Storage Solutions Backup Hard Disks getting defective because of non-usage

[prime]

I keep backup of my not so important data on 2.5”/3.5” HDDs. Since data does not need regular update, I don’t take out HDDs often and when I take them out (once a year or so), it gets some error.

I bought This 5TB WD passport 2.5” external USB HDD in Oct’21. It shows less than 45 hours but started showing error. Fortunately, it is under warranty (will WD replace it with this error?). Please guide WD warranty process, I have not used it since 2015 or so.

Are SSDs better for this kind of use? How long do they last if not used?

 

[enthusiast29]

IMO, HDDs are meant to be run, keep spinning.
It's like your car tyres, keep them parked for long and they'll get jammed.

Anyways that's my analogy and experience. I have decades old hard drives still spinning attached to a DIY NAS.

Of course it could be just bad luck.

 

[nRiTeCh]

I keep backup of my not so important data on 2.5”/3.5” HDDs. Since data does not need regular update, I don’t take out HDDs often and when I take them out (once a year or so), it gets some error.

I bought This 5TB WD passport 2.5” external USB HDD in Oct’21. It shows less than 45 hours but started showing error. Fortunately, it is under warranty (will WD replace it with this error?). Please guide WD warranty process, I have not used it since 2015 or so.

Are SSDs better for this kind of use? How long do they last if not used?

External hdds are more prone to failures compared to internals esp. when they are 2tb and beyond.
I have once a year backup job internals 1-2tb as old as 15yrs and they still run rock solid.

IMO, HDDs are meant to be run, keep spinning.
It's like your car tyres, keep them parked for long and they'll get jammed.

There's no such logic nor science.

 

[anmolbhard004]

IMO, HDDs are meant to be run, keep spinning.
It's like your car tyres, keep them parked for long and they'll get jammed.

Anyways that's my analogy and experience. I have decades old hard drives still spinning attached to a DIY NAS.

Of course it could be just bad luck.

even If I keep a 4tb hardrive in stock for my nvr will they jam if I take out after a year?

 

[prime]

External hdds are more prone to failures compared to internals esp. when they are 2tb and beyond.
I have once a year backup job internals 1-2tb as old as 15yrs and they still run rock solid.

Has happened with 3.5" internal HDDs also.

Those had other problems but they were also very less used like this.

Storage Solutions - HD Tune Airflow Temperature

Hi. I was checking (and minimizing) my media back up HDDs to put them for sale and found that 3 (1 x 4TB, 2 x 3TB) of my Seagate Backup Plus External Hard Drives are showing Airflow Temperature error. What I understood is that once it may have reached 55-56 Celsius and it got registered in HDD...

techenclave.com

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techenclave.com

Should I buy 2.5" SSDs? I have few branded usb 3.0 enclosures like Adata and Orico.

Will they be much much more reliable? How many years will they last? I know there is no guarantee but I will go with the probability.

There are still 2 Nos. 3.5" HDDs (4TB+3TB) with some or the other error in my NAS (not ON frequently), but they work fine.

 

[enthusiast29]

There's no such logic nor science.

Tell that to the administrators of servers or 24x7 POS machines.
A running drive is less prone to failure than a drive which keeps doing start and stop cycles.
This is well proven with machines with mechanical parts.

Anyways since there's no data (as you say) you're free to believe in what you want and so am I. I'm not going to search the internet to prove you wrong or myself right.

 

[nRiTeCh]

Tell that to the administrators of servers or 24x7 POS machines.
A running drive is less prone to failure than a drive which keeps doing start and stop cycles.
This is well proven with machines with mechanical parts.

Anyways since there's no data (as you say) you're free to believe in what you want and so am I. I'm not going to search the internet to prove you wrong or myself right.

I had worked on server hardware both in a DC and enterprise incl. data recovery services and they use enterprise grade hardware/ hard drives not desktop ones + servers run in a rack or a dc with AC cooling and zero fiddling in the racks. Still, there's no guarantee that why a brand new RAID drive wont fail in enterprise scenario but possibility is extremely low unless a bad batch and in such scenarios we have got the entire array of disks replaced.
Desktop is all about how the drive is/was handled, stored etc.

 

[ibose]

Tell that to the administrators of servers or 24x7 POS machines.
A running drive is less prone to failure than a drive which keeps doing start and stop cycles.
This is well proven with machines with mechanical parts.

Anyways since there's no data (as you say) you're free to believe in what you want and so am I. I'm not going to search the internet to prove you wrong or myself right.

I would have thought that most of the times it is the lack of proper cooling in these enclosures and power issues when connected (if the port or cable has issues supplying adequate and constant power). In OP's case though, it appears to be bad luck.

 

[BullettuPaandi]

Google search : SSD data retention [LINK]

Standard seems to be 1 year for consumer-grade; meaning it's safer to connect and run the SSD at least once a year. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if modern SSDs outperform this spec.

IMO, HDDs are meant to be run, keep spinning.

I'm just guessing here: This probably comes from a used-to-be-issue-decades-ago. Apparently some metals do science after a while and get sort of hairy, or that's at least the dumbed-down version that I remember now. I'll try look that up and link here.
Edit : Got it; it's called metal whiskering.

 

[chyawanprash]

Yes, WD will replace your drive.

All storage media suffer from "bit rot", if the data is not 'refreshed' periodically. Back in the day, there used to be utilities that would scan the hard disk bit by bit and rewrite data after checking the disk integrity. It would also mark any bad sectors and reallocate the affected data. If long term local storage is important to you, then you should buy such software. I was looking for free ones couple of years ago but couldn't find any.

