[ale] [semi OT] encouraging and discouraging HDD and SSD observations

[Michael B. Trausch]

On 10/31/2013 10:00 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
> So, discouraging observation: it is now almost impossible to find any HDD or SSD with a warranty of more than 2-3 years.  Are they KIDDING?

No, they're not.

You replace drives when they fail.

If an HDD manufacturer offered a 10 year warranty, they'd be out of 
business *very* quickly.  The fact that they no longer offer 5 year 
warranties is a _/*good*/_ thing, reducing cost for us all.  In my 
experience, if a drive runs for one year, 24x7, without fault, then it 
is likely to continue to do so for the next 9.  OTOH, drives that power 
off and on a lot, will die much sooner.

Anyway, if you're rich enough to depend on warranties or only use things 
in-warranty, well, to each their own.  The only warranty I care about on 
a hard disk is 12 to 18 months.  Outside of that, I've probably had to 
retire it due to growth anyway, my current set of HDDs being the exception.

Most HDDs drive well outside of warranty if treated properly.  SSD is 
flash-based and has its downsides, too, including bitrot (albeit 
differently than on magnetic media).

This is entirely the wrong industry to want long warranties in.  You 
only need a warranty long enough to burn in the hardware and use it for 
a little while.  All other stability should come from your backups.  All.

     --- Mike

-- 

	Michael B. Trausch

President, *Naunet Corporation*
? (678) 287-0693 x130 or (855) NAUNET-1 x130
FAX: (678) 783-7843

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