Hard Drive failures can be a pain as more often than not, data is always lost in the process. I have had some hard drives carelessly fail without notice thus losing data in the range of 1Tb (1 Terabyte). As frustrating as it was then it could actually have been avoided if I was smart enough to leverage on S.M.A.R.T
Before going to this S.M.A.R.T. stuff lets understand why Hard Disk Drive fail.
Why Hard Disk Drive fail
Hard drive can fail due to the following reasons:
- Magnetic coating failure: Data is stored on the Disk drive through magnetic patterns created by the Disk drive head. Magnetic coating failure could be as a result of a manufacturing defect or ageing of the HDD. Overheating of the drive could also be a key reason for the magnetic coating failure.
- Head crash: This happens if the hard drive is violently moved during usage. It could be as a result of a drop. Laptop HDDs are more prone to this type of failure.
- Static Friction issues: Over time the movement of the hard disk platter creates electro static forces which then attracts the head to it thus, creating friction that eventually damages the sector exposed. So what is responsible for these electro static forces? Condensation of liquids like the lubricating oils in the drive or water vapor. When these condense on the surface of the disk platter, it speed up the creation of electro static buildups. Most hard disk drive have desiccants inside them to absorb moisture thus reducing the possibility of electro static buildups.
- Spindle Motor or Head servo failure: These motors are mechanical and thus would wear out and fail over time due to usage. early failure could be as a result of a manufacturers defect.
- Circuit board failure. Heat and voltage spike are the main causes of circuit board failure.
One of this failure types will eventually kill a hard drive.
So what is S.M.A.R.T?
S.M.A.R.T is an acronym for Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology. This is a technology embedded in most modern drives. S.M.A.R.T continuously monitors a number of parameters on a hard disk drive (HDD). Many parameters can be monitored by S.M.A.R.T. including:
- Read and write error rates,
- Seek error rates,
- Spin up time,
- Temperature etc.
These parameters are analysed and advises/warn you when certain parameters are degrading or reaching their threshold indicating the HDD is about to fail.
This technology was introduced in 2004 and thus all HDD manufactured after this date are required to be S.M.A.R.T compatible
Advantages of S.M.A.R.T. tools
- Monitors the health status of hard disks.
- Predicts disk failures.
- Checks for possible problems with HDD.
- Gives detailed status reports.
- Provides backup notification before the hard drives fail.
There are several Smart tools out there some designed for commercial use in enterprise data-centers or for personal use. I have compiled a few of the SMART tools which are free to use for you to download and use.
DiskCheckup
https://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm
HD Tune
http://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtune_255.exe
HDDScan
http://hddscan.com/download/HDDScan.zip
CrystalDiskInfo
https://crystalmark.info/en/download/#CrystalDiskInfo
It is recommended to download any of this tools and run them from time to time to check the S.M.A.R.T status of your HDD.
And remember. The bigger the capacity of your hard disk drive and the data in it, the more frequent you will need to run the S.M.A.R.T tool.
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