Posistion of HDDs..

[markkleb]

Does it matter how HDDs are mounted? I have seen them upside down, and standing up.
Has anyone heard of problems with mounting them at weird angles? (other than flat)

[Bio-Hazard]

You can mount them pretty much anyway that you like. It's always best to format them in the mounted position from what I understand, just as a precaution....;)

[DragonMaster]

Format in the mounted position??? An other joke I suppose...

I know that they're OK in horizontal or vertical position, but some HDDs don't like not being flat. One of my HDDs makes weird noises since it got in this position. Never had any problems before that what that drive!

You can try, but if something happens, you will probably not like it. The mfg's customer support is the best place to ask.

[GIBSON]

It shouldn't give any problems I think. As long as they stay in that particular position and don't move around (from what i've heard moving a hd around while it's working isn't very healthy for it, duno if it's true though)

[Das Capitolin]

While most drives will operate perfectly fine in any position, most manufacturers design their drives to be mounted label up. There are countless reasons for this, but here are the top five:

1) time released lubricants
2) servo motor resisting gravity for spin
3) wear angle and deflection angle (servo bearings)
4) read/write arm positioning and resisting gravity (vertical mount)
5) heat dissipation

If you don't care about longevity and performance, mount them as you please. If performance and lifespan are important to you, mount the drives label up.

[Kougar]

I agree that the drive manufacturer is probably the only one that can tell you definitively.

However... Having the drive flat means the heat traveling upwards has the easiest time transferring out of the unit through the thin aluminum cover plate, in addition to a larger uprwards facing surface area as well. But if you use active cooling on it anyway then this is really nitpicking minor details I think. ;)

From what I hear, more importantly than in what position the drive is mounted, is how secure from vibrations it is. Making sure the HDD itself is solidly locked into place so it can't vibrate is supposed to be more important for extending the drive's lifespan.

Edit: Das snuck his post in under mine... he brings up some very good points.

[Das Capitolin]

If by "snuck in" you mean eight whole minutes before you, then yes, I snuck in. :)

Good thing I can type near 150WPM.

[Bio-Hazard]

Mount the drive in either the horizontal or vertical position depending on your case orientation.

http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/howto/ata_install_tshoot.html

Mount the drive in the system:

The drive can be mounted in a standard 3.5" device bay. The drive can be mounted sideways, on end, or even upside down as long as the mounting screws are used properly. Use either the four bottom screws or four of the side mounting screws to support the drive. This will prevent vibration and provide additional electrical grounding.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=981&p_created=1052339456&p_sid=nSZJhOii&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX 3Jvd19jbnQ9NjMmcF9wcm9kcz05NSZwX2NhdHM9MTIzJnBfcHY 9MS45NTsyLnUwJnBfY3Y9MS4xMjM7Mi51MCZwX3NlYXJjaF90e XBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX2ZubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

[markkleb]

Thats what I was thinking Das but didnt that case you reviewed have the HDDs on their sides?

Thank you Sbrehm for the link, I must have read 100 different opinions and they are all different.

thing is I really need to mount them standing up:roll: So drives dont fail me now.

[Bio-Hazard]

Position doesn't matter sealed bearings and all, but changing the physical orintation of a drive after it's beed formated can (older weaker drives) due to exactly what Das said (resisting gravity) whick can lead to read/write errors. This isn't so much a problem with todays drives, but it can still happen, there is a build tolerance when the drives are built and changing their mounting position can effect both the heads and platters.

[markkleb]

Hey Sbrehm your sig should be the theme for the mod contest....

"Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood" (or womanhood for mirrim)

[Mirrim]

That is a rather neat quote. Thanks for the mention, Markkleb ;P

[DragonMaster]

Thats what I was thinking Das but didnt that case you reviewed have the HDDs on their sides?

