Hard drive reliability study

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SouthBit

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Hard drive reliability

People often ask for recommendations when buying a new HDD. Here's an interesting article stemming from a data recovery company in Russia detailing their experiences. Their findings are interesting and in line with my experience so I think we can apply it, to a certain extent, in SA as well. Obviously it's a very limited study, but the results are worth reading nonetheless.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/hdd-reliability-storelab,2681.html

The results were as such, with #1 being most reliable in their study:

1) Hitachi
2) Samsung
3) Fujitsu/Toshiba
4) Western Digital
5) Seagate (note they took the 7200.11 issues into account, so Seagate scored really badly)

You need to read the other numbers and figures in the article to put the above into perspective.
 
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Misleading study and has been discussed before.

In line with your experience, but not in line with the experience of the next.

Still down to luck of the draw. A HDD is a HDD is a HDD... :)
 
PostmanPot said:
Misleading study and has been discussed before.

In line with your experience, but not in line with the experience of the next.

Still down to luck of the draw. A HDD is a HDD is a HDD... :)
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I disagree. The Google study showed that there was a strong correlation between manufacturer and reliability, but the evil ****s at Google decided that that information is 'proprietary', and won't share their findings with the rest of us.

As for the list posted, I'm switching to Samsung, after my 7200.11 failed; it's the first and only HDD that has ever failed on me of the dozens I've owned over 25 years, ranging from 20MB to 2 000 000MB. Goodbye Seagate, you've lost me.
 
PostmanPot said:
Misleading study and has been discussed before.

In line with your experience, but not in line with the experience of the next.

Still down to luck of the draw. A HDD is a HDD is a HDD... :)
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I don't think it's misleading. It's by no means representative of the entire HDD market, but it's data worth looking at, and is meaningful in certain respects.

I do agree with you though, that it is often down to luck of the draw :) You can cross all your fingers and buy an enterprise level drive for it to fail on you a week later. It happens, no doubt.

If you buy a Toyota you'll probably drive for years without a problem. But it might breakdown the day you get it, there's always a chance. Get an Alfa and bits will probably fall off it in the first few hours. But I've had both, and strangely enough the Alfa was more reliable than my current Toyota. Luck of the draw.

Either way, statistics definitely have their place and are worth considering in my opinion.
 
I attribute the statistics showing WD and Seagate to be the worst because they are simply the most popular manufacturers. More sales = more returns, simple.

I buy Samsung because they tend to be cheaper, faster, and cooler. Not because they are "more reliable". Firm believer in luck of the draw, and that a HDD is a HDD is a HDD. :)
 
PostmanPot said:
I attribute the statistics showing WD and Seagate to be the worst because they are simply the most popular manufacturers. More sales = more returns, simple.
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True, it's all relative. The artice does mention that "...one has to keep in mind that failure rates will appear higher for popular manufacturers. A substantial difference between market share and the proportion of failed drives can indicate higher or lower product durability."

I go with Samsung drives too, and Hitachi, for numerous reasons. Yeah a HDD is a HDD when you knock it off your desk when you're copying movies to it :) Crunch grind scrape. Niiiice.
Has there ever been a poll on this forum asking members which HDDs they are running? Haven't got the time to trawl through the old pages, but seeing your post count maybe you would remember? Would be interesting to see which manufacturers are the most popular in this sector.
 
South_Bit said:
True, it's all relative. The artice does mention that "...one has to keep in mind that failure rates will appear higher for popular manufacturers. A substantial difference between market share and the proportion of failed drives can indicate higher or lower product durability."
Click to expand...

Which is why the article is misleading to people who simply read the stats/breeze over the conclusion. They will leave thinking Hitachi and Samsung are most reliable, which is not true. ;)

I say, take it with a pinch of salt. Basically all the article is good for is proving who are the most popular manufacturers...

I go with Samsung drives too, and Hitachi, for numerous reasons. Yeah a HDD is a HDD when you knock it off your desk when you're copying movies to it :) Crunch grind scrape. Niiiice.
Has there ever been a poll on this forum asking members which HDDs they are running? Haven't got the time to trawl through the old pages, but seeing your post count maybe you would remember? Would be interesting to see which manufacturers are the most popular in this sector.
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Sure there have been, if you want to create another then go ahead and report the OP, asking mods for a poll. :)
 
I don't think a new poll will achieve much, as it will just prove to be which are the most popular drives right now, and which have been heavily punted in SA recently.

So Samsung will probably come out tops due to the cost effectiveness of them right now and recent past, and Seagate will probably not fare so well as everyone still remembers their recent debacle, etc, etc.

I agree it's down to your luck of the draw.
 
kayvee said:
I don't think a new poll will achieve much, as it will just prove to be which are the most popular drives right now, and which have been heavily punted in SA recently.
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That's what I was interested in, the most popular drives at the moment in terms of MyBB members.
 
Yeah that's for sure, but the order and percentages I'd be interested in. Toshiba's and Hitachi's ship mainly in laptops so they won't count for much. I'll setup a poll for interest's sake when I have time.
 
I have lots of seagate hdd's..... about 10, and as many as 6 at a time in my current desktop. They all seem to make different noises when turned on, which make me wonder. One that I got on a special sounds especially bad. Like something is physically slowly being engraved into the disk... (mini jack hammer)
 
xera said:
I have lots of seagate hdd's..... about 10, and as many as 6 at a time in my current desktop. They all seem to make different noises when turned on, which make me wonder. One that I got on a special sounds especially bad. Like something is physically slowly being engraved into the disk... (mini jack hammer)
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And 10 WDs, Samsungs, Hitachis, would also sound different.

Back-up and replace that bad-sounding HDD.
 
In my pc I have:

3 x WD CG EARS models (2 x 2tb; 1 x 1.5tb)
2 x Seagate 7200.11 (2 x 2tb)
1 x Seagate 7200.12 (1tb)
1 x Hitachi (2tb)
4 x Samsungs (2 x 1.5tb; 2 x 1tb)

Externals:

4 x Seagate freeagent desks (1 x 2tb; 1 x 1.5tb; 2 x 1tb)
1 x 1tb Seagate in external casing
1 x 250gb in external casing

1 x 500gb Samsung in 2nd rig

Also have 4 x 1tb seagate 7200.12's for a friend I'm building a pc for as well as a seagate 320gb 7200.11

Out of all of these, I've only had 1 x seagate fail, and another one had a piece broken off when I got it.

Had 2 x 2tb WD CG EADS fail on me just after I bought them

Had the 500gb sammy replaced due to it failing in about 3 months

Had 2 x 2tb seagate freeagent desks fail, however it was only the board on the casing that failed, they are the 2 x 2TB seagates in my rig and still goin strong.

From my experience, when they fail they either fail in a month or 2, or go for a long time if handled correctly under good temps
 
my experience is that I have had hard drives of every make and brand fail on me! :(
 
Have owned, worked with/worked on hundreds of drives since the early 1990's, it's pure luck!
 
oldhat said:
Have owned, worked with/worked on hundreds of drives since the early 1990's, it's pure luck!
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Not always. I recall Maxtor drives dying off en masse at one stage and then there was the infamous Deathstars :D
 
ponder said:
Not always. I recall Maxtor drives dying off en masse at one stage and then there was the infamous Deathstars :D
Click to expand...

I guess everyone's experiences will vary. Btw, my 3 month old Samsung 1tb just died :(
 
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