TS101 disk not spinning down - why is it a problem

[Seineseeker]

Why does it matter that the disk doesnt spin down with the TS101?

I quite like the weather screensaver and the RSS News feed when its not on. But it seems the disk keeps spinning when its doing that.

[roamingstudio]

Mainly when it is running all the time the system gets warm / hot; and the hard disks increase their risk of failure. In most PC's the HDD spins down / stops when the computer is idle or hibernates.

Some HDD are designed for continued operation - so for them it is less of an issue. The main problem is that the QNAP's change their properties when upgrading - and people were not aware of this.

[Seineseeker]

Mainly when it is running all the time the system gets warm / hot; and the hard disks increase their risk of failure. In most PC's the HDD spins down / stops when the computer is idle or hibernates.

Some HDD are designed for continued operation - so for them it is less of an issue. The main problem is that the QNAP's change their properties when upgrading - and people were not aware of this.

I think I ought to switch it off at night anyway, there still isn't any power down timer is there.

[Jerryacg]

Why does it matter that the disk doesnt spin down with the TS101?

I quite like the weather screensaver and the RSS News feed when its not on. But it seems the disk keeps spinning when its doing that.

The disc spinning down feature was the deciding factor for me, and presumably others, when choosing the QNAP over other NAS products. A few months ago this was a major subject on the forums, which took a long time to sort. QNAP themselves taking it on board, and including it specifically in the few release notes of their latest firmware release. If it wasnt an issue, why not just go and buy a Dell PC and dump it all on that. If I recall correctly (sorry if I'm wrong) you've recently bought your QNAP. Well during the, admittably hot summer, mine, and others' QNAPs got too hot to touch for more than a few seconds. Purely down to the fact that they were running all day everyday. Inspite of reassurances that this was OK etc etc. I would not, and neither would any electrician, trust the longevity of any electrical appliance that ran that hot for that long. Obvious other reason is that the QNAP makes a noise. I've got mine sitting next to the sub woofer, so when its playing, the subs drowning the noise. But when theres no sound, the QNAP still whirrs away. I think, fundimenatlly, if you buy a product that claims it has certain features.Then those features should work.

[Seineseeker]

Fair point Jerry. But you could easily be playing music on it for 8 hours a day non-stop, maybe longer, the disk would keep spinning all that time. Where do you draw the line? Having said that (and yes mine is new) I guess because I have it tucked away in the attic room I don't notice the heat and noise. Out of sight, out of mind. Not necessarily the best policy.

[Fifer]

A couple of points weren't fair actually:

If it wasnt an issue, why not just go and buy a Dell PC and dump it all on that.

I would not, and neither would any electrician, trust the longevity of any electrical appliance that ran that hot for that long.

A Dell PC isn't fanless, doesn't restart automatically after powerdown, consumes more power, takes up more space and is more expensive.

I'm a qualified electronics/electrical engineer and I understand that many devices are designed to and are perfectly safe to run hot. Do electricians not trust electric heaters or cookers ...

[Heuer]

There is also the environmental impact of having all those disks spinning for no reason and gobbling electricity. Mind you this comes from the mouth of someone who has three cars with a combined cubic capacity of 12.2 litres and produce a total of 1,104 bhp. Still every little helps!

[Jerryacg]

Discussion on this issue is (not unlike the the hard drive in my QNAP when running 6.5) just going round in circles. My feeling is that none of us will ever get to the bottom of this problem. Some guys think it is a relevant issue. Some do not. We've now got to the point where more threads are started to discuss whos right about that, than how to fix it. Which in my humble opinion is pretty pointless. I don't feel the need to argue my requirement (again) that the QNAP should spin down and That being the reason I bought it etc etc. What none of us have is a response from Progressive who, to date, have provided a superb and unique degree of support. Presumably after this amount of time they will have an idea what the issue is. I for one, intend sitting back and waiting for their reponse. Because for good or bad, when it comes to QNAPs in the UK, we all rely on them for support..... Now theres a good idea for the subject of a new thread

[Seineseeker]

Discussion on this issue is (not unlike the the hard drive in my QNAP when running 6.5) just going round in circles. My feeling is that none of us will ever get to the bottom of this problem. Some guys think it is a relevant issue. Some do not. We've now got to the point where more threads are started to discuss whos right about that, than how to fix it. Which in my humble opinion is pretty pointless. I don't feel the need to argue my requirement (again) that the QNAP should spin down and That being the reason I bought it etc etc. What none of us have is a response from Progressive who, to date, have provided a superb and unique degree of support. Presumably after this amount of time they will have an idea what the issue is. I for one, intend sitting back and waiting for their reponse. Because for good or bad, when it comes to QNAPs in the UK, we all rely on them for support..... Now theres a good idea for the subject of a new thread

I agree, I assume when Paul has something to say (about memory upgrade or whatever) he will get in touch.

[simonjedrake]

Discussion on this issue is (not unlike the the hard drive in my QNAP when running 6.5) just going round in circles. My feeling is that none of us will ever get to the bottom of this problem. Some guys think it is a relevant issue. Some do not. We've now got to the point where more threads are started to discuss whos right about that, than how to fix it. Which in my humble opinion is pretty pointless. I don't feel the need to argue my requirement (again) that the QNAP should spin down and That being the reason I bought it etc etc. What none of us have is a response from Progressive who, to date, have provided a superb and unique degree of support. Presumably after this amount of time they will have an idea what the issue is. I for one, intend sitting back and waiting for their reponse. Because for good or bad, when it comes to QNAPs in the UK, we all rely on them for support..... Now theres a good idea for the subject of a new thread

Good comments Jerry
Last night I actually got my Qnap to spin down for the 1st time all by itself - Qnap Latest firmware - SS 6.5.0
What I did was:-
1. On SS Server Settings - Plugins Tab, I removed ALL options except for "iTunes"
2. Rebooted the Qnap to make the above change.
3. Unplugged the network cable
4. Waited 5 mins (Qnap admin Power Down option set to 5 mins) and then dead on 5 mins it went to sleep.

As this is the 1st time it has gone to sleep since I upgraded to SS 6.5.0 even when the network cable has been pulled, I have now proved that the Qnap can go to sleep by itself.
I believe that the above worked because either:-
1. One of the SS 6.5.0 plugins polls & causes disc activity (Unlike SS 6.3.1 which did not), or
2. The act of rebooting the Qnap cleared out a memory cache which was preventing it from sleeping.

So I think we have some progress which with further trials may lead somewere. I will continue tonight ........
Simon