[Discuss] How smart is SMART?

[srehrlich at gmail.com (Scott Ehrlich)]

On Sat, Nov 24, 2012 at 10:05 PM, Doug <sweetser at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> Just lost a 500 GB 2.5 inch SATA drive made in Thailand from my Mac
> Mini server.  A half hour to boot was the signal.  While I could have
> set up RAID, all the data I care about is in a Dropbox folder, and I
> have Time Machine to get at any apps.  My data is on three computers I
> control, the drop box server, and Time Machine.  I spent $260 for a
> $100 hard drive because I used Computer Loft to deal with my fear of
> mac hardware (so many wires in such a small place).
>
> The main costs were time and money to reset the box.  I have been able
> to update some things, so the machine is a little more streamlined
> now.
>
> Thinking about the future, does anyone regularly monitor their hard
> disk SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology)
> information?  I found a $40 utility that would do this work for me,
> including running both short and long tests.  If it is wise, I might
> do this once a month.
> http://www.volitans-software.com/smart_utility.php
>
> The long tests can last 3 hours.  One thing I noticed was the
> replacement for the dead disk is running about 14 degrees F warmer
> than the other disk (right now 48C versus 41C.   What temp is BAD?
> Does anyone continuously check on that?).  That may be a lead reason
> for it dying first.  The replacement might die before the cool one.
> Now that the test is done, the hot disk is down to 38C.
>
> Are there scripts anyone uses that go through the same data and/or run
> the short and long tests?
>
> ...and a few moments of googling to
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_S.M.A.R.T._tools says...
>
> GSmartControl
> smartmontool
>
> Now my more targeted question: does any use these two programs and
> would like to share their opinions?
>
> Just trying to be a sometime responsible home system admin,
> Doug
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FWIW, I've watched youtube videos of Scott Moulton (youtube name of
SuperFlyFlippingA) who is an expert in hard drive technology.   Long
story short, smart is simply not reliable.

If you watch his videos (presented at computer conferences), you'll
also learn more about hard drive (SSD and mechanical) technology than
you ever realized.

There are some cases where it has helped me, though.

I guess, as the expression goes, ymmv.

Hope that helps.

Scott