Any probs with new HDD manufactured 4 years ago?

[Boddy]

Hi, I spotted some enterprise hard drives, still sealed in bulk packaging with 'silicon' absorbent but was manufactured in 2012 but not put into production.

Do you for see any problems with using spinners that have been lying about for 4 years?

(I did have a problem with a Toshiba laptop that I only booted about 5 fines in 12 months that sounded like bearing was about to fail.)

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[BLinux]

In my opinion, they can be risky. If there was a defect in manufacturing, the defect might not manifest itself at first and instead start showing signs 3 or 5 months into using it. I don't think there's anything inherently bad about a good drive that has been sitting for a while; it's not like these have any evaporative lubricant or something else that can decay over time. If I'm buying old hard drives out of warranty, I prefer ones that have been burned in, or with a healthy moderate life. Brand new implies completely unknown state to me and hence riskier. Then again, if they are cheap enough, you simply hedge your risk by buying spares with the expectation to throw away 1 or 2.

 

[Boddy]

Thanks @BLinux for your feedback. Much appreciated! I picked up a couple extra ones for insurance. Good idea. Cheers.

 

[pgh5278]

You are correct to buy an extra when buying new but old.
Worked for 20 years putting sophisticated electronics into hot oil and gas wells. My experience was that these tools that were used frequently had a much higher performance history than the "backup tools" when the backup tools were used less often. Many schools of thought, but I used to run my backup tools regularly, and all was good, if they were not run regularly the infant mortality took much longer to occur ( years instead of months) . As a reference these tools were about 3 1/2" diameter, and when put together could be over 50 meters long and measure the rocks / formations for Resisitivty, Density, porosity, acoustic speed, natural gamma radiation. dielectic properties, take MRI measurements, take samples of fluid and rocks plus show images of the formations to see the bedding planes etc..