On Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:43:41 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Hint: I have a 15 year old Conner CP1060S 1GB drive sitting in my SCO
Unix 3.2v4.2 server. It's been running continuously since about
1995(?). Three mother boards (486DX2/66), one video card, and one
Wangtek tape controller card have blown up during this time. The
secret to long HD life is leave it running all the time and protect it
from power and static electricity glitches. ...

ditto for heat.

I've had setups where I've had drives run hot; however I know they can't be
expected to last 4 years under such conditions and that they not for storing
anything of value. For example, I have 3 WD raptors in a raid-0 configuration
burning away at 50-55 degC in my desktop. I don't give a **** because all they
have on them is the OS, applications, and temporary video work files. Anything
of value is on a seperate file server which is designed for the task and
runs very cool with both onsite and offsite backups.