How smart is SMART now?

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    How smart is SMART now?


    Posted: 12 Nov 2014
    Your disks and SSDs have a self-monitoring function called SMART. But how good is it? The fine folks at Backblaze are back with data on how well SMART works for them.

    SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a protocol for passing information from a disk or SSD to the CPU. It's part of the ATA and SCSI standards and is based on work by IBM, Seagate and others done in the '90s.

    The protocol has a consistent data structure able to report over 70 statistics, but what gets measured is up to the vendor. SMART looks at the trends in these and other measures to determine if the drive is headed for failure.

    Backblaze started tracking SMART data earlier this year on almost 40,000 drives to see if and how SMART could help predict drive failure. A drive failure is counted when the drive either won't power up, is bricked, or is showing (SMART) evidence of failing soon.
    Read more...
    Brink's Avatar Posted By: Brink
    12 Nov 2014



  1. NoN
    Posts : 4,166
    Windows 7 Professional SP1 - x64 [Non-UEFI Boot]
       #1

    Yeah, if Smart says "Ok", you can't trust it, fair enough...Its a bit of a guess and how you are servicing your drives & the power management they have, i recon. That's quite the only way to prevent a drive failure apart a bad design of the manufacturer side.
    I'm checking time to time with the CrystalDiskInfo software the values, and do a full scan either with Macrorit Disk Scanner free or when i have plenty of time with the embedded Windows Chkdsk command. Most of the time, i "cross fingers"...:)
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 22
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit SP1 with Media Center
       #2

    Like a car tyre, I just cross my fingers & hope it lasts until i make the next upgrade.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #3

    Trusting SMART is like trusting your girlfriend around you wife. You really don't know what is going to happen.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 2,497
    Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
       #4

    SMART provides a valuable warning but you should never rely on it. You should make backups when everything is working well and not wait until you receive a warning. The time between receiving the warning and drive failure may be too short or one of many things may happen that SMART has no knowledge of. The drive electronics is just one of many. Electronic devices typically fail without warning or apparent cause.

    Many warnings outside of computers work the same way. The "Check Engine" light in a car provides a useful warning that something may be wrong and action needs to be take. But the lack of the warning doesn't mean all is well.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 4,566
    Windows 10 Pro
       #5

    Layback Bear said:
    Trusting SMART is like trusting your girlfriend around you wife. You really don't know what is going to happen.
    lol good one.

    LMiller7 said:
    SMART provides a valuable warning but you should never rely on it. You should make backups when everything is working well and not wait until you receive a warning. The time between receiving the warning and drive failure may be too short or one of many things may happen that SMART has no knowledge of. The drive electronics is just one of many. Electronic devices typically fail without warning or apparent cause.

    Many warnings outside of computers work the same way. The "Check Engine" light in a car provides a useful warning that something may be wrong and action needs to be take. But the lack of the warning doesn't mean all is well.
    I wish I could make a backup image of my car....
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
       #6

    Layback Bear said:
    Trusting SMART is like trusting your girlfriend around you wife. You really don't know what is going to happen.
    Oh come on now, you know that will never end well.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
       #7

    andrew129260 said:
    ...I wish I could make a backup image of my car....
    LOL! You and me three!
      My Computer


  8. NoN
    Posts : 4,166
    Windows 7 Professional SP1 - x64 [Non-UEFI Boot]
       #8

    Well, seems the subject here has turned into a "smart" debate!!
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 2,464
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #9

    Reminds me of antiviruses. They're increasingly being proven as ineffective, yet people would happily trust their lives to them (their digital lives, that is ).
      My Computer


 
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