Better to leave external hard drives on, or switch on only when in use?

[Whoopysnorp]

Now that I've added a laptop to my recording setup, I've decided to start using an external Firewire drive as my primary recording target (the idea is I'll be sure to keep copies of everything on that drive on an internal drive in my desktop as well). I have a Firewire chain with my Fireface 800 at the outside, followed by the hard drive, so I need to have the hard drive switched on in order to use the Fireface, even if I don't plan on using any files on the disk. So far I've been just switching the drive on when I want to use it specifically, but I've heard that it's best to avoid cycling power in hard drives whenever possible. On the other hand, leaving it on all the time just instinctively strikes me as a bad thing to do. What should I do?

 

[altitude909]

leaving it on is the best thing you can do. Where hard drives wear the most is in their bearings and those wear the most when the go from cold (off) to operating temp (on). Once it is on, the wear is minimal. I have a dozen drives close to 10 years old in service in machines that never get turned off.

 

[dgatwood]

leaving it on is the best thing you can do. Where hard drives wear the most is in their bearings and those wear the most when the go from cold (off) to operating temp (on). Once it is one, the wear is minimal. I have a dozen drives close to 10 years old in service in machines that never get turned off.

I have a drive that is currently at 11 years and still going. What you say used to be true if the drive was in a computer with adequate airflow.

In an external enclosure, though, you're likely to have problems due to overheating if you run it continuously. When the bearings don't keep cool enough, they can warp, and then you're really noisy.... Or worse, they leak oil, which ends up on the disk surface, causing the heads to stick when the drive spins down. The next time it spins up, the heads rip off and scar the disk surface, obliterating the contents irreparably.

Also, whether you leave it on or turn it off, all external enclosures that comply with Energy Star requirements must spin down the disk when not in use. Thus, it's largely irrelevant whether you leave the drive on or not. The only thing you're doing is wasting the power to run the case fan (if applicable) and the circuit boards.

 

[drstawl]

I'll just chime in with another reason to leave them on:

Condensation from humid air hitting a cooled surface can damage the connection between the enclosure and the drive. Leaving it on keeps it warm enough to prevent that from happening.

 

[zazz]

leaving it on is the best thing you can do. Where hard drives wear the most is in their bearings and those wear the most when the go from cold (off) to operating temp (on). Once it is one, the wear is minimal. I have a dozen drives close to 10 years old in service in machines that never get turned off.

same here ...the most stressfull time of a computers life..not just the drives is power up and down.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

I have a drive that is currently at 11 years and still going. What you say used to be true if the drive was in a computer with adequate airflow.

In an external enclosure, though, you're likely to have problems due to overheating if you run it continuously. When the bearings don't keep cool enough, they can warp, and then you're really noisy.... Or worse, they leak oil, which ends up on the disk surface, causing the heads to stick when the drive spins down. The next time it spins up, the heads rip off and scar the disk surface, obliterating the contents irreparably.

Also, whether you leave it on or turn it off, all external enclosures that comply with Energy Star requirements must spin down the disk when not in use. Thus, it's largely irrelevant whether you leave the drive on or not. The only thing you're doing is wasting the power to run the case fan (if applicable) and the circuit boards.

I see. Sounds less cut-and-dried than I was originally thinking.

I am actually pretty sure my enclosure doesn't spin down the disk when not in use, actually. This is the one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817193027

I have a WD 500 GB drive in it.