Entries this day: mtbf

mtbf

20:21 Thursday 26 November 2015 JST

This is a note to Mayumi after she was asking me about computer lifespans, etc.

there are probably errors in the tripe below.

Hard drives are rated with various numbers (e.g. speed, size, dimensions) and others, including MTBF (mean time between failures). I think the average hard drive we might buy in the shop has 10,000 hours or 15,000 hours MTBF, which I believe means this model of hard drive can, on average, be used for 10,000 to 15,000 hours before it fails to do its job (store and retrieve data).

10,000 hours is the average, so you might get lucky and have a drive that lasts far longer. If it gets just the right amount of exercise and enjoys a peaceful lifestyle, it will probably last longer.

If your hard drive has recently started to make a "weird noise," it's very likely saying "さよなら" and you should get your data off as soon as possible.

BUT, if the noise has been going for some weeks or months, it's probably just your computer's fan, which can likely be replaced for around 5000 yen (if you have the right screw drivers)

In any case, a hard drive can stop working without warning, so (as you mentioned) you should keep a backup of your data somewhere.

dropbox.com is probably the most popular free service dedicated to this kind of online storage; they offer some gigabytes of space for free, and you can pay for larger plans.

spideroak.com is the provider I use. It costs money, but they encrypt the data so no one (but me) can get my data from their servers.

There are other solutions as well; if you are interested in keeping your photos, why not start an online photo album? Picasa and Flickr are options which come to mind. There are others, including paid services (Smugmug, etc).

If any of this is interesting to you, I can write more, but searching online will give you a plethora of options.