Ext Hard Drive Life Expectancy as Plex Media Server

[danjswade]

Hi all

I have just bought myself a Pi and have it running as my Plex Media Server. From what I've read, leaving it running isn't a problem for the pi, but I was wondering how concerned I should be for my hard drive? As it's connected, will it be constantly be spinning and therefore wear out? How long should I expect the life of it to be? I've got it left in situ and not moving (if that makes a difference)

Thank you

[drgeoff]

There is a school of thought that a hard drive will last longer if left continuously spinning rather than being powered up and down or the platter(s) spun up and down.

[RaTTuS]

what does the drive manufacturer say the MTBF is on the drive

[fruitoftheloom]

Hi all

I have just bought myself a Pi and have it running as my Plex Media Server. From what I've read, leaving it running isn't a problem for the pi, but I was wondering how concerned I should be for my hard drive? As it's connected, will it be constantly be spinning and therefore wear out? How long should I expect the life of it to be? I've got it left in situ and not moving (if that makes a difference)

Thank you

You can use hdparm to set hard drive parameters and smartmontools to monitor life.

Though be aware that some USB to IDE/SATA Chipsets do not play nice with above tools YMMV !