From: Steve Shockley <steve_(_dot_)_shockley_(_at_)_shockley_(_dot_)_net>
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 22:17:33 -0500
LOYET Jérôme wrote:
But all the time the backup disk is not used, it's power one and I'd like to
know if it's possible to power down IDE disk which is not used. So that the
disk could have less chance to corrupt itself.
Others mentioned atactl which will spin down the disk, but that's not
quite the same as powering it off. If the OS wants to get at data on
the disk (and it's mounted), the disk will happily spin up, exposing
your data.
I think corruption is less of a potential issue than hardware failure,
at least if the system remains secure. If you're using it to back up
data in case someone hacks the box, this might not be what you're
looking for.
Arguments for and against using a hard drive for backup have been beaten
to death, but you may want to browse the archives to see the arguments
and determine if they apply in your case.