Predicting Mechanical Failure in Hard Disks

There's many kinds of failure in Hard Disk Drives, but I want to simplify the discussion here. So let us define two basic types of failure.

Type 1: Software Failure: A relatively simple problem, will not be covered on this blog.

Type 2: Mechanical Failure: When the motor or bearings or the read/write head of the Hard Disk fail.

Image Ctsy. LapTopRecovery.Net

We will cover only Type 2 failure here.

Every drive has an inbuilt mechanism. Known as "S.M.A.R.T."

This mechanism is an 'early warning mechanism' that informs you of the mechanical health of your drive. And can inform you if your drive is about to fail, mechanically.

There's many S.M.A.R.T monitoring programs available. But not all function correctly for some reason.

I found that the free version of the following program informed about drive health successfully. I used it on healthy as well as failing drives at my office.

1. HDD Sentinel.

Interpreting S.M.A.R.T can be difficult at times. I found HDSENTINEL to be easiest to understand as far this is concerned. It explains each parameter in simple terms. It also has the ability to monitor S.M.A.R.T. on external drives, which other softwares don't.

This software will also show you your Hard Drive Temperature.

It is vital to keep the hard disk cool and free from dust and moisture.

Please refer to your Hard Disk Manual for the acceptable temperature/humidity range for your hard disks.
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If you want to monitor your Hard Disk health more effectively, then monitoring the voltages that are being fed to your PC internals is not a bad idea. A free software for doing this is:

1. SpeedFan.

This software can monitor many internal parameters. But it is NOT recommended to be used to monitor S.M.A.R.T. Though it has the ability. I found its S.M.A.R.T. monitoring to be vague and therefore useless.
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Lets Get Electrical - 2

Some more examples of how Electrical Noise can be dealt with.

There are NO 'RIGHT' or 'WRONG' solutions. All depends on the situtation. Please do not try to implement these solutions without the help of an electrical engineer who has surveyed your premises.
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In Diagram 2, the delicate electronic devices circuit is completely cushioned from its surroundings via an Isolation Transformer.

In Diagram 3, the Online UPS has also been isolated from the surroundings.

Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets In

Recently helped a friend fix his DAMAGED & LEAKY UNDERGROUND WALL due to which water was leaking into the basement when it rained heavily.

We were in a hurry....

We did not want it to rain and flood the pit we had dug, that would have been catastrophic...would have drowned the basement and destroyed expensive equipment.

Time for completion of work: 55 hours...and LOTS OF PRAYER.

Drawing of the cross section of the damaged wall. Dotted vertical lines show the missing part of the wall.


The damaged wall, as seen from outside. We had to dig 9 feet deep.


Horrible condition...An old tree’s roots (now no longer existing) can be seen entering the basement wall. Holes in the wall are huge and visible.




Work In Process...below.

Leak discovered in public drainage system. When water comes through such leaks during monsoon clogging of drains, it comes with ‘hammering’ and considerable back pressure.



Filling up the broken underground wall...and re-inforcing with stone...



Finished, Totally Re-inforced, Leak Proof Wall....Underground rain water cannot leak in anymore!

Download the detailed PowerPoint presentation of the above process HERE -- Case Study

Lets Get Electrical

This blog entry can be used by the SOHO segment user to take care of sensitive electronic devices in his/her premises.

The objective is to provide CLEAN NOISELESS POWER* to sensitive electronic devices.

It is highly recommended that an audit of the premises be done by an expert before any suggestions in this blog entry are implemented.
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* Clean, noiseless power is power that is free of voltage spikes, surges, and miscellaneous distortion.

Noisy power has potential to cause huge damage, especially to delicate electronic devices.

Slow damage that is not easy to attribute to noisy electricity.
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Measurement of Electrical Noise:

1) In terms of "TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION OF THE WAVEFORM."
2) In terms of Decibels.

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Diagram 1 is an example solution to the problem of noisy electricity in the small-medium office/home segment. It is not the only solution. Can be used as a guide though. The solution that is right for you depends on many things, and a power audit by a professional is necessary.

The devices shown in Diagram 1 are.

1) Voltage Stabiliser for stabilising voltage from Electric Company.

2) Isolation Transformer - Acts as an electrical cushion around your building to save it from electrical noise from the neighbourhood. It does this by ISOLATING your building, electrically. Also purifies and filters power.

3) Earthing Stations - For getting rid of leaking electricity. Electrical trashcans. Very important, to keep the quality of power good.

4) Online UPS - A device that purifies power to ensure that only high quality, clean, noiseless power reaches the devices connected to it.
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Diagram 1



Photo of a simple Earthing Station. (Rod/Stake Type)


Image Ctsy. http://www.rcoombs.co.uk/safety.htm

People very often neglect the earthing in their building. This is a very wrong practice. Will be covered in a separate blog entry.