HDD failure rates - Update 2019 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: DC1MC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 07:39:44 am
content: Very interesting read for those who still use "spinning rust:https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-hard-drive-stats-q1-2019/Also I've found out that there are 14TB drives commercially availableCheers,DC1MC

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 09:21:49 am
content: Thanks for sharing.I currently have 8x 2TB Hitachi Ultrastar drives in my NAS which have been in continuous operation for about 8+ years. I fully expect them to start dropping off over the next few years (It's a nervous time whenever I have to power down the server for maintenance).At this stage, I'm waiting for SSDs to become more affordable as NAS disks.

author: vtwin@cox.net
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 10:55:04 am
content: I have about 1 petabyte of data storage at work I'm responsible for (numerous Dell MD arrays). These mostly work off 2TB SAS drives. My failures come in spurts -- I'll get 2 or 3 back to back, and then I'll go months without a failure. Some of these drives have been in continuous operation since we installed the arrays (10?) years ago, but most have been replaced at this point.Drive technology is sure a heck of a lot better than the olden days of those big 5.25" full height 10MB seagate hard drives I started out with

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 11:31:11 am
content: Interesting for proffesionals, less for consumers since they only cover a few brands and types and the usage is different. In the test they run 24/7 365 andthe MTTF hours count, but with consumers the spin up start/stop count and behaviour might be more important for drive lifetime.

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 12:37:55 pm
content: Quote from: DC1MC on May 12, 2019, 07:39:44 amA project I'm working on has just taken delivery of about 100 of those. Density is great, cost... not so much.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 12:54:22 pm
content: have had 8x 2TB Samsung HD204UI drives which drop off my RAID card once every 4-5 months, but other than that only had 1 failure in ~4 years,Also 8x WD mix of 2TB red and black, no issues for about the same time period,Currently in the process of replacing the lot with 10TB WD reds, It is bloody hard finding enough suppliers in a country to source 16 drives that are not in the same batch or manufacture week. have 12 so far, and no infant mortality or even wear indications after giving the lot 100TB each of verified random fill erase patterns, but I have been getting the feeling from other discussions that manufacturers have taken to hiding the actual wear indications on SMART a little

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 12:59:12 pm
content: My bets are on the Toshiba drives... They seem to be doing well.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 06:18:54 pm
content: Not surprisingly, Seagate continues to disappoint... the one WD is not doing so well either.I wonder what's the difference between the HGST HUH721212ALE600 and 'LN604.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 06:24:34 pm
content: Quote from: amyk on May 12, 2019, 06:18:54 pmThese drives likely are high performance models. You can also buy lower performance drives which use less power, stay cooler and make less noise. A cooler hard drive will last much longer.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 06:49:51 pm
content: I always love seeing these reports. Nothing like real world tests for getting failure data. Seems Seagate stepped up their game, in previous reports they were doing quite terrible, now they actually arn't all that bad if you go by the percentages. A bit on the higher side but still only like 1%.I also think it's crazy that you can get 14TB drives now. I'm kinda looking at upgrading some of my raid arrays, if I recall, 8TB seems to be about the best bang for the buck right now, though they all seem mostly on par, about $50/TB. It's all about how much you want to spend in one shot too. Need to buy at least 4 at a time and in pairs from that point on. I don't do raid 5 anymore I do raid 10. Though for archive/backup data, raid 6 is a good way to go as well.Would be interesting for them to use some SSDs the exact same way they use HDDs, just to get stats for those too. Like even accounting for the wearing. I've always been reluctant to use SSDs for mass storage applications because of the wearing, and use them only for OS, but always kinda wondered how long I would get if I did go SSDs. A raid array of SSDs to store VMs would be quite sexy in terms of speed.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 06:59:37 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on May 12, 2019, 06:24:34 pmI think previous data showed that temperature isn't very relevant, until you cross a threshold of about 50 °C. Most drives won't live in temperatures that high.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 08:38:14 pm
content: Quote from: Red Squirrel on May 12, 2019, 06:49:51 pm€0,020 to €0,029 / GB is the current price for mainstream hdds right now. About half of your quote.For pro NAS storage drives it averages about €0,038 / GB

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2019, 09:59:58 pm
content: Quote from: amyk on May 12, 2019, 06:18:54 pmIt's worth noting that there are hugely more Seagate drives included so there is a much larger sample and I would expect to see a lot more failures. They are still not my favorite drive manufacture these days but I don't think any of the drives listed in the study show an unusually high failure rate. Frankly there is less spread across those stats than I would have expected, barely enough for anything to stand out of the statistical noise.