hard disk reliability

[Joseph Mack]

Christoph Wasshuber wrote:

> Hard disks are
> the most unreliable part in PCs. Does anybody
> have manufacturer numbers like MTBF (mean time
> between failure)?

I was at a talk by a systems integrator, where he
said that if the same procedures were used for
determining MTBF for humans as for disks, the
human lifetime would be about 2000 yrs. The young
people who die from infectious diseases, and
car accidents are clearly not representative
of a normal working adult and the old people who've
retired and suffering from degenerative diseases
can be similarly discounted. Thus an expected
lifespan of about 2000yrs for healthy adults.

Joe

-- 
Joseph Mack PhD, Senior Systems Engineer, Lockheed Martin
contractor to the National Environmental Supercomputer Center, 
mailto:mack.joseph@epa.gov ph# 919-541-0007, RTP, NC, USA