 

[Heisen]

The key point is, the chances hard disks self-failing in the first couple of years is usually high, when they pass this initial time period they are very likely to run for a very long time. (assuming the user handle them well)

Also High density Hard Disks also has higher chances of failing then a lower one.

 

[n1r0]

IMO, HDDs are meant to be run, keep spinning.

True. My oldest internal HDD that I use the most is still running fine. Others that were less frequently used have developed issues and died. For e.g.:

A)

B)

Guess which one has developed problems and needs replacement.

The start-stop count seems to matter more than the actual time it spends spinning. Disks that I use to store backups seemed to die sooner than daily used ones. So I've disabled HDDs spooling down in Power Plan settings.

However external drives still spool down after a few minutes of activity:

--------------------

It's like your car tyres, keep them parked for long and they'll get jammed.

They won't get jammed, but the part of the tyre in contact with the ground will harden and become a flat spot
Wheel bearings are sealed, since they are meant to be driven in dusty conditions, and can last the lifetime of a car.

--------------------

Even if you don't need to access data from certain HDDs, keeping it connected will power it up frequently and prevent it from going bad. Couple of days ago I got a WD Black 4TB. They took this anti-jamming thing so far that the head moves every five seconds. And it makes a sound when it moves. Every. FIVE. Seconds! It's not a bug, it's a feature. Returned it since it was driving me insane and got a Seagate instead.

 

[entropy]

Lost a bunch of old 3.5" HDDs because of this. Fortunately, they did not contain any valuable data to drive me insane. They were neatly preserved in a vaccum sealed pouch and had been sitting idle in that state for more than couple of years. When I powered them on just for the sake of nostalgia, I was greeted with disappointment. So, keep the HDDs powered on and running continuously if possible - especially the ones in which you would store your precious data. On the other hand, my experience with 2.5" drives were completely different. Recently pulled a couple of these drives which were abandoned by my family (for more than 3 years) after upgrading their setups. Upon installing them to my workstation, I did not encounter any problems whatsoever and they both functioned properly as they should. Now I have more room to store my downloaded distros.

 

[nRiTeCh]

hey were neatly preserved in a vaccum sealed pouch and had been sitting idle in that state for more than couple of years.

Couple of years? Storages need to be powered on at least once a year for brief period like 2-3hrs. Thats how I'm able to still run 14yr old drives with 100% health, no data corruption. This is for internal drives. Externals are anyways fragile so better to be used every few months yet not much guarantee unless they can be easily shucked.

So, keep the HDDs powered on and running continuously if possible - especially the ones in which you would store your precious data.

I had some needless running drives inside my case running every day for 10-12hrs and they have developed few bad sectors though they are some 13-16yrs old. I have now rested them in cupboard and trimmed down my storages not in use as over the time they do develop bad sectors or errors. So, occasional usage should be treated occasional only.

On the other hand, my experience with 2.5" drives were completely different.

You mean laptop drives? Yes, they run flawlessly mostly due to low power consumption and low rpms. I have 2 such laptop pulled drives running error-free in spite of a bit rough handling.

 

[entropy]

Thats how I'm able to still run 14yr old drives with 100% health, no data corruption.

Could you elaborate a bit more on this? I have managed to keep the drives alive for around 12 years or so, but never once managed to maintain 100% health. The drives eventually end up with bad sectors which would result in CRC checksum errors. Were your drives used sparingly or were they in continuous usage? Mine is attached to a NAS which is used infrequently (but is kept powered on for 14-16 hours a day). Does powering down the drive help in maintaining drive health? Interested in knowing more.

 

[nRiTeCh]

Could you elaborate a bit more on this? I have managed to keep the drives alive for around 12 years or so, but never once managed to maintain 100% health. The drives eventually end up with bad sectors which would result in CRC checksum errors. Were your drives used sparingly or were they in continuous usage? Mine is attached to a NAS which is used infrequently (but is kept powered on for 14-16 hours a day). Does powering down the drive help in maintaining drive health? Interested in knowing more.

Continuous usage for a couple of years before resting aka occasional connectiing and now its only once a year just to magnetize!
NAS drives go bad sooner.
Powering daily/frequently will result in more wear and tear but if you keep it powered on daily for a good 10-12+hrs then thats find. At least for me its working perfect till date. But only for an hour or two and again powering on the pc after few hrs down increases wear/tear.

 

[prime]

Thank you guys.

Now, I am thinking of these 2 solutions for backup:

* Buy a 10TB HDD (something like this) and keep it plugged in my desktop PC all the time. Usage in hours will be more but no issues because of non-usage. I will be happy if they last ~4 years. I don't have any HDD in my PC as of now, only 2*NVMe SSDs and 1*2.5 inch SSD. My PC case is SilverStone FARA H1M. Is it good enough for that?

OR

* Buy few 2.5" SSDs (2TB/4TB) and plug them at least once in 6 months.

Which one is better option?

 

[nRiTeCh]

My PC case is SilverStone FARA H1M. Is it good enough for that?

Good case!

 

[prime]

Thank you guys.

Now, I am thinking of these 2 solutions for backup:

* Buy a 10TB HDD (something like this) and keep it plugged in my desktop PC all the time. Usage in hours will be more but no issues because of non-usage. I will be happy if they last ~4 years. I don't have any HDD in my PC as of now, only 2*NVMe SSDs and 1*2.5 inch SSD. My PC case is SilverStone FARA H1M. Is it good enough for that?

OR

* Buy few 2.5" SSDs (2TB/4TB) and plug them at least once in 6 months.

Which one is better option?

Guys, any suggestions?

 

[ibose]

Guys, any suggestions?

What will be your max. backup size including future expansion ? Is a cloud solution like Office 365 an option ? Otherwise the HDD based option should suffice.