I have 6 4TB WD powered HDD's on the table

[MiniD3]

Do they have to stand up? or Can I run them on their side?
Nearly taken a fall, would hate to trash one of them before its time
I do have CCC back up but still concerned stability standing
If they can lie down Im think more air floe would happen as well
...........Gary

 

[Audit13]

I lay mine on their side, label side up.

 

[MiniD3]

I lay mine on their side, label side up.

Much appreciated, thought I would check before I made the move
Feel much safer now, thank you!

 

[Audit13]

Much appreciated, thought I would check before I made the move
Feel much safer now, thank you!

You are welcome. If you look at some of the Seagate desktop external drives, they can also need used vertically or on its side.

 

[nicho]

You are welcome. If you look at some of the Seagate desktop external drives, they can also need used vertically or on its side.

I'm just wondering what led you to that conclusion? The particular model you posted has moulded feet on the bottom but not on the side. I'd be wary of doing anything which covers ventilation holes (like placing them flat on a surface...) as this increases the chances of early failure due to heat.

 

[MiniD3]

You are welcome. If you look at some of the Seagate desktop external drives, they can also need used vertically or on its side.

Thank you
Feel much better now, have been sorting out huge catalogs during covid, now looking good
and , feel much safer with them lying flat

 

[nicho]

Thank you
Feel much better now, have been sorting out huge catalogs during covid, now looking good
and , feel much safer with them lying flat

Which models do you have, exactly?

Pretty much every hard drive made that is still functional today can operate in multiple orientations including flat or side-on. Think back to the original ipods and ipod minis.

HOWEVER: external enclosures aren't always designed with this in mind and heat is the biggest killer of these devices.

 

[MiniD3]

Pretty much look like this, all except one is USB 3 and some are my book and some are call essentials
I'm thinking lying down may let more air in from the vented top and bottom?

 

[nicho]

Pretty much look like this, all except one is USB 3 and some are my book and some are call essentials
I'm thinking lying down may let more air in from the vented top and bottom?

Heat rises. If you turn them on their side, you no longer have a vent at the top and for the heat to escape from.

Working Position of WD Mybook Essential 2TB

Hello, I have two questions: Can I use my “WD Mybook Essential 2TB” harddisk in horizontal position? Because when I use it in vertical position, sometimes accidentally I knock it out and I think this may damage the harddisk. So can you tell me that is it okey to use it in horizontal...

community.wd.com

Also, if you have 6 you would need to factor in space between them else you would be blocking almost all of the ventilation. How big is this table!??

 

[Audit13]

Which models do you have, exactly?

Pretty much every hard drive made that is still functional today can operate in multiple orientations including flat or side-on. Think back to the original ipods and ipod minis.

HOWEVER: external enclosures aren't always designed with this in mind and heat is the biggest killer of these devices.

I have the 8 TB WD easy store which looks exactly like the OP's. These contain 5400 rpm drives and run cool. I've been using my three externals for years while laying on their side. The ventilation holes are not obstructed.

The Seagate pictured is meant to sit on a flat surface and the ventilation holes are only on the bottom and rear of the enclosure with none on the top, front, or sides.I have two of these Seagate 6 TB drives at work. I then daily and they have worked wonderfully for years.

Having the drive tip over while reading or writing data is going to be far more disastrous than having three drive run a bit warmer. Head slap is a definite drive disaster.

Having ventilation holes on the side doesn't mean heat can't escape.

 

[MiniD3]

Back again
"Current" table 46 inches long (1170cm)
(going to get a new computer desk this year)
Hoping I cam get a new one that is longer........thinking of a monitor for image editing

 

[nicho]

I have the 8 TB WD easy store which looks exactly like the OP's. These contain 5400 rpm drives and run cool. I've been using my three externals for years while laying on their side. The ventilation holes are not obstructed.

The Seagate pictured is meant to sit on a flat surface and the ventilation holes are only on the bottom and rear of the enclosure with none on the top, front, or sides.I have two of these Seagate 6 TB drives at work. I then daily and they have worked wonderfully for years.

Having the drive tip over while reading or writing data is going to be far more disastrous than having three drive run a bit warmer. Head slap is a definite drive disaster.

Having ventilation holes on the side doesn't mean heat can't escape.

The link I posted above shows that they do run hotter - someone actually tested it. Significantly hotter? No. But that was with a single drive and OP should make sure that there are gaps between each unit, otherwise having ventilation holes on the side absolutely will mean heat can't escape.


