I live, a dollar store sells helium baloons for a dollar.

I see people buy 5 at a time. It's terrible and such a waste. You
can learn all you need to know from one balloon.

There should be a 3000% excise tax on helium.

On Thu, 14 Jan 2016 13:11:40 -0500, Paul wrote:

Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:
On 1/14/2016 10:24 PM, JJ wrote:
No. Not really. Not all of them. It depends on the HDD manufacturing.
Some
models are durable, and some are not.

My 160GB WD only lasted about a year while my 3 years old 40GB Seagate is
still fine.

I have never had a dead hard disk, except that IBM Deathstar that used
glass platters. The other one I lost was a Seagate ST-251 40M (yes, 40M)
which was dropped accidentally.

FYI, my environment is somewhat harsh. No air conditioning (because
it's in
an open room), and the air is not clean enough.

Outside air shouldn't be able to reach inside the hard disk, but the
circuit board might be affected.


Outside air *does* reach the platter. There is a hole
in the cover, with a hepafilter fastened by adhesive,
on the inside surface.

http://www.howtogeek.com/127433/what...n-hard-drives/

This is a datasheet for a filter disc for the HDA cover.
Just to illustrate they do exist.

https://www.donaldson.com/en/diskdri...ary/051290.pdf

*******

The only drives currently which are completely
sealed, are the Hitachi helium drives. (I don't know
if anyone else makes a helium drive yet or not. There
isn't a lot of helium to be wasted any more. The price
is getting quite high.)

Such a drive, wants to keep the helium inside.
(No need for a breather hole :-) )
I consider such a design to be truly miraculous,
as you know how hard it is to keep helium
gas in anything. Helium gas is used specifically
for lab testing, for the detection and removal
of leaks in vacuum systems. It's a bitch to
keep it from leaking.

Paul

But, but, Paul, the HDD helium can be at room pressure.
The only "leak" would be interchange of helium and
air molecules at whatever small leak existed, including
difusion through the "impervious" walls.

And, yes, a few balloons would fill all the HDDs with no
effect on Hitachi's balance sheet.

On 1/15/2016 2:11 AM, Paul wrote:

Such a drive, wants to keep the helium inside.
(No need for a breather hole :-) )

I barely remember that Hitachi? Toshina? made a big hard disk that needs
helium inside the drive.

I consider such a design to be truly miraculous,
as you know how hard it is to keep helium
gas in anything. Helium gas is used specifically
for lab testing, for the detection and removal
of leaks in vacuum systems. It's a bitch to
keep it from leaking.

The seal should be pretty tight, I hope.

--
@~@ Remain silent. Nothing from soldiers and magicians is real!
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and farces be with you!
/( _ )\ (Fedora release 23) Linux 4.3.3-300.fc23.x86_64
^ ^ 17:18:01 up 13:31 0 users load average: 0.00 0.01 0.05
�借貸! ��騙! ��交! �打交! �打劫! �自殺! 請考慮綜� (CSSA):
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On Thu, 14 Jan 2016 13:11:40 -0500, Paul wrote:

Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:
On 1/14/2016 10:24 PM, JJ wrote:
No. Not really. Not all of them. It depends on the HDD manufacturing.
Some
models are durable, and some are not.

My 160GB WD only lasted about a year while my 3 years old 40GB Seagate is
still fine.

I have never had a dead hard disk, except that IBM Deathstar that used
glass platters. The other one I lost was a Seagate ST-251 40M (yes, 40M)
which was dropped accidentally.

FYI, my environment is somewhat harsh. No air conditioning (because
it's in
an open room), and the air is not clean enough.

Outside air shouldn't be able to reach inside the hard disk, but the
circuit board might be affected.


Outside air *does* reach the platter. There is a hole
in the cover, with a hepafilter fastened by adhesive,
on the inside surface.

http://www.howtogeek.com/127433/what...n-hard-drives/

This is a datasheet for a filter disc for the HDA cover.
Just to illustrate they do exist.

https://www.donaldson.com/en/diskdri...ary/051290.pdf

*******

The only drives currently which are completely
sealed, are the Hitachi helium drives. (I don't know
if anyone else makes a helium drive yet or not. There
isn't a lot of helium to be wasted any more. The price
is getting quite high.)

Such a drive, wants to keep the helium inside.
(No need for a breather hole :-) )
I consider such a design to be truly miraculous,
as you know how hard it is to keep helium
gas in anything. Helium gas is used specifically
for lab testing, for the detection and removal
of leaks in vacuum systems. It's a bitch to
keep it from leaking.

Paul

I used to work for a company that built both the pumps and the eqpt
that needed and used UHV (Ultra High Vacuum, 10^9 Tor). They had
high-end vacuum seals down pat. They had a number of test and demo
units that had been running for long periods of time (years), and it
was said one had reached a total vacuum.

On 01/14/2016 12:11 PM, Paul wrote:

[nip]

Such a drive, wants to keep the helium inside.
(No need for a breather hole :-) )
I consider such a design to be truly miraculous,
as you know how hard it is to keep helium
gas in anything. Helium gas is used specifically
for lab testing, for the detection and removal
of leaks in vacuum systems. It's a bitch to
keep it from leaking.

Paul

It should be easier than keeping HYDROGEN in. Or antimatter :-)

--
"Man creates his gods in his own image; and then spends the rest of his
life manipulating them to his heart's content."