Hard drives generate heat, as they are mechanical storage devices that contain moving parts, meaning they have a limited lifespan.
Rather than asking if your hard disk drive (HDD) will fail, it’s more of a matter of when it will fail. Due to the moving parts inside of the Hard Disk Drive, as much as we would like them to, they don’t last forever. The Hard Disk Drives contain lots of delicate moving parts, hence why they are more likely to become physically damaged. The most common causes are trauma and heat. Where the HDD is located within the machine, as well as the type of HDD, is also a factor. Desktops are stable, static machines. However, laptops are carried around frequently, often carelessly placed into the owners’ bags.
Plenty of heat is generated inside the hard drive, as the platters spin very fast. Temperature is a significant factor that affects the life span of an HDD. Temperatures of 45 degrees and above lead to increased failure rates. Confusingly so, temperatures lower than 25 degrees can also lead to increased failure rates. Older hard drives are more likely to be damaged due to temperature compared to newer ones. The ideal temperature for a hard disk drive is between 35-40 degrees. If you’re worried about the temperature of your HDD, you can use third-party software such as CrystalDiskInfo, which allows you to monitor the health of your HDD.
Whilst Laptops and Desktops have cooling fans installed in order to help control the temperature; you should consider upgrading them to something more substantial. Most PC cases have spare fan slots in their cases, which can be used to cool your hard drive even more so. Laptop cooling pads are also available, which you slot beneath the laptop. They blow air upwards to aid in cooling the HDD. Laptop cooling pads are ideal for when you’re completing work in the office or at home! External Hard Drives also generate heat when they’re being used. To help with this, you can make sure the drive isn’t covered but in an open space to ensure free airflow in and around it. When you’re not using your laptop, store it somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight, like a cupboard or a drawer.
Normal SSD Temperature
SSD usually stays on between 30ºC to 65ºC or 86ºF to 149ºF. Depending on SSD usage, you may face a temperature higher than the limit. However, simple read/write tasks do not cause an extreme rise in temperature. So, it is usually not a cause for concern unless the SSD reaches a temperature above 70ºC. If in case, the SSD reaches a temperature greater than 60 degrees, its performance will decrease rapidly. This phenomenon is called thermal throttling. Therefore, to avoid thermal throttling, we recommend keeping SSD temperature below the limit.
Another important thing to keep in mind is the temperature during idle. If the SSD has a temperature greater than 50 degrees even on idle, you might want to look at what is causing the issue. When your computer is idle, your system temperature should not go beyond 40 to 50 degrees Celsius. The limit is the same for SSD as well.
With this in mind, it re-enforces the need for Data backups of all your data. Hamblett Consultancy can discuss a backup solution to protect your data due to any unforeseen circumstances