[wplug] Question about smartmontools

[Vance Kochenderfer]

Mike Sussman <sussmanm at math.pitt.edu> wrote:
> My short question is, "If an extended SMART self-test reports 'Completed
> without error,' does that mean the drive is reliable, even if an earlier
> self-test failed?"

I can't claim extensive experience, but I have had one drive fail
on me after showing SMART errors.

My understanding is that after encountering an error with a
sector, drives are able to mark it so it won't be used in the
future.  Assuming that the sector can be read after an initial
error, the data can be copied elsewhere and re-mapped
automatically to the new location.

However, I wouldn't be tempted to say that the drive is reliable
in such a situation.  (For that matter, *any* drive is unreliable
in the long term.)  If it were my drive, I would make sure my
backups are in order and perhaps continue to use it, running extra
periodic SMART tests.  Once another error showed up, I'd
definitely demote it if not quit using it entirely.

In my case, the first error was rather quickly followed by quite a
few more, so it wasn't a close call.

Vance Kochenderfer        |  "Get me out of these ropes and into a
vance at happylemur.com      |   good belt of Scotch"    -Nick Danger