On a different note, I have one of the pictured Seagate drives at home, and as you can see in the picture, you're wrong. I assume you haven't been to work recently and have forgotten, but they absolutely do have ventilation holes at the sides.

Seagate Backup Plus External Hard Drive Review (8TB)

The Seagate Backup Plus 8TB is the latest addition to their portfolio of external desktop drives, offering users with the largest available single-drive solution available on the market. The availability of an 8TB model is certainly a very important release for many, as data size and storage...

www.storagereview.com

You still haven't really answered the question as to why you think that there's a correlation between a seagate external enclosure being designed to be laid flat (and only designed to be laid flat...) and a WD enclosure that was designed to be stood vertically being able to lay flat.

 

[Audit13]

The link I posted above shows that they do run hotter - someone actually tested it. Significantly hotter? No. But that was with a single drive and OP should make sure that there are gaps between each unit, otherwise having ventilation holes on the side absolutely will mean heat can't escape.


On a different note, I have one of the pictured Seagate drives at home, and as you can see in the picture, you're wrong. I assume you haven't been to work recently and have forgotten, but they absolutely do have ventilation holes at the sides.

Seagate Backup Plus External Hard Drive Review (8TB)

The Seagate Backup Plus 8TB is the latest addition to their portfolio of external desktop drives, offering users with the largest available single-drive solution available on the market. The availability of an 8TB model is certainly a very important release for many, as data size and storage...

www.storagereview.com

You still haven't really answered the question as to why you think that there's a correlation between a seagate external enclosure being designed to be laid flat (and only designed to be laid flat...) and a WD enclosure that was designed to be stood vertically being able to lay flat.

The correlation is that the Seagate has holes on the side and sitting the WD on its side means the WD has holes on the side.

I see on the Seagate picture that the holes are very tiny compared to the vents in the WD. Does it make a difference? I don't know.

I used to run software to check each drive's temperature but stopped because they never got hot enough to affect performance.

Is it worse to have a slightly higher running temperature or head slap? I'll take higher temp.

The OP asked a question. I gave my answer based on my own personal experience with the WD 8 TB Easy Store drives that I have used for years in a horizontal position.

Have you used these WD external drives over many years?

I have had a Seagate Backup Plus USB which is also meant to be used vertically. I have been using it horizontally from day one for the past 1.5 years with zero problems.

 

[nicho]

The correlation is that the Seagate has holes on the side and sitting the WD on its side means the WD has holes on the side.

I see on the Seagate picture that the holes are very tiny compared to the vents in the WD. Does it make a difference? I don't know.

I used to run software to check each drive's temperature but stopped because they never got hot enough to affect performance.

Is it worse to have a slightly higher running temperature or head slap? I'll take higher temp.

The OP asked a question. I gave my answer based on my own personal experience with the WD 8 TB Easy Store drives that I have used for years in a horizontal position.

Have you used these WD external drives over many years?

I guess we'll chalk this up to "right answer for the wrong reasons". If you've used similar drives to OP for many years in the position he's asking about - great, there's the answer. I've had similar concerns about the seagate backup hub drives I bought recently falling over, although I ended up finding a new place for them to sit rather than lying them flat.

Why try to justify it with the seagate drive which was designed for a different orientation? Completely different product, different hard drive inside. It will increase temperatures in this case. OP can mitigate it by keeping distance between them, but needs to be aware of that instead of creating one long heat duct.

 

[Audit13]

I guess we'll chalk this up to "right answer for the wrong reasons". If you've used similar drives to OP for many years in the position he's asking about - great, there's the answer. I've had similar concerns about the seagate backup hub drives I bought recently falling over, although I ended up finding a new place for them to sit rather than lying them flat.

Why try to justify it with the seagate drive which was designed for a different orientation? Completely different product, different hard drive inside. It will increase temperatures in this case. OP can mitigate it by keeping distance between them, but needs to be aware of that instead of creating one long heat duct.

My apologies, you are correct. I should have referred to the Seagate Backup Plus USB that I have been using for the past 1.5 years as my personal drive in a horizontal position rather than my work Seagate. It's a SMR drive in the Backup Plus Hub and the WDs are PMR. Does that make a difference in terms of heat? I don't know but the temps look fine to me for both my Seagate and WD.