The overall review didn't convince you that the case was poorly engineered? ;)

[Xero (1)ne]

i personaly dont think it matters, but like with the old drives and resisting gravity yah. but like cd drives, they work fine on their side and upside down and such too.

i have mine aluminum up because they all look good like that.

i have a crapped out maxtor 40gb drive that has a problem where the pin bounces around at a certian sector, and after that it wont stop clicking.
to fix this i heard to turn the drive upside down.
i tried it but it didnt work very well:roll:

arent drives vacuum sealed? or would that matter with the pin?

[Das Capitolin]

Vacuum sealed: no, sterile: yes. I still think that the optimum position is sticker up.

[DragonMaster]

They're not sealed, why can you put acrylic covers on HDDs without any problems? I think that some parts would heat too much w/o air. Like Olin told, they're just dust-free.

[tomato]

I'm thinking that you should mount your HD's the way that the manufacturer's designed them.... you wouldn't put your car's tires on backwards, would you? (I mean, it's physically possible, but you wouldn't get very far :?)

[DragonMaster]

I really need to mount them standing up
I don't think that there's too much problems, if it's for some case mod, they could be on the case top.

[GIBSON]

They're not sealed, why can you put acrylic covers on HDDs without any problems? I think that some parts would heat too much w/o air. Like Olin told, they're just dust-free.
Putting an acrylic cover on a hdd is far from easy. Most drives get wrecked in the process. One tadbit of dust, invisible to the eye, mostly is enough to corrupt a whole part of the drive and make that part unusable.

[DragonMaster]

Putting an acrylic cover on a hdd is far from easy. Most drives get wrecked in the process. One tadbit of dust, invisible to the eye, mostly is enough to corrupt a whole part of the drive and make that part unusable.

That still depends of how it's done, I saw a trick that make it look like it's possible to do it easily, the problem is that you need a clean new vacuum cleaner(That shouldn't be used for anything else) and plastic box. :roll:

What I mean is that it's possible to open the HDD, close it, and have it still working. It's not as if it was vacuum sealed, where 100% of the people putting acrylic covers would fail.

Anyways, those that don't want to fail and have an acrylic window could buy a WD Raptor X!

[Kougar]

The drive isn't vacuum-sealed because there has to be a exit for the air inside. Once the air inside a HDD heats up it expands, hotter it gets the further it'll expand. This is why all HDD's that use spinning platters have a tiny breathing hole with either 1 or 2 tiny strips of a very very fine air filter to keep out all possible particles.

[Xero (1)ne]

alrighty then, umm
back to the which side up debate,
i dont think it matters with a good, new drive..
but with older or less quality of drives right side up is the way to go...

i wonder if they designed drives more solid so that they could be compressed, wouldnt that make them colder inside? only downfall is that it would look like a CO2 canister or something....:roll:

[XJnine]

I personally would never mount a hard drive label side down just because I have a habit of messing with my computers while they're still on and my fumbling fingers would probably drop a screw right on the exposed circuit board. bzzzt!

[Das Capitolin]

Even on brand new drives, there is still a very minimal effect on the longevity of the drive by the five things I listed:

1) time released lubricants
2) servo motor resisting gravity for spin
3) wear angle and deflection angle (servo bearings)
4) read/write arm positioning and resisting gravity (vertical mount)
5) heat dissipation

[DragonMaster]

So, markkleb, it will work, but your HDD's life will be shorter. If it's not sitting down flat on the bearing, the side which is the lower will wear faster than the rest, but if it's sitting flat, it can't happen. (If you're a maniac, place your HDD with a level ;)

[markkleb]

So, markkleb, it will work, but your HDD's life will be shorter. If it's not sitting down flat on the bearing, the side which is the lower will wear faster than the rest, but if it's sitting flat, it can't happen. (If you're a maniac, place your HDD with a level ;)

Thanks everyone for the input, and cross ur fingers...

Between me dropping them, banging them in drawers and bouncing in the closet it would be a miracle if they even work now:lol:

GO WD!!