HD operating Temperature?

I put a WD1200 7200rpm in a USB external case in a home office and I would
like to leave it on 24/7 to backup up 4 PCs over LAN. (If I have to remember
to turn it on each day, I wont get consistent backups)
The case has no fan but good space around it and vents for convection air
flow. Nothing sits on top of it and feet elevate so air can get underneath.

Is this going to be a heat issue for the unit in this configuration that
could push it to operate over max temp or accellerate a failure. If I leave
it on 24/7, how long should it theoritcally last?

thanks for any insight

jtsnow wrote:
I put a WD1200 7200rpm in a USB external case in a home office and I would
like to leave it on 24/7 to backup up 4 PCs over LAN. (If I have to remember
to turn it on each day, I wont get consistent backups)
The case has no fan but good space around it and vents for convection air
flow. Nothing sits on top of it and feet elevate so air can get underneath.

Is this going to be a heat issue for the unit in this configuration that
could push it to operate over max temp or accellerate a failure. If I leave
it on 24/7, how long should it theoritcally last?

thanks for any insight

Is there an echo in here?

- bill

There is no absolute way to know (isn't that the case for answering
most all questions posted?). The majority of heat disipation in a hard
drive is through conduction not convection. So you might be better off
if the hard drive is connected physically to the metal case of the
external box. If it is a plastic box, then the question is how much
bigger is it than the drive, how big are its venting holes, where are
the venting holes in the box, etc.

Can you configure your software to spin the drive down when it is not
in use? If you can then I doubt you would have any overheat problems.

Running at elevated temperatures always negatively impact component
life. How much is highly variable (and a subject of occasional great
debate).

Good luck. But if you are J.T. Snow the great first baseman, then maybe
we can work something out...

-Jim

jtsnow wrote:
I put a WD1200 7200rpm in a USB external case in a home office and I
would
like to leave it on 24/7 to backup up 4 PCs over LAN. (If I have to
remember
to turn it on each day, I wont get consistent backups)
The case has no fan but good space around it and vents for convection
air
flow. Nothing sits on top of it and feet elevate so air can get
underneath.

Is this going to be a heat issue for the unit in this configuration
that
could push it to operate over max temp or accellerate a failure. If
I leave
it on 24/7, how long should it theoritcally last?

thanks for any insight

wrote:
There is no absolute way to know

Well, there's SMART - if the USB interface supports it.

- bill

nice idea. how can I get SMART....no pun intended. Free download
somewhere?

"Bill Todd" wrote in message
...
wrote:
There is no absolute way to know

Well, there's SMART - if the USB interface supports it.

- bill

jtsnow wrote:
nice idea. how can I get SMART....no pun intended. Free download
somewhere?

http://adenix.net/downloads.php

or

http://www.onlythebestfreeware.com/p...program_id=166

- bill


"Bill Todd" wrote in message
...

wrote:

There is no absolute way to know

Well, there's SMART - if the USB interface supports it.

- bill