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I have a Seagate hard drive that I purchased in 2011 but not even taken out of its original packaging. This one was to be used as a spare disk, in case one of two similar drives in my RAID enclosure went bad.
Will it still be usable after 3-4 years of non-use, and yes, will I get the same kind of life out of it? Is there any metric such as this that is available from the manufacturer?
Geo
Posted 2014-06-02T08:17:48.417
Reputation: 43
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Nothing could seriously affect its lifetime until this hard drive:
was not in the high humid environment,
was not lying under direct Sun light,
has not been overheated by any means much more than room temperature,
was not shaken or experiencing micro vibrations (was not nearby very loud sound source),
was not nearby the huge electromagnetic field,
was not nearby the radiation source,
and other known harmful things.
To check you can rely on S.M.A.R.T monitor of this drive (if exist, which should be) and/or on a variety of HDD testing software.
Ruslan Gerasimov
Posted 2014-06-02T08:17:48.417
Reputation: 1 974
"Nothing could seriously affect its lifetime..." __ You seem to be assuming that the device is already past the initial high-risk region of the bathtub curve of reliablity. – sawdust – 2014-06-02T19:26:19.710
@sawdust Yes, according to the diagram you referenced the device is still in the initial high-risk region, however it the common situation for every new device. – Ruslan Gerasimov – 2014-06-02T21:49:51.880
"but not even taken out of its original packaging" -- That's a mistake. You could be SOL if it's DOA or experience "infantile mortality" (i.e. the "bathtub curve" of reliability). For every HDD I acquire, it is powered up and the Extended S.M.A.R.T. Test is performed as a quick burn-in step before it is used or set aside. – sawdust – 2014-06-02T19:20:34.347