How to check your hdd health

el5olfaa.com

New member
Hello,

I will explain to you how to check your hdd health on Ubuntu / Centos let's do it .

1) We need to install smartctl first so connect to your server shell and do the following command :
Ubuntu :
Code:
sudo apt-get install smartmontools

Centos :
Code:
yum install smartmontools
2) Now we can run a short or long test using the following command
Assume you want to check the first disk which is sda :
Code:
smartctl --test=short /dev/sda

3) Wait for a 15 minute then do the following command to show check status :
Code:
smartctl -l selftest /dev/sda

Now if you see read failure in check status backup your data and be ready to replace this hdd .

That's all

Good luck
 
When you get the results of a test,

Don't just read the line

"SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED"

and assume everything is OK.

You still have to look at the full output to look for errors or future issues.
 
The smartctl is a great tool for checking Hard Disk health, Like wise HDPARM is another Disk Inspecting tool used for tuning hard disk or DVD drive, but it can also measure read speed, deliver valuable information about the device, change important drive settings, and even erase SSDs securely.

Informative about the disk:
----------------------------------------
hdparm -I /dev/sda
----------------------------------------

To determine how fast a drive delivers data:
----------------------------------------
hdparm -t /dev/sda
----------------------------------------
 
It's been a long time since I've used SMART on a drive, but I seem to recall a ton of false positives when using it. Was that ever resolved?

Also, there was some sort of issue with RAID, but I can't recall what the issue was.
 
When you get the results of a test,

Don't just read the line

"SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED"

and assume everything is OK.

You still have to look at the full output to look for errors or future issues.
This is why HetrixTools let you know if there additionally any errors output and wear leveling. As well you can monitor speeds as well to see if there may be performance issues as well or if the disk/array is "going bad".
 
you can monitor your disk health by long test and see if you pending sectors are increasing day after day, your disk will die soon
 
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