ATA Error Count - what's bad?

Hello,

I recommend replacing the drive. Netgear replaces drives with a lot less ATA errors than you are seeing. I would also make sure you have a current backup as well just in case any further failures occur.

Thanks - drive seems to have failed completely now, typical! Going to be tricky to find an exact replacement it seems, and just when the damn cover ran out as well.

At that count, I would recommend replacing it as well.

I usually go by how quickly the numbers raise. I've got a system with 51 ATA errors now, but that number only goes up every few weeks by an increment of one, so I've left it alone for now.

The model does not need to be the same. As long as the drive is on our compatibility list (http://www.readynas.com/?page_id=82), you should be fine using it.

Support Resources -

Forums:

Prosafe: http://forum1.netgear.com
ReadyNAS: http://www.readynas.com/forum
Prosecure: http://prosecure.netgear.com/community/forum.php

Contact support or register a device

1-888-NETGEAR (638 - 4327) Option 4 for technical support
http://my.netgear.com

Knowledge base

http://support.netgear.com

It also depends on how important the data on the system is to you and what the system is used for. Some will replace a disk if they get any ATA errors.

However do note that RAID is not a replacement for backups. Disks can and do fail at any time (this of course sometimes means there will be multiple disk failures), so if you primarily store important data on your ReadyNAS you should backup your data regularly.

You may also wish to purchase a UPS with a USB port (must have a USB port, serial-to-usb won't work). Most APC units with USB ports are compatible. With the NAS's power connected to the UPS and the USB cable hooked up as well, the UPS will send monitoring information over USB to the NAS so that the NAS will shutdown safely in the event of a power failure.

Thanks for all the useful replies - lots to think about. I'd actually already moved the bulk of my important content to the cloud, so in effect the NAS is a back-up for that.

I'll have to investigate other drive replacement options by the sound of it, good to know it doesn't have to be exact though.