[Bug 59695] Re: High frequency of load/unload cycles on some hard disks may shorten lifetime

[Martin Wilson]

    I also had a notebook hard drive just die.  It was a Samsung in a
Dell XPS M1330.  I am not saying that because the hard drive died, and I
have taken interest in this bug, that this bug is the reason.  However I
did have smartctl report high load cycle counts (although I know this is
not alway accurate).  I can also confirm that the hard drive was ONLY
used under Ubuntu for the 4.5 month period it was alive (except for the
1 week with the preinstalled Vista).  And it was never dropped etc.  And
it also made a loud click 2-3 times a minute that it would not make when
using the preinstalled Vista before it was removed.  So, while this is
all just circumstantial evidence, take it or leave it as raw data.

    By the way, I would just like to mention one thing.   I have been
subscribed to this bug for months (in fact I was subscribed to other
bugs that this duplicated to hush some of the troubleshooting going on
in bug reports).  One of the arguments we see is the balance between
protecting the hard drive and reducing life from power cycling.  Take in
to account the two highest probability hard drive killers from this
argument:

1. The user drops the computer but the head was not parked and the platters are damaged.
2. The user gradually starts experiencing filesystem issues from a hard drive reaching the end of it's life.

    Now, considering both options, which one is primarily caused by the OS?  The second much more than the first.  While the OS _MAY_ have helped with the first situation, it is not definite and many users are not aware that the OS will even attempt to park the head when not in use.  In fact, most users don't even know what a hard drive head is, let alone a hard drive. 
    I am aware that the second situation, which in my hypothetical is mostly caused by the OS, allows for the user to make backups before serious failure as opposed to the first situation.  But in this hypothetical, let's say a person suddenly has a few files get corrupted, or perhaps even experiences some errors in day to day operation.  Is this user going to get their external hard drive and run dd_rescue?  Most likely not, I know my parents don't even know what dd is.
    My personal opinion, which I know does not amount to much in the scheme of things :), is that as a user-friendly distribution we should help pioneer ways to protect the less-technically-inclined user first and still leave all the options there for people who want to dig.  And I think that for this bug, the primary way to do this is to stop parking the head so much by default.

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High frequency of load/unload cycles on some hard disks may shorten lifetime
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/59695
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