On: Hard Drive Reliability Update – Sep 2014

[ars]

But Hitachi is owned by Western Digital, and Western Digital hard disks are not doing quite as well.

[linker3000 → ars]

It's now called "HGST (a Western Digital company)" and the two product lines (WD and HGST HDDs) are totally separate in both parts and manufacturing.

/HGST employee

[gukov → linker3000]

What makes your drives so good?

[atYevP → gukov]

Our guess is that they kiss every one of them before they leave the factory. For good luck...

[linker3000 → atYevP]

Please do not publicize our trade secrets.

[atYevP → linker3000]

Shit.

[Someone1234 → linker3000]

You don't work in the HDD division, right? Someone seriously needs to look into ADM (advanced power management) on your 2.5" drives. It is currently set too low and the drives power down instantly after each instruction, resulting in simply astonishingly terrible IO (and seriously lag spikes).

It is so bad even running HD video off of some 2014 HGST laptop hard drives causes distortion. There's also no way to increase the ADM value indefinitely that I am aware of (it reverts after every sleep).

[linker3000 → Someone1234]

Nope, I do other stuff with Flash Platforms. Go through the support link on the web site and send in your comments.

[Jetlag → linker3000]

Can you explain what "assets" Toshiba got to start their 3.5" drive business? Are HGST and Toshiba making very similar 3.5" drives?

[linker3000 → Jetlag]

Can't help with that one at all.

[atYevP → ars]

Yev from Backblaze here -> HGST is run by a completely different division w/ a different manufacturing line. So there are some difference!

[atYevP → atYevP]

^ *is some difference. #sigh