Is it ok to stack 3.5" Hard Drives?

Exoon · 15 May 2014 at 18:11

Hey

I've got a case which has space in the bottom for a 3.5" hard drive but i need to store two hard drives. Would it be ok to put something in between them some sort of washers so theirs abit of a gap between them for airflow, then stick a cable tie around them both to stop it falling off when moving the case.

dreigns · 15 May 2014 at 18:43

i'v done it before and its ok as long as u can secure them some how remember they vibrate and could move and u don't want one to fall off the other while writing data because that might kill the drive

Stuen4y · 16 May 2014 at 17:41

Exoon said:
Hey

I've got a case which has space in the bottom for a 3.5" hard drive but i need to store two hard drives. Would it be ok to put something in between them some sort of washers so theirs abit of a gap between them for airflow, then stick a cable tie around them both to stop it falling off when moving the case.

I would not do that. Firstly - vibrations; secondly - heat. If you have very, very good airflow and the drives are 5400RPM, maybe it will be ok. But for 7200RPM drives it will most probably lead to a sooner than expected failure. It might not be right away but you will definitely shorten their lives dramatically.

darael · 17 May 2014 at 10:38

You'll need about an inch of air between the two drives and a fan right in front of the drives to keep them reliable. If possible use a rubber washer to absorb vibrations.

Steampunk · 17 May 2014 at 11:14

Drives get hot. I always try to leave an empty bay between them, and have a fan blowing air across them. Some airflow makes a big difference to the temps and the life of the drive, but if they are close together, you won't get enough of a cooling effect.

nosehairuk · 17 May 2014 at 17:15

Can you not fit one of them in a spare 5.25 bay with an adaptor?

TheVoice · 17 May 2014 at 18:15

Stuen4y said:
I would not do that. Firstly - vibrations; secondly - heat. If you have very, very good airflow and the drives are 5400RPM, maybe it will be ok. But for 7200RPM drives it will most probably lead to a sooner than expected failure. It might not be right away but you will definitely shorten their lives dramatically.

http://techreport.com/news/11872/google-publishes-hard-drive-failure-study

Google's data suggest that high drive temperatures and high utilization don't necessarily translate to higher failure rates.

OP, they'll be fine close together (PC cases do this ALL the time, I don't know why people think it's suddenly an issue) but it would be a good idea to not have them resting on one another without some form of vibration-dampening material at least.