5 failed drives, all less than 1 year old!

[IsDanReally]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
Who doesn't need more blue LED's?

http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-icage-module.html

(Alternatives include Cooler Master, Lian Li and Supermicro; can't guarantee blue LED's there though.)

That looks nice...just have to decide if I want blue lighting, or want to keep the light pollution out of my future home theater / office.

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: IsDanReally
That looks nice...just have to decide if I want blue lighting, or want to keep the light pollution out of my future home theater / office.

It's not a very complicated device, and the fan is a standard 120mm, which is easily replaceable. IMO availability of 3 5.25" external slots and a cover for dust filtration are bigger problems than the LED. The Thermaltake cases which include such cages have slot covers with filters. Cases with doors also sort of work. The Lian Li products (which I've never used) have such filters built-in.

 

[Goi]

You're probably using the 7200.8 drives. Those have a known problem with the smooth chip overheating if you don't cool it enough. I've had to RMA mine(250GB SATA) and even the replacement that I got is getting finicky now. Just make sure you cool it enough, and it'll work properly.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, I've been useing hard drives since they became available. I have had only one drvie failure and that was a 100 MB Seagate. A logic chip burned up. All other problems have been of a software nature and the drives were repaired very easily. Jim

 

[spikespiegal]

Over the past several years over 75% of all drive failures I've had to deal with have been slim factor Maxtors in the 30-80gig range. By far the worst line of drives I've ever had to deal with.

I've also been installing a mix of IDE/SCSI in servers since IDE RAID cards got their s--t together, and I've noticed a drastics decrease in drive failure rates when used in servers. No doubt I have to attribute this to better PSU's used in those boxes.

I also need to remind you folks that the rated wattage out-put with PSU's has nothing to do with it's stability. I've worked on a lot of servers with 200-250watt PSUs, and I'll trust them over a 500watt PSU with LEDs in it anyday.

 

[piasabird]

Maybe it is the Power Supply that is bad!!!!

Fluctuating power or inadequate power supply can cause horrible hard drive problems. Low power to a drive cause file write errors.

Heat is probably another big killer if you place the drives in a place where they are not ventilated and they are too close together it is like two bricks in an oven. They can bake themselves to death.

 

[Looney]

Define 'failed'? Are they dead, like won't spin up or power on? Or did the array simply detected it as failed? When you run the manufacturer diagnostic tools, are the drives ok? Are you using a raid controller?

 

[IsDanReally]

Originally posted by: Looney
Define 'failed'? Are they dead, like won't spin up or power on? Or did the array simply detected it as failed? When you run the manufacturer diagnostic tools, are the drives ok? Are you using a raid controller?

Failed is in 1000's of errors in the event log, cannot read from the array in a timely manner (sometimes failing all together), Windows Disk Management console claiming the disk is failed, the drive failing the Seagate diagnostic tool, and the array working fine (just without redundancy) when the drive is removed from the array.

I've put a desk fan just blowing on low, and now the drives are actually cold to the touch, so that and another RMA should hold me over until when I want to build a proper gaming rig / media server.

Thanks to everyone for pointing out the two likely causes...heat and poor power, as I would have only guessed heat.

 

[farmercal]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
I think Seagates QC sucks

Although in your case I think it might be a bad power supply

That would be my guess also.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Seagate 7200.8s are very unreliable. Look at StorageReview's surveys...

11% as reliable as other drives in the pool? Ugh

The 7200.7 was at 85%.

Even Maxtor is above the 7200.8.... Hopefully 7200.9s fixed things. And 7200.10 as well

 

[RanDum72]

There are many things working against the drives here. The 200w PSU is probably running low on juice. Putting the drives on top of a computer case means that there is no airflow to the chipset/electronics on the drive's belly. They may also be more susceptible to static electricity.

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Seagate 7200.8s are very unreliable. Look at StorageReview's surveys...

11% as reliable as other drives in the pool? Ugh

The 7200.7 was at 85%.

Even Maxtor is above the 7200.8.... Hopefully 7200.9s fixed things. And 7200.10 as well

The 11% figure was derived on incomplete data a year ago. It will take a while before the survey is updated when more users input their data.

Most drives reviewed have insufficient samples for even display a result.

 

[Lasthitlarry]

I think the easiest bet would be to get a 400-450W PSU (I like Fortron), and either 7200.7 or 7200.9 hard drives (I like 250GB Seagate/Western Digital), also I have not had problems with Samsung either.

It all goes back to command and conquer, GET MORE POWER!