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An external USB hard drive periodically travels to and from my facility to update its files (it's for offsite backup). HDD, not SSD. How can I measure if it's being handled too roughly? I'd rather not just wait for the bearings to start squealing.

Manufacturers specify (switched off) shock tolerance in G's in a frequency range (Hz), presumably in the worst-case direction, parallel to the axis of rotation, where a head might contact a platter.

  • Can an unpowered HDD itself remember mechanical shocks, somehow? [Edit: Unlikely. SMART attribute 191 "mechanical shock" says nothing about detection while unpowered.]

  • Can degraded benchmark performance indicate rough handling? (Can rough handling cause symptoms gentler than catastrophic failure?)

  • Crazy-glue a high-G accelerometer to the disk chassis, wired to an Arduino data logger while traveling?

Camille Goudeseune
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    Buy an SSD or choose a disk and enclosure that will accurately report SMART data. It's an offsite backup, right? Just buy two disks and call it a day. – Joel E Salas Apr 15 '15 at 21:28
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    Do you expect the drives to be dropped from 10,000 feet?! – Michael Hampton Apr 15 '15 at 21:33
  • The terminal velocity of a hard disk hasn't been published, not even by Randall Munroe. But a drop from just 0.01 per cent of that height onto a sufficiently inelastic surface would void an HDD's warranty. – Camille Goudeseune Apr 22 '15 at 16:17

2 Answers2

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When ruggedized hard drive purpose-built technologies like RDX exist...

This seems silly to worry about the handling of the drive. If it really is a problem, are you sure it's not a people issue? If it DOES require a technological solution, Google "ruggedized hard drive".

There are plenty of options in the consumer and enterprise realms for this.

ewwhite
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  • Answer accepted. 1. I hear only crickets about rough handling measurably degrading rather than destroying an HDD. 2. RDX's greater $/TB over non-ruggedized external HDDs isn't much more than recording rough handling by particular people. So make the technology fit the user's behavior, not vice versa. – Camille Goudeseune Apr 22 '15 at 16:09
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While it may make sense to use an external HDD to transfer from your onsite location to your offsite location, you should not be using an external HDD as your offsite backup.

84104
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  • Many reviews of external HDDs say that they can play this role. Are these reviewers misinformed? – Camille Goudeseune Apr 16 '15 at 15:42
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    Actually external HDDs are quite suitable for off-site backups in many cases. I suggest using more than one though. By having one HDD always attached the backups can be automized. One drive at a time could be on safe location while third one travels. – Esa Jokinen Apr 20 '15 at 05:42
  • @EsaJokinen Such was my meaning, though it appears I was not clear enough. – 84104 Apr 20 '15 at 16:47