Which drive will take a beating

[jheine]

I putting together a rackmounted system to take on the road. This will be going into a rack and used for audio playback, sampling, and sequencing on stage. I'm just wondering what drive will take the most abuse and still perform good so I'm not replacing it all the time.

 

[vetplus40]

For the most part,Western Digital,and Maxtor are the biggest players now.

If ya don't ask..How ya gonna know.

 

[jheine]

I know their both good drives. I've used Maxtor for a while and I've recently gotten a couple WD800JBs. But will they hold up to physical abuse as well as being run hard. This is going into a rack for mobile use and will get jolted from time to time (prefferably when powered down).

 

[HammerBot]

No harddisk will hold up to physical abuse. Especially not when they are running. Here are a few data I collected, wrom various web-sites:

WD Caviar special editition and hi-performance (7200 rpm):
Operating shock (read): 65G (2 ms)
Non-operating shock: 200G (2 ms)

WD Caviar mainstream (5400 rpm):
Operating shock (read): 20G (2 ms)
Non-operating shock: 200G (2 ms)

WD Protege (5400 rpm):
Operating shock (read): 65G (2 ms)
Non-operating shock: 200G (2 ms)

Maxtor Diamondmax plus D740X:
Operating shock: 30G (2 ms)
Non-operating shock: 300G (2 ms)

Maxtor Diamondmax plus 9:
Operating shock: 60G (2 ms)
Non-operating shock: 300G (2 ms)

Maxtor Diamondmax plus 60/45:
Operating shock: 30G (2 ms)
Non-operating shock: 300G (2 ms)

Seagate ST360020:
Operating (read/write): 63G (2 ms)
Non-operating : 350G (2 ms)

Seagate ST380020:
Operating (read/write): 63G (2 ms)
Non-operating : 350G (2 ms)

Seagate is the definite winner since it can handle a non-operating shock of 350G
Although this seems a lot, its easily exceeded. Further the shock duration must be maximum 2 ms. How these numbers translates into everyday use, Im not sure. But e.g. dropping a drive from a few centimeters down on a hard surface may very well cause shock in excess of 100G. Its difficult to calculate, since the most important factor (how fast the velocity actually changes) is unknown.

I dont know whether or not the maximum shock ratings are for repetitive or non-repetitive shocks. But somehow I get the feeling that these shocks only are tolerable if they occur a 'few' times during the life of the drive (e.g. non-repetitive).

<i><b>"I don't understand what it is! Let me kill it!" -- Worf</b></i>

 

[jheine]

Thanks HammerBot.

I kinda figured they wouldn't hold up in an operational state. I was partially wondering if anyone had any experience with a more physical take on the drive, especially those that do take there PC all over creation. While I don't expect to be tossing my rack across the stage anytime soon, I figure even the constant movement from home to gig and back again would be the most abuse it would take. On that note, it would be similar to someone that frequently travels with their system to LAN parties, with the difference that I'm using a rackmount case rather than a tower.

Jarrett

 

[sketchbag]

I would suggest laptop drives. Though, I have no data at hand to back this up, they're designed for use in a machine you're carrying around all the time so I assume (perhaps stupidly) that they can withstand more repetative shock. Obvious limitations are the capacity of the drives, and the cost is pretty high. But if you're doing audio stuff on the road, 60gb should be enough music. Also the lower rotation of laptop drives, and their smaller platters makes them inferior when it comes to performance.

Ironically, i had enough time to read this and reply - but not enough time to go researching it to get some info on shock tolerance as i'm at work. I do believe there was an article on THG a while ago pertaining to using laptop drives in a desktop or server situation. I dont have a laptop, nor do I need noise reduction or power saving drives so i didnt read it - or anything else about laptop drives. =)

 

[dhlucke]

What do you mean the acceleration isn't known? And how does a hard drive get an excess of 100G's?

I don't understand these numbers at all.

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[lhgpoobaa]

I strongly suggest a laptop drive mounted in a foam enclosure.

A laptop drive as they are typically rated to handle higher G forces and are designed to be mobile.

<b>My Computer is so powerful Sauron Desires it and mortal men Covet it, <i>My Precioussssssss</i></b>