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I keep an external hard disk on my desk, which is usually turned off, but I will plug it in occasionally to do backups of my computer.

A friend told me that it's a bad idea to be typing on the keyboard while the external hard disk is plugged in and performing a backup. He said that he types rather hard on the keyboard, and over time the vibrations from this led to failure of the hard drive.

Is this true? Since hearing it, I've avoided using the computer while performing a backup. But since this leads to lower productivity, I feel that I need to find out the veracity of this claim.

I should perhaps note that I use a standing desk, which is quite sturdy, but slightly more prone to vibrations and shifts in its plane than the average sitting desk.

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    Unless you operate your keyboard using your fists (or your table vibrates a lot) I don’t see how this could pose a problem. You can check the rated vibration tolerance in the datasheet.
    – Daniel B
    Commented Mar 16, 2022 at 13:37
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    How did your friend determine the cause for his disk failure? Disks can fail for other and more common reasons.
    – harrymc
    Commented Mar 16, 2022 at 14:08
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    Is this "external" drive in an enclosure or naked? See superuser.com/questions/1510488/… Vibration and shock are often ignored causes of bad blocks as well as drive failure. Given the tight tolerances for the flying head, I'm amazed that HDDs are as robust as they claim to be. However I take nothing for granted, unlike some others seem to.
    – sawdust
    Commented Mar 16, 2022 at 21:42
  • @sawdust HDD in enclosure (not naked). In this case it's two HDDs in RAID in the same enclosure. Thanks for the link.
    – P A N
    Commented Mar 20, 2022 at 13:02
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    "HDD in enclosure" -- Inspect how the drives are installed in that enclosure. You would want to see isolation mounts (similar to what I posted) used somewhere, rather than all metal-to-metal (or other non-damping solid-material) attachment. At the very least, locate the enclosure over a rigid table/desk member. Think of a trampoline; the middle of the fabric has the most displacement versus the outer frame. Simply off the table/desk would even be better.
    – sawdust
    Commented Mar 20, 2022 at 16:30

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Install an absorbing layer between your harddrive and your desk. You find foam rubber pads in your local home improvement store.

Make sure that your harddrive does no sink into the foam to a degree where heat transfer from the drive to the air is handicapped.

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