Hard Drive Mounting

[Theo Marshall]

Does it matter whether a hard drive is mounted in a horizontal or vertical position? Does it affect the performance, realiability and life of the drive?

I am looking at 2 possible cases for my FreeNAS build, Fractal Design Define mini with horizontal mounting or Fractal Design Node 804 with Vertical mounting

 

[Darren Myers]

As long as they drives arent all vibrating each other and they have good airflow it doesnt matter how they are positioned.

 

[Ericloewe]

Let's just say nobody's ever had trouble with modern drives, regardless of position. I kinda expect upside-down to be problematic, but upright should work normally.

 

[Tywin]

Let's just say nobody's ever had trouble with modern drives, regardless of position. I kinda expect upside-down to be problematic, but upright should work normally.

I've had no issues with my upside-down drives, but they don't normally spend much time in that state; a few hours every few months or so. My guess is the preloads are set such that it doesn't really matter what orientation they are in.

 

[Theo Marshall]

Thank you guys for your valuable contributions. I personally thought it best to install hard drives horizontally. But, I see with advancement of technology it does not matter, once the drives are installed properly and don't vibrate much, then everything is fine.

I am looking at this server case to build my FreeNAS and will like you opinion. I plan to install everything in a server rack in the near future so wanted a server case. It's Rosewill RSV-R4000 Metal Server Chassis

Thank You

 

[DataKeeper]

I've seen no issues with drives mounted in either way however I have noticed that drives which have run 24/7 for a year or so then repositioned from one plane to another they will usually fail in a short period of time. We repurposed roughly 50 drives about 5 years ago that had seen regular use for about 1.5 years. They were upgraded and repurposed to new systems where 1/2 were placed horizontal while the rest were placed in a different chassis mounted on their side. Over the next 3 months 60% of the ones side mounted had failed and all were shortly thereafter replaced.

 

[Bidule0hm]

Very interesting :)

What was the failure(s) mode(s)?

 

[DataKeeper]

Pretty sure they were Seagate drives though do not remember the model. I'd say 5-6 years ago.

Just last year I had an external WD 1TB Green drive plugged in for about 2 years standing up on end in the case. Had moved the data and placed the drive on a shelf for a couple months. Pulled it out and with it laying on its side I plugged it in to copy a couple games while going away for a trip. About an hour later I literally heard a loud click from the enclosure and I could no longer access the drive. I wound up opening the drive itself and the platters had seized up. Don't know if it had anything to do with laying it on its side instead of standing up as it had always been however I immediately cursed myself. Coincident or not I now remain aware of drive orientation and will label any drive that is placed on end.