HDDs and SSDs have a real-time self-diagnosis function called SMART (HDDs manufactured before 2008 may not be supported). By checking the numbers recorded by SMART, it is possible to understand the status of the drive and take corrective action before the failure becomes serious. In this article, I will introduce how to obtain the SMART value and what kind of form it looks like.
Examples of main confirmation methods
* In the case of RAID configuration, and depending on the specifications of the expansion card, the SMART value may not be acquired.
For Windows
Separate software is required to check the SMART value. With free software,CrystalDiskInfoEtc. are famous. After installing the software and launching it, you will see comprehensive drive information including SMART values as shown in the figure below.
* This is the data I got on my (Kokubun) PC the other day. The D drive was in a state of "caution", so I took a backup just in case, but the HDD passed away a few days later (^^;
For Linux
You don't need any software just to look up the SMART value. Information can be obtained using the Smartctl command. There are various options, but I will use the -a option as an example to get all the information. The list is displayed as in the example below.
Example) smartctl -a device name
With Windows software, the numerical value is judged on the software side and a diagnosis such as "normal" or "caution" is made, but in the case of Linux, it is necessary to judge the state by the numerical value. Of course, each numerical value has meaning, but the following two points are of particular interest.
・ 5 Reallocated Sectors Count: Number of defective sectors that have been replaced (data has been moved to the spare area)
-197 Current Pending Sector Count: The number of bad sectors that are abnormal and are waiting for alternative processing.
* In the above screen, the raw value is displayed under "RAW_VALUE", but the number "0" indicates that there is no problem in the diagnosis on SMART.
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