How long do hard drives last?

[Updated Oct 24, 2016 with new information]

About 1 in 20 hard drives fail during the first year. After that, the failure rate drops to about 1.4% for the next two years. Starting with the 4th year, failures rise to over 10% per year, so after 6 years 50% have failed and you can expect well over 10% failure each subsequent year.

What this means is that if your computer is important to your business, and you have a spinning hard drive, you should replace the hard drive, and probably the computer after 4-5 years. If you are using mirrored hard drives, you can press on a little longer.

Additional reading:

BackBlaze study of 25,000 drives
Older Google study

Update Oct 24, 2016

A newer backblaze study:
An article from Comparitech.com analyzing the above study.

Date: June 2014

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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Home Forms About Current Newsletter subscribe Search All Articles Browse by Category Security Internet Mobile Business Hardware Fun		How long do hard drives last? [Updated Oct 24, 2016 with new information] About 1 in 20 hard drives fail during the first year. After that, the failure rate drops to about 1.4% for the next two years. Starting with the 4th year, failures rise to over 10% per year, so after 6 years 50% have failed and you can expect well over 10% failure each subsequent year. What this means is that if your computer is important to your business, and you have a spinning hard drive, you should replace the hard drive, and probably the computer after 4-5 years. If you are using mirrored hard drives, you can press on a little longer. Additional reading: BackBlaze study of 25,000 drives Older Google study -- Update Oct 24, 2016 A newer backblaze study: An article from Comparitech.com analyzing the above study. Date: June 2014 This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
		I attempt to provide reliable information, but make no warranty as to the accuracy or safety of these articles. I disclaim all legal responsibility for what following these instructions may do. Follow my advice at your own risk