On Tue, Oct 16, 2018 at 04:20:03PM -0400, Paul Robert Marino wrote:
>
> smart is predictive and doesn't catch all errors its also not compatible
> with all disks and controllers especially raid capable controllers.
> 


Do not reject SMART as useless, it correctly reports many actual disk failures:

a) overheating (actual disk temperature is reported in degrees Centigrade)
b) unreadable sectors (data on these sectors is already lost) - disk model dependant
c) "hard to read" sectors (WD specific - "raw read error rate")
d) sata link communication errors ("CRC error count")

even more useful actual (*not* predictive) stuff is reported for SSDs (again, model dependant)

it is true that much of this information is disk model dependant and
one has to have some experience with the SMART data to be able
to read it in a meaningful way.

as for raid controllers that prevent access to disk SMART data,
they are as safe to use a car with a blank dashboard (no fuel level,
no engine temperature, no speedometer, etc).


-- 
Konstantin Olchanski
Data Acquisition Systems: The Bytes Must Flow!
Email: olchansk-at-triumf-dot-ca
Snail mail: 4004 Wesbrook Mall, TRIUMF, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 2A3, Canada