Most manufacturers give you a 1 or 3 year warranty. I must assume this indicates how long they think the drive will last. Seagate gives you 5 years. I use Seagate but have not had to return a drive in many years. I have 4 of these: Seagate "Barracuda 7200.10" 320 GB / 16 MB / ? / SATA And 2 of these: Seagate "Barracuda 7200.9" 300 GB / 16 MB / ? / SATA No problems with above, very quiet and cool. And many (17+) 18 Gig 10,000 RPM SCSI disks. 1 or 2 have failed in the last 2 years. But they are vary out of warranty. No problems, very quiet and cool. Guy } -----Original Message----- } From: linux-raid-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:linux-raid- } owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Molle Bestefich } Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2006 9:16 AM } To: linux-raid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx } Subject: ATA cables and drives } } I'm looking for new harddrives. } } This is my experience so far. } } } SATA cables: } ============= } } I have zero good experiences with any SATA cables. } They've all been crap so far. } } } 3.5" ATA harddrives buyable where I live: } ========================================== } } (All drives are 7200rpm, for some reason.) } } Hitachi "DeskStar" 500 GB / 16 MB / 8.5 ms / SATA or PATA } Maxtor "DiamondMax 11" 500 GB / 16 MB / 8.5 ms / SATA or PATA } Maxtor "MaXLine Pro" 500 GB / 16 MB / 8.5 ms / SATA or PATA } Seagate "Barracuda 7200.10" 500 GB / 16 MB / ? / SATA or PATA } Seagate "Barracuda 7200.10" 750 GB / 16 MB / ? / SATA or PATA } Seagate "Barracuda 7200.9" 500 GB / 16 MB / 11 ms / SATA or PATA } Seagate "Barracuda 7200.9" 500 GB / 8 MB / 11 ms / SATA or PATA } Seagate "Barracuda ES" 500 GB / 16 MB / 8.5 ms / SATA } Seagate "Barracuda ES" 750 GB / 16 MB / 8.5 ms / SATA } Seagate "ESATA" 500 GB / 16 MB / ? / SATA (external) } Seagate "NL35.2 ST3500641NS" 500 GB / 16 MB / 8 ms / ? / SATA } Seagate "NL35.2 ST3500841NS" 500 GB / 8 MB / 8 ms / ? / SATA } Western Digital "SE16 WD5000KS" 500 GB / 16 MB / 8.9 ms / SATA } Western Digital "RE2 WD5000YS" 500 GB / 16 MB / 8.7 ms / SATA } } I've tried Maxtor and IBM (now Hitachi) harddrives. } Both makes have failed on me, but most of the time due to horrible } packaging. } } I don't care a split-second whether one kind is marginally faster than } the other, so all the reviews on AnandTech etc. are utterly useless to } me. There's an infinite number of more effective ways to get better } performance than to buy a slightly faster harddrive. } } I DO care about quality, namely: } * How often the drives has catastrophic failure, } * How they handle heat (dissipation & acceptance - how hot before it } fails?), } * How big the spare area is, } * How often they have single-sector failures, } * How long the manufacturer warranty lasts, } * How easy the manufacturer is to work with wrt. warranty. } } I haven't been able to figure the spare area size, heat properties, } etc. for any drives. } Thus my only criteria so far has been manufacturer warranty: How much } bitching do I get when I tell them my drive doesn't work. } } My main experience is with Maxtor. } Maxtor has been none less than superb wrt. warranty! } Download an ISO with a diag tool, burn the CD, boot the CD, type in } the fault code it prints on Maxtor's site, and a day or two later } you've got a new drive in the mail and packaging to ship the old one } back in. If something odd happens, call them up and they're extremely } helpful. } } Unfortunately, I lack thorough experience with the other brands. } } } Questions: } =========== } } A.) Does anyone have experience with returning Hitachi, Seagate or WD } drives to the manufacturer? } Do they have manufacturer warranty at all? } How much/little trouble did you have with Hitachi, Seagate or WD? } } B.) Can anyone *prove* (to a reasonable degree) that drives from } manufacturer H, M, S or WD is of better quality? } Has anyone seen a review that heat/shock/stress test drives? } } C.) Does good SATA cables exist? } Eg. cables that lock on to the drives, or backplanes which lock } the entire disk in place? } } } Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for answers (if any) :-). } - } To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in } the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx } More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
