Jeff2003 Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Hi, I don't mean to bring this subject up too many times; but, I can't believe that I am the only one having this problem. Last week I had my third hard drive failure in less than six months. (Using Maxtor's utility this was confirmed.) All three were ATA drives located in external enclosures. Two of the drives were Maxtors installed in an Acom Data external drive enclosure. (I had replaced the original smaller drive with larger drives (200 GB).) I had this system interfaced most of the time by FireWire, and the remainder of the time by USB 2.0. The second enclosure was an IOGear. (I'm not sure what type of drive was in the IOGear since I never opened up the enclosure before returing it for warranty repair.) The problem, I suspect, is that these drives get hot. There are very warm all of the time, and when in use get pretty hot. The only way to keep the drives cool is to stop the Retrospect Launcher service, and then use the Windows Remove Hardware app to be able to disconnect the drive from the system, and then turn its power off. That's not really a good plan because it prevents backups from running unattended. (I currently perform a recycle backup one night each week, and normal backups every other night.) (I am backing up everything on my system... programs and data.) Basically, the scheduling utility is kind of a waste if I have to go through this nonsense every day to get set up for it.... I might as well go ahead and run an immediate backup so that I can get the drive disconnected and powered down quickly. Am I missing something? Right now I have very little confidence that my backup will be any good if I ever have a drive failure. Thanks for any input that can be shared. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelenko Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 What is causing you to believe there is a relationship with Retro Launcher and the normal temp of the external drives? AFAIK, Retro Launcher only runs to start up a backup. In my task manager, it shows with no cpu activity. My backup drive is not working [unless I or Retro accesses it]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff2003 Posted August 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 Jelenko, Thanks for your response. The point of my post is that in order to use Retro Launcher during times that I am away from the system, the drive must be powered on. It is my belief that the cooling fan in the drive isn't sufficient for continual operation. The drive is very warm (maybe hot) when just powered on (even without read/write activity). When Retrospect begins write operations on the drive it really gets hot. Unless I am missing something, I either need to take chances leaving the drive powered on all the time, or I need to stop the launcher and perform backups manually whenever I am available to turn the drive on, and then off. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelenko Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 Right. How long does it take for the backup? I'm thinking a few minutes. If so, 99% of the time Retro is not running - so wouldn't be the cause for the drive failure - yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff2003 Posted August 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 I'm sorry, but, you are missing my point. The drive gets hot in the enclosure whether or not Scheduler or Retrospect is running. My contention is that the actual disk drive is installed within an enclosure that is essentially closed. This closed enclosure does not allow for adequate cooling when the drive is powered on all of the time. Whether I use Retrospect or another utility that backs up my system to an external hard drive, and I wish to schedule a backup for the middle of the night, I must leave the drive unit "On". My primary question concerns the susceptibility of the drive to failue if the enclosure allows the drive to stay warm/hot most of the time. The only option is to turn the drive off and on as needed. BTW, my system backups, depending on whether they are normal or recycle, take anywhere between 40 minutes and 150 minutes, including all associated operations. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnstein Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Jeff, I regret that I don't have a solution to your problem. I believe that your job now is to find a disk/enclosure combination that has adequate cooling. When you find one, would you please post to this thread. I am planning to use external disk enclosures for backups eventually. I would be grateful if you would share what you learn. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajun100 Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Jeff, there are some surprisingly inexpensive regular HD enclosures available now, especially for USB2 and Firewire connections. I got rid of a couple of Western Digital "custom" cases for my larger drives -- which were running hot, and replaced those cases with $40 imports from Egghead's stock -- they have a number of brands and models and so do other vendors, both 3.5 and 5.25 sizes. There are reviews available of the most popular. You might want to spec a case (or two) and see if your heat problems can be solved ... (PS: I gave up on all the "passive" models -- I had to have fans, extra noise and all). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Hi, I think the Maxtor is enclosed in a metal case right? That is supposed to act as a heat sink but I don't think it works well enough. I put my maxtor drive flat on its side on a metal shelf near my desk. It isn't perfect but its silent an I can definitely tell it pulls some heat off of the drive. Thanks Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff2003 Posted August 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Hi Lloyd, Thanks for your reply. I looked at NewEgg and went through quite a few of the enclosures that were listed. It seemed like a common thread running through the posts was that most of the enclosures get hot. I know the aluminum cases tout a design that lets them function as a heat sink; but, with the Acom drive enclosures I now have, I would think their fan would make them somewhat comparable. You would think someone would put something together that would really dissipate the amount of heat generated. I did see one do-it-yourself rack cooling system... It was pretty extreme though. Thanks again for your reply. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelenko Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Jeff - I just bought this one from Newegg. Good reviews; it has a fan. My understanding is that aluminum vs plastic doesn't much difference in keeping temps down - key issue is that the drive is essentially air isolated in either case. Key is air flow over the drive. ENCLSR 3.5" USB2.0 AMS DS-2316B2BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff2003 Posted August 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Hi Nate, Thanks for your post. The Acomdata enclosures I am using are plastic. They do have a fan located internally. I think you probably have a good idea. I will probably just pop the enclosures open and leave off the top half to allow better cooling. There really don't seem to be a lot of other options. I don't really see that anything negative can become of it. Thanks again for responding. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff2003 Posted August 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Hi Jelenko, Thanks for the information on the enclosure from NewEgg. I'll give it a look. (I actually have four Acomdata enclosures that I may work with before buying something new... unless one of them makes claims about superior cooling.) Thanks again for the info. Take Care Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajun100 Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 Do not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajun100 Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 Hmmm, that messsage didn't work too well ... What I meant to say is do not fail to consider changing just the FAN in those enclosures. There are so many available, and at prices that make changing the entire enclosure silly. You might just measure those fans and change out one or two, see how that works. Of course removing parts of the enclosure can help too -- and then you can blow a bigger fan across the whole shebang to cool it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.