Helpful ReplyW10 Power Settings - hard disks

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kitekrazy1
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2016/08/30 13:11:49 (permalink)

W10 Power Settings - hard disks

Mine are storage drives.  Is it really necessary to run all of the time?  I don't know if this effects SSDs in any way. 

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robert_e_bone
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Re: W10 Power Settings - hard disks 2016/09/05 08:58:06 (permalink)
You would extend their lives if you just had their power cables plugged into the back of them when you wanted to update their contents.  I have done that in the past with internal drives on several computers of mine, over the years.  
 
It's also what many folks do with external drives - they just connect them when they are going to transfer data in either direction.
 
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post edited by robert_e_bone - 2016/09/05 09:19:20

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bitflipper
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Re: W10 Power Settings - hard disks 2016/09/05 09:58:06 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby DrLumen 2016/09/07 12:53:22
This is something that was actually studied back in the early 80's. Admittedly, I'm relating a distant memory from a long-ago presentation by CDC, but my recollection is that their conclusion was that disk drives are less prone to damage if they're kept spinning all the time.
 
There is going to be additional wear in the bearings, of course, but a disk drive is most likely to suffer damage when it's initially spun up, especially if it's been sitting idle for a long time. The heads normally float over the platter when in operation, literally flying over the surface without touching it. Only when the drive is spun down do the heads come to rest on the platter. Then, when restarted, these tiny fragile heads have to overcome something called "sticktion", and that's when failures occur.
 
In those days, however, it was common practice to have HDA's (head-disk assembly) stored on shelves until they were needed. Disk drives were horribly expensive (about 60 grand a pop, IIRC) so it was impractical to keep all your data online all the time (unless you were the government or an insurance company). Sure enough, whenever I got called out to a site at 3:00 AM for a crashed drive, it was right after an operator had spun it down and back up. 
 
As the price of disk drives came down, removable HDAs quickly fell out of favor. Nowadays, we can keep as much data as we like online 24x7. Drives have become more reliable, to the point where we just stick 'em in there and forget about them. Basic physics, however, still apply.
 
With those lessons in mind, today I set the spin-down rule to "Never" on desktop machines. Laptops are another matter, due to the need to run on batteries. But on a desktop machine, I don't want frequently-accessed drives spun down unnecessarily. I don't fear it like I did 30 years ago, and don't worry about shutting them off at night, but during the day they're always on.


All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to. 

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fireberd
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Re: W10 Power Settings - hard disks 2016/09/05 09:59:14 (permalink)
I have SSD's for the OS (and Sonar) but also have an internal hard drive that I use for Sonar Projects and backups.  I don't power it off (except when the PC is powered off at night) and the drive is now over 7 years old. 

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Cactus Music
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Re: W10 Power Settings - hard disks 2016/09/05 10:56:06 (permalink)
Same here. SSD for main and 2 data drives. All settings on my DAW are always on. Don't forget those USB ports too. 
I use to update my drives every 2 years. But we have sort of exceded my demands these days and I think I'll just keep them going for a few more years this time. I have external storage and off site storage as well. 

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DrLumen
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Re: W10 Power Settings - hard disks 2016/09/07 12:45:09 (permalink)
Along with the advice from bitflipper, there is also the issue of heating and cooling cycles (swell/shrink) when a drive or system is powered down. Capacitors and drive motors tend to fail more quickly, particularly if there is extreme swings - like a PC being kept in a cold place. Just something else to consider.

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robert_e_bone
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Re: W10 Power Settings - hard disks 2016/09/07 17:36:15 (permalink)
I just read my earlier post again and wanted to clarify - the main drives in my desktops are always left spinning, with the computer left on for days and days on end.  When I referred to drives being disconnected, I was referring only to any internal drives that were only accessed for backup/recovery.  THOSE drives I will usually disconnect until I am ready to either back data up again, or need to recover it.
 
Bob Bone
 

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patm300e
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Re: W10 Power Settings - hard disks 2016/09/08 08:19:45 (permalink)
fireberd
I have SSD's for the OS (and Sonar) but also have an internal hard drive that I use for Sonar Projects and backups.  I don't power it off (except when the PC is powered off at night) and the drive is now over 7 years old. 


Would be worried about a single 7 year old drive...
 
How about using Windows Storage Spaces?
 
http://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-storage-spaces-windows-10

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fireberd
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Re: W10 Power Settings - hard disks 2016/09/08 09:27:39 (permalink)
I have another USB3.0 connected hard drive that I alternate backups with.  Same way, all the Sonar projects are backed up on another drive.  Actually the entire drive contents are backed up on another drive.
 
I refuse to use cloud type backups.  Probably the "old" tech in me (I'm a retired Network and Help Desk Manager - and used to live in Laurel and worked with NASA and SSA).

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