[TriLUG] do hard disks have a shelf life?

[David Both]

The "air hole" is not a hole. It has a thin rubber diaphragm that is used to 
equalize the internal pressure with the external world without allowing airflow. 
Any airflow at all into the HDD would result in head-disk contact as a result of 
particulates in the air and the destruction of the disk. The desiccant is to 
remove moisture from the disk after it is sealed at the factory.

On 09/06/2012 05:08 PM, Bill Farrow wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 5:05 PM, Joseph Mack NA3T <jmack at wm7d.net> wrote:
>> I have similar drives that sit in external enclosures and are powered up to
>> run backup, for 3-12hrs, once a week. None of these have failed. Ones of the
>> same type I bought at the same time and sat on the shelf are dead.
> I wonder if the surface of the disk has oxidized or corroded over
> time.  The hard drives that I have pulled apart had a small air hole
> and filter into the cavity containing the disk.  I also think that
> there is a desiccant pack in the cavity as well.  If the drive was
> running, the temperature might keep the moisture out.
>
> Bill

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*********************************************************
David P. Both



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David P. Both, RHCE
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