things to consider for HD enclosures...

[dangit]

hello, i am a newbie so i was wondering...

are there features (ie anti-shock) to consider when buying an external enclosure for a hard drive? for example, i travel a lot and i take my external hard drive in an enclosure like this: http://www.dealsonic.com/becoplseal35.html

i heard there is an anti-shock feature in some cases, but this one doesn't state it does. i'm careful to not move the hard drive when it's operating, but is it possible to damage the HD when I carry it around a lot in this case? thanks

 

[Smokin-A.I.]

yes it is possible. gravity can cause the heads to wander and crash , sometimes agains the platters which can be devastating to the drive. there used to be some programs that would let you " park " the heads..im not sure they still exist , and if they do get one.

 

[Apokalipse]

it is possible to damage it if it gets jerked around, especially if it's moving. I know Seagate are pretty tolerant to bumping, I think they are supposed to withstand up to 350 Gs, but I wouldn't try and test that.
even if you have an enclosure which is supposed to be 'anti shock' I would still be careful with them

parking the heads sounds like an interesting idea

 

[ohGrFreak]

I though HD's automatically park the heads during shutdown or powerdown.

 

[TheMajor]

Yes. On modern drives they park automatically.
They can still touch the platters, though.

 

[dangit]

i have a seagate barracuda, is that modern enough so that the HD would park automatically? But are you saying it's still possible to break the HD even when it's parked? how do i take care of the drive when i travel with it? by the way, i never touch the HD once it's turned on.

 

[dangit]

if i want the head to park automatically, do i have to wait for my computer to shut down with the hard drive? or can i turn off my external hard drive whenever i want?

 

[TheMajor]

I think you can turn it off whenever you want. Ask the manufacturer to make sure. I think your Barracuda is modern enough, cause I shut my comp down if it freezes or something without spinning down my HD's first.

 

[dangit]

is yours an internal or external drive? i have an external drive, so does it matter if i shut it down whenever i want even if the computer is still on?

 

[TheMajor]

I don't know. My drive is internal.