QUESTION :
I just bought a new Dell server tower (Poweredge T20), it comes with a 1TB Toshiba hard drive.
I currently have the server connected but it’s not being used by anything.
The OS is Ubuntu server 16.04.
The server is not doing anything and yet the drive keeps making noise and is warm to touch.
The sound isn’t like the read/write sound. It sounds more like a fan/low wooshy (that’s probably not a word) sound. And I’m sure it’s coming from the drive because I disconnected all the fans.
What could be causing this?
ANSWER :
For some drives that is a normal sound. The sound might be more commonly heard from optical drive (CD drives), but I have heard it from HDDs that were working just fine.
I always assumed it was the sound of that particular motor type or platter design spinning.
OPINION: Personally, I wouldn’t trust a Toshiba drive in a server role, but I may have had unrepresentative experiences with them