Vertical or horizontal? (Hard drive orientation)

Ucof

Ucof

Ucof

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Evening all.

Just been looking around some of the Antec cases, and saw that in some of them, you can physically mount your hard drives either vertically (up/ down) or horizontally (left/ right).

I've always tried to keep hard drives horizontal as, I assume, there is not as much pressure on the hard drive motor as there would be if the platters were going up/down.

However, case manufacturers are not going to give you the option of mounting a hard drive in a way that is going to knacker your drives, but I still cant stop thinking that the drives really should be horizontal.


Does anyone have any experience or opinions on this please?
 
I agree that for some reason it seems more "right" to mount hard drives horizontally, but I'm pretty sure it's all in the mind, and the drives themselves don't care either way. Many commercial server cases mount drives vertically, and if there were any evidence to suggest they were more prone to failure this way it would have come to light by now.

The drive manufacturers themselves also say it doesn't matter:

Seagate

Western Digital

There was a suggestion at one time that the mechanicals "bed in" after a while, and the drive might have trouble seeking if you later switch orientation, but that was back in the days of primitive RLL drives, and it doesn't hold any water nowadays (if in fact there was ever any truth in it). :)
 
I've used drives both vertically and horizonally without issue, the main problem would be if you moved the drive while in operation as that may be slightly more likely to cause problems.
 
i've never even given it much thought to be honest, just seemed normal to mount drives horizontally. Does it make a difference? The only time i have mounted drives vertically is on this antec skeleton chassis, because it does'nt have the room internally for 6 drives, 4 have/can be mounted vertically on mounting brackets on the cases exterior.
 
+1 Ergates Enterprise solutions put drives vertical.

Let me just say....it makes no difference.

However if you did want to nit-pick, with a vertical drive mavity isnt affecting the distance of the heads from the surface of the platters :) LOL

Let me say again.....it rly rly rly doesnt matter.
 
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