S.M.A.R.T. drive Enable?

[bluewatr]

I have a M747 PCCHIPS Main Brd. In the C_Mos is a setting for S.M.A.R.T. drive Enable. WHat is a S.M.A.R.T. drive? I just installed a PCI Ultra ATA100 Interface. Should I be enabling S.M.A.R.T. drive?

Thanks in advance!

-mike

[Rocketmech]

FYI

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/qual/featuresSMART-c.html

[BipolarBill]

S.M.A.R.T. hurts performance. It's a trade-off.

[bluewatr]

Thanks guys....

[Baddog]

It sounds like a smart program to have enabled for bussiness computers.

[otheos]

S.M.A.R.T. hurts performance. It's a trade-off.

Absolutely NOT!!!!

SMART support in the BIOS is very important. It only accesses the firmware at POST and sees if the drive is reporting anything wrong.

Most drives do SMART logging by default. All that setting in BIOS does is checking that log prior to POST. This has nothing to do with performance as it is only done once at POST.

The misconception carries on though, as SMART loggin is done all the time and whether or not you monitor it (with software) has nothing to do with the drives performance. It takes up a standard range of registers in the firmware which software reads. The checks are done anyway so no performance loss.

On top you have a lifesaver for your data!!


EDIT: Enable SMART in BIOS is not a toggle for SMART operations on the HDDs. Absolutely not! It only reads the SMART log at POST.

[BipolarBill]

What I was referring to (thin post I admit) was the OS S.M.A.R.T. monitoring programs. Norton Utilities has one and it does hurt Windows performance.

[otheos]

Norton Utilities has one and it does hurt Windows performance.

Is there anything Norton has that does not mess up Windows?

Reading the SMART log off the firmware should cause absolutely no performance loss. If it does, it's just badly written. Like I said, SMART logging (that involves the HDD operation) is done by default and the measured performance in benchmarks include it.

[BipolarBill]

Where is this SMART log, Otheos?

I would guess that since logging and log checking is done only at startup, SMART wouldn't really benefit a system which was on 24/7?

[otheos]

The log is in the firmware. You need software to read it (like Norton above but as you said it does a lousy job).

The entry in BIOS indeed does not help in a 24/7 box. It only checks the log at boot up.

Logging however is done all the time by the drive. You only need to check that log (monitor) every now and then, and this is how a 24/7 system is benefited.

[ukulele]

The free download SpeedFan has a SMART reader built into it. It can show the data for each drive in the system and displays a fitness and performance graph for the selected drive. I can't say how well it can predict drive failure but does seem to work as I have two older drives that I know are beginning to fail and the program validates my assesment.

[BipolarBill]

Very cool. Too bad I use Promise controllers. :(

Say, fellas - got any "SMART saved my bacon" stories?

[otheos]

You promise controllers should be no problem. I use CMD ATA100 controllers and I monitor my RAID5 just fine.

Oh, and you can view HDD temperature from SMART too.

[BipolarBill]

I think that the Promise cards lack SMART monitoring. There is no BIOS configuration and there's no DOS utility. SMART software doesn't see any SMART drives present.

[otheos]

I doubt it lacks the ability. However the software is important, and I remind you BIOS has nothing to do with it, only some BIOSes have the functionality to get a status report at POST.

I am sure other software will read it fine but it's not free (for windows :)).

[BipolarBill]

Originally posted by otheos
it's not free (for windows :)). Veerry funny. :mad:


;)

[otheos]

Sorry I couldn't resist. I have been reading lots of linux bashing lately and have become a bit aggressive.

To the point thought, RH7.3 comes with a smart daemon that logs everything and even notifies of "bad" happenings. Quite handy for a file server with 4x80GB in RAID5.


Jul 26 13:57:10 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hde, Temperature changed -1 degrees to 35 degress since last reading
Jul 26 14:27:10 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hdi, Temperature changed 1 degrees to 33 degress since last reading
Jul 26 15:27:10 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hdi, Temperature changed 1 degrees to 35 degress since last reading
Jul 26 15:57:10 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hdg, Temperature changed -1 degrees to 36 degress since last reading
Jul 26 16:57:10 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hde, Temperature changed 1 degrees to 37 degress since last reading
Jul 26 18:27:11 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hde, Temperature changed -1 degrees to 36 degress since last reading
Jul 26 18:57:11 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hdk, Temperature changed -1 degrees to 35 degress since last reading
Jul 26 19:27:11 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hdg, Temperature changed -1 degrees to 36 degress since last reading
Jul 26 19:57:11 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hdi, Temperature changed 1 degrees to 34 degress since last reading

[BipolarBill]

Wow...very verbose log you got there.

Jul 26 13:57:10 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hde, Mood changed - would like Chinese food tonite Jul 26 14:27:10 zeus smartd: Device: /dev/hdi, Mood changed - let's have Mongolian barbeque.


:p

[otheos]

Lol Bill,

That won't be an array then it will be a social club hehehe.

[rmanet]

cool thread - seems I'm always learning something here at sysopt

have a few older 20 gig HDDs in machines at home, never really paid much attention to drive integrity (other than occasional scandisk and defrag) but looks like S.M.A.R.T. could be a real lifesaver?

[axle619]

Just to let you all know, I was having some problems with S.M.A.R.T. on my Gigabyte GA7VRXP Raid system. The utility that monitors my Promise Raid 0 setup (Fast Track) had S.M.A.R.T. check enabled. Every 2 mins my comp would freeze for about 10 secs while my hard drives were accessed. VERY annoying. I think the main prob was that there was no way to dictate how often my drives were to be checked. Once I took it off, no problems....

Really bothered me a long time...I just didn't knwo what was wrong. It would also make my hard drive inaccessible after a Stand-by.

Alex

[BipolarBill]

I guess that sticking with BIOS monitoring makes sense in your case, axle619.

[germanjulian]

man i said it ones i say it again.
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

free. monitors all temp and shows smart temps for hard drives and u can even see how well ur drives are performing

[SPEEDO]

This is from my Asus manual.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/slipshod/hpbimg/Smart.JPG

[BipolarBill]

All of my mobo manuals say the same.

[SPEEDO]

Well that settles it IMO...............:cool: