HardDrive Suspension + Start up acceleration

[Tiamat]

I hope this thread is considered highly tech.

I have suspended by Raptor on 2 12" 3/8"diameter Bungee cords. The cords are in a U type setup where the ends are held by clamps from the floppy drive bays and the Harddrive "sits" on the 2 cords (Harddrive is clamped to the cords). The clamp is a typical wire clamp used to affix cables to a wall.

When the Harddrive starts up, I notice it "jerks." This is due to the very fast acceleration of the drive from 0 rpm, to about 10,000 rpm. Does this circular acceleration (in what is effectly "Free-space") damage the drive?

When the drive is mounted "correctly" into a 3.5" bay, the bay acts as barrier so the drive can spin without any potential problems. I imagine this to sort of like how a rocket has the round to push against.

In my "free-space" example where its only hung by the cords, there is nothing for the harddrive to "push against" when it begins spinning.

I hope I haven't been redundant.

Any help, ideas, links, experiences would be appreciated.

P.S. the benefits: Better airflow around Harddrive, Harddrive vibrations absorbed within bungee material.

 

[Matthias99]

I imagine this to sort of like how a rocket has the round to push against.

Well, you lost me with this sentence, but I've never heard of anyone having problems from using suspension mounts for their hard drives. I doubt it's undergoing more than a couple Gs of acceleration, and only for a second or two during startup.

I guess there *could* be some degradation in terms of MTBF if you're frequently powering the drive on and off. But I doubt it would have a very large impact even then.

 

[TuxDave]

That is the oddest setup I have ever heard. Aren't you worried about the HDD falling off the cords?

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

I imagine this to sort of like how a rocket has the round to push against.

Well, you lost me with this sentence, but I've never heard of anyone having problems from using suspension mounts for their hard drives. I doubt it's undergoing more than a couple Gs of acceleration, and only for a second or two during startup.

I guess there *could* be some degradation in terms of MTBF if you're frequently powering the drive on and off. But I doubt it would have a very large impact even then.

heeh, sorry for the not so good comparison. I was basically saying how usually when something accelerates really fast, it needs something to push against. In this case, my harddrive is just standing in free air, so it doesnt have anything to push against when it suddenly goes from 0rpm to 10000 rpm.


TuxDave, its actually pretty secure. I guess a good picture would come into handy, although im just starting to learn all about using a digi cam, and uploading pictures to a non-existant webspace.

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: Matthias99

I imagine this to sort of like how a rocket has the round to push against.

Well, you lost me with this sentence, but I've never heard of anyone having problems from using suspension mounts for their hard drives. I doubt it's undergoing more than a couple Gs of acceleration, and only for a second or two during startup.

I guess there *could* be some degradation in terms of MTBF if you're frequently powering the drive on and off. But I doubt it would have a very large impact even then.

heeh, sorry for the not so good comparison. I was basically saying how usually when something accelerates really fast, it needs something to push against. In this case, my harddrive is just standing in free air, so it doesnt have anything to push against when it suddenly goes from 0rpm to 10000 rpm.


TuxDave, its actually pretty secure. I guess a good picture would come into handy, although im just starting to learn all about using a digi cam, and uploading pictures to a non-existant webspace.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: TuxDave

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: Matthias99

I imagine this to sort of like how a rocket has the round to push against.

Well, you lost me with this sentence, but I've never heard of anyone having problems from using suspension mounts for their hard drives. I doubt it's undergoing more than a couple Gs of acceleration, and only for a second or two during startup.

I guess there *could* be some degradation in terms of MTBF if you're frequently powering the drive on and off. But I doubt it would have a very large impact even then.

heeh, sorry for the not so good comparison. I was basically saying how usually when something accelerates really fast, it needs something to push against. In this case, my harddrive is just standing in free air, so it doesnt have anything to push against when it suddenly goes from 0rpm to 10000 rpm.


TuxDave, its actually pretty secure. I guess a good picture would come into handy, although im just starting to learn all about using a digi cam, and uploading pictures to a non-existant webspace.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com

Thanks for the link! Ill post sometime later during the weekend.

 

[cmv]

You could always buy some X10 gear on the cheap, take one your crappier IDE disk drivers, hook up the X10 with the computer plug to power cycle a spare power supply connected to the HDD and go nuts. Just let it cycle every x seconds (say 30?) and pause every 10-20k to see if the drive still functions.

X10 had some intro offers so that stuff should be cheap on eBay if it isn't already in your closet. A batch file is probably simple enough to do the on/off triggering....