Just how sensitive are hard drives to transport (Iron Wolf)?

[fierarul]

Hello,

Since it's the holiday season I gifted myself a 6TB Seagate Iron Wolf for my FreeNAS box.

Thing is, it arrived in a plain yellow padded envelope. This seems to me like much too little protection for a hard drive but perhaps I'm exaggerating?

I'm seriously considering just returning the disk because I don't trust how it's been shipped.

I know disks have warranty but honestly I would never send out a disk that has data on it anyhow so warranty has no importance.

 

[sretalla]

Burn-in will be key if you do use it.

Generally, with heads in the parked position when without power, the risk of something like a head-strike which used to be a common thing is now gone.

Physical damage of a drive in transport with no protection will mostly come down to the PCB and ports (which are plastic) and if an impact is severe enough, the cylinders/platters themselves (it would take a drop from a few feet to concrete for that).

Assess it if you're feeling lucky and give the burn-in a try. If it succeeds on burn-in, it will probably survive beyond that for the normal lifespan.

 

[fierarul]

Just opened the envelope. I see the data port is scratched (through the sealed antistatic bag). I'm returning it tomorrow...

 

[jgreco]

Yeah, you'd be better off buying from someone who recognizes that a HDD is a delicate mechanism.

 

[fierarul]

It's actually a major retailer here (eMag). I guess they are cutting corners since they have to ship so much these days, post Black Friday, etc.