Changing HDD drive orientation

[mloiterman]

I have two 7200 RPM WD disk drives mounted horizontally in a server. They've been mounted that way since they were brand new. They're in a RAID 1 configuration and I haven't had any problems with either of them. They're both the same age - about 2 years old.

I'm think of changing the orientation of the case from vertical to horizontal (so it can be put into a rack) which would mean the orientation of the drives would change from horizontal to vertical.

Does anyone have any strong opinions about changing the orientation of a drive after they have been in use for some time?

 

[corkyg]

Older hard disks that used stepper motor actuators were much more sensitive to orientation, and especially, changes in orientation. It was in fact often recommended that the low-level formatting of the disk always be done after the disk was installed in its operating position, to avoid any shifting of the location of the tracks that might be caused by changing the orientation.

Hard drives today are much more solidly built, and they use voice coil actuators for head positioning, so orientation really is not an issue. A modern hard disk can be side-mounted in the case without any problems, and can also have its orientation changed after it has been in use for some time.

Go for it!