Re: SCSI vs. IDE performance test

On Tue, Oct 28, 2003 at 01:04:27PM -0500, Greg Stark wrote:
> If it runs out of spare blocks, then you're in trouble. And there's no warning
> that you're running low on spare blocks in any particular region unless you
> use special utilities to query the drive. Also if the failure is caused by
> environmental factors like vibrations or heat then you can be in trouble too.

Actually, drives have S.M.A.R.T for reporting these kind of issues. The idea
being that a counter decrements every time a block is remapped. When it
reaches a declared threshold the drive declares an error and if it's in
warranty that's enough to convince the manufacturer to send you a new disk.

Not that many people use this feature, but it is there.
--
Martijn van Oosterhout <kleptog(at)svana(dot)org> http://svana.org/kleptog/
> "All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good
> men to do nothing." - Edmond Burke
> "The penalty good people pay for not being interested in politics is to be
> governed by people worse than themselves." - Plato