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On a mechanical hard disk drive, roughly (orders of magnitude) how many hours of typical continuous operation (strictly/non-inclusive between spin-up and spin-down) is one spin-up equivalent to in terms of abrasive wear?

The reason I'm asking this question is because I have an SSD and a HDD and I want to decide whether I just want to make the HDD be continuously on (if that setting is even possible).

EDIT: Ignore the following question (as hennes points out the flaw in the comments)
Further, when you hear the HDD spin up when the PC is on, will it also place the R/W-head on disk (like it does when you start up the computer) or does it just spin-up with the head already on the platters? I'm asking because the degree of abrasive wear could be higher in the case where the head is placed on the platters as well.

Wuschelbeutel Kartoffelhuhn
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    Minor comment: It will never put a RW head **on** the disc. The head will always hoover slightly above the platter without coming into contact with it. (Unless you have a head crash). – Hennes Aug 13 '13 at 21:36
  • How are you defining continuous operation? Continuous linear read? Continuous random write? Continuous funnel read/write? Continuous standby? etc? I don't think this question can be answered in a meaningful sense? – ernie Aug 13 '13 at 21:43
  • @ernie: Assume the operation patterns of a typical end user strictly in between (i.e., not including) the spin up and down – Wuschelbeutel Kartoffelhuhn Aug 13 '13 at 21:45
  • I don't think there's a typical end user in this case . . . hard drive use will vary wildly depending on what they're doing, memory, cache, etc. As @Hennes mentioned, the heads never actually touch the disk - unlike a record player, the heads float. They're reading the magnetic state, not a physical bump on the disk. Head wear isn't an issue. It sounds as if you're worried about the drive motor. I'm going to guess that you have nothing to worry about. I don't know for sure, but I'd guess most HDD makers stress test the drives far longer than you will – ernie Aug 13 '13 at 21:49
  • Is it not the case that spinning up is much more stressful for the drive motor than 'keep on spinning'? Similar in spirit to an aircraft where takeoff/landing are much more stressful than flying in between. – Wuschelbeutel Kartoffelhuhn Aug 13 '13 at 21:52
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    @Hennes - Heads not touching the platter is certainly true for floor-standing SMD (Storage Module Drive) units for which I've written controller firmware. But 5.25" HDDs had "landing zones" for "parking the the R/W head assembly". I've disassembled a 5.25" HDD, and the heads do touch the platter when the platter is not spinning and no **air bearing** is created. Don't know about more recent and smaller HDDs. – sawdust Aug 13 '13 at 22:02
  • @sawdust True. I have also disassembles 8 MB (yes, mega, not giga or tera)byte drives. But I assumed something recent would be used. However if you want a full canonical answer then it should be mentioned. – Hennes Aug 14 '13 at 07:17

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