[Info-vax] rule of thumb for replacing bad disks based on error count

[John Wallace]

On Jul 11, 8:44 pm, "Richard B. Gilbert" <rgilber... at comcast.net>
wrote:
> On 7/11/2011 2:51 PM, Phillip Helbig---undress to reply wrote:
>
> > Obviously, if I see the error count increasing quickly on a physical
> > disk, I will replace it.  My hope is that until I do so, HBVS will keep
> > my data safe.  (For really important shadow sets, I have 3 members; for
> > others, 2.)  But what about for SLOWLY increasing error counts?  And
> > what about errors on the shadow set itself, rather than on the members?
>
> For SLOWLY increasing error counts, I'd have a look at the error log to
> see what's going on.  If you are getting errors, your hardware is trying
> to tell you something.  Sometimes, it's telling you REPLACE ME ASAP!
>
> You had better be paying attention!
>
> If you can't interpret the errorlog, your Field Service Engineer can.
> Yes, he, or she, costs money.  If your system is business critical,
> spend the money!
>
>
>
> > Obviously, physically bad sections of a disk can cause errors, but what
> > are other causes of error on physical disks and on shadow sets?
>
> Users!  I recall a user many years ago who took a two week vacation and
> left a program running the filled a disk directory with several
> thousands of small files!  All those files were cataloged in the SAME
> DIRECTORY.
>
> Take my word for it, a directory with fifteen thousand files does NOT
> WORK QUICKLY or well!
> <snip>

A directory with too many files may well lead to poor performance, but
under what circumstances do you think it will lead to an increase in
the device error count on a physical disk?