Smart

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by lionrampant, May 16, 2006.

  1. lionrampant

    lionrampant Specialist

    How reliable is SMART. Can I expect to see a warning before my HDD fails,
     
  2. Clark_Kent

    Clark_Kent MajorGeek

    Yes we will see a warning when your HD it's about to fail it very reliable but
    if your not happy with smart you have a few program to check the health
    of your HD.....
     
  3. ASUS

    ASUS MajorGeek

    For Most is Best to Disable S.M.A.R.T.

    HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability

    Common Options : Enabled, Disabled

    Quick Review

    This BIOS feature controls support for the hard disk's S.M.A.R.T. (Self Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology) capability.

    S.M.A.R.T. is supported by all current hard disks and it allows the early prediction and warning of impending hard disk disasters. You should enable it if you want to use S.M.A.R.T.-aware utilities to monitor the hard disk's condition. Enabling it also allows the monitoring of the hard disk's condition over a network.

    While S.M.A.R.T. looks like a really great safety feature, it isn't really that useful or even necessary for most users. For S.M.A.R.T. to work, it is not just a matter of enabling it in the BIOS. You must also keep a S.M.A.R.T.-aware hardware monitoring utility running in the background all the time.

    That's quite alright if the hard disk you are using has a spotty reputation and you need advanced warning of any impending failure. However, hard disks these days are mostly reliable enough to make S.M.A.R.T. redundant. Unless you are running mission-critical applications, it is very unlikely that S.M.A.R.T. will be of any use at all.

    With that said, S.M.A.R.T. is still useful in providing a modicum of data loss prevention by continuously monitoring hard disks for signs of impending failure. If you have critical or irreplaceable data, you should enable this BIOS feature and use a S.M.A.R.T.-aware hardware monitoring software. Just don't rely completely on it! Back up your data on a CD or DVD!

    Please note that even if you do not use any S.M.A.R.T.-aware utility, enabling S.M.A.R.T. in the BIOS uses up some bandwidth because the hard disk will continuously send out data packets. So, if you do not use S.M.A.R.T.-aware utilities or if you do not need that level of real-time reporting, disable HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability for better overall performance.

    Some of the newer BIOSes now come with S.M.A.R.T. monitoring support built-in. When you enable HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability, these new BIOSes will automatically check the hard disk's S.M.A.R.T. status at boot-up. However, such a feature has very limited utility as it can only tell you the status of the hard disk at boot-up. Therefore, it is still advisable for you to disable HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability unless you use a proper S.M.A.R.T.-aware monitoring utility.
     
  4. Adrynalyne

    Adrynalyne Guest

    I disagree. I've seen too many users call in to MS with eminent failure messages from SMART. THey thought it was the OS.

    It allows them to save their data before they lose it.

    Its good to keep it enabled.
     
  5. ASUS

    ASUS MajorGeek

    It's O.K. to disagree. :)
    I'm not an expert, but IMO my source is good one.
    Regardless there are couple of Pro & Cons either way

    I should have mentioned I copied this from what I consider a great Bios Giude
    from Adrian rojak pot.com "The Definitive Bios Optiminization Guide"

    I choose to Disable Smart, I'm looking for the most in performance, I keep important data backed up, so the loss of HDD isnt an issue or not atleast a big one for me.
    If my HDD takes a dump I'll know it.

    SMART has been know to give false warnings.
    I have also seen a HDD fail while SMART was enable without warning.
    So I cant say reliable.

    I'm sure for the original poster there is no harm enabling maybe he or she will have warning, thats the concept anyway
     

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