Taking Care Of External Hard Disk - Usage Pattern Question

Hi People, a quick question / clarification please.

I have a couple of external hard disk' from iOmega (one 500 GB and the other 750 GB)... The big one, is always at home, serving as a backup for my laptop... The smaller one, I use for transferring data / files between work and home. I backup my data folder from the work desktop onto the ext hdd and sync my laptop with this ext hdd.

Now, I want to know what in general is the amount of stress these external hard disk' can take, with regard to transport everyday in my backpack, carrying it around, a very rare small collision with my desk for example, etc etc... and also the effect of sunlight and heat (in summer though its inside my backpack, there is some heat that gets into the backpack, no?)

Tried searching around, and I did find some general maintenance stuff... but I wasn't sure about my usage pattern.. and I thought I will ask here to know from user experience

Thanks in advance for your views / suggestions.

Cheers

PS., Mods >> I didn't know if I should get this Q in the "accessories" forum.. but thought it fit in better here. but please do move it around wherever it should be. Sorry for any trouble.

 

Aslong as its turned off, the HD's heads will be parked reducing the chances of damage from shock and vibrations

Heat isnt a big deal unless were talking about boiling heat, check the spec sheet for operating/non operational temps

 

Thanks Flipfire..

I couldn't find anything specific abt the temp or stuff, in the spec.. its just the speed, connectivity things, voltage for power supply etc etc... But I am checking online now, if I could find something..

But yeah, you are right probably.. and in any case, its not *that* hot and neither do I stay in the sun for a whole day...

Thanks again

 

Transporting a hard disk causes more wear and tear than constant usage, in my experience.. My external HDDs usually last for a couple of years before becoming error prone.. (The ones i carry around, that is...) The ones sitting on my desk(Backup and data storage), haven't failed so far, except one, and I have some 40GB disks that are over 7 years old.. The one that failed had a motor burnout...

 

Keep in mind....HDDs just don't like to be tossed around.

 

Thanks a lot.. Yes, I understand what you are saying. In fact, I am very careful with these things, particularly my electronic gadgets.. I take good care. But at the moment I am forced to use this hdd more than normal for transferring data / files between work n home.. So I was wondering. Of course, I am not like literally misusing them or tossing them around or whatever... but still wanted to know the daily transport b/w home n lab..

Anyways, I get your point Thanks again people.