Is it ok to leave an external hard drive on 24/7?

[ghking]

If I leave my external hard drive on all the time is it likely to overheat or something? Im thinkin about how Time Machine backs up data at midnight. This is the one I have.

http://beyondmicro.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BI&Product_Code=BM320MD3U28M&Category_Code=

[Blue Velvet]

Our one Lacie external drive connected to our little server is left on 24/7/365... probably two years running now.

[~J~]

I have a Seagate external that is connected to my AEBS that hasnt been turned off in over 2 months. Never had any issues with it overheating... even when my A/C died for 9 hours in the heat of a Texas day. It has a lot to do with the enclosure though, my Seagate stands upright and is in an aluminum casing, those two factors no doubt help.

[vanmacguy]

I have a Seagate external that is connected to my AEBS that hasnt been turned off in over 2 months. Never had any issues with it overheating... even when my A/C died for 9 hours in the heat of a Texas day. It has a lot to do with the enclosure though, my Seagate stands upright and is in an aluminum casing, those two factors no doubt help.

Same as mine and the same answer. No problems at all.

And at work we have high end servers with the drives spinning all the time. They last a couple of years at least and it's hot in that server cabinet!

[ghking]

Alright then. Thanks for the help!

[BennyK]

I have two HD's on 24/7 and I was worried about the same thing at first. I kept feeling them to make sure they werent two warm, but they never were warm and I never had a problem.

[ghking]

well mine definitely gets really warm, but i was just making sure it wouldnt be bad for it.

[keirnna]

You need to install a fan on your drive. Heat is awful for drives.