Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ukma!xanth!rlb
From: rlb@cs.odu.edu (Robert Lee Bailey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Hard disk: timepark or no timepark?
Keywords: power surge, unstable head, scratching
Message-ID: <7995@xanth.cs.odu.edu>
Date: 7 Mar 89 02:14:40 GMT
References: <4337@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu>
Reply-To: rlb@cs.odu.edu (Robert Lee Bailey)
Organization: Old Dominion University, Norfolk Va.
Lines: 17

In article <4337@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu> deng@shire (Mingqi Deng) writes:
>I recently downloaded TIMEPARK from simtel20 and it seems to work on my
>PS/2 30-286 as described.
>
>But one question hunts me: does TIMEPARK hurt the disk more than it 
>tries to save? I suppose TIMEPARK powers off a hard disk before parking
>its head. However, the power surge during power-on and off can be 
>hazardous to a disk module. And the unstability of the head during 
>those periods would make the hard disk more vulnerable to scatching.
Parking a hard drive does not turn off the power.  Parking only means that
the head is moved to a track position which is beyond the area where data
is stored.  When the head is moved to the park position (usually the
last track of the disk), it helps to prevent the loss of data due to
power failures, jarring, etc.  Since the last track will normally contain no 
data, if the system hiccups, and the hard disk accidentally writes something,
it is written in an area where no data is located.  Therefore, no data will
be lost (at least in theory).