testing of drives!

[bruce]

update::

The boxes can be remotely/ssh accessed, so it would be easier if
there's a solution that could allow us to simply run software tests
over the net, to the boxes/drives that are installed/formatted if
possible!!

thanks again!!


On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 10:39 AM, bruce <badouglas at gmail.com> wrote:
> Morning --
>
> Got a situation where we have a number of used/older dell boxes
> running centos/fedora (should be the same process of testing the
> drives).
>
> Some of the boxes have already had the OS installed/drive
> formatted/patitioned/etc.. Some have dual drives.
>
> We realized that we should have tested each drive prior to
> installing/formatting/etc..
>
> So, now we're wondering what's the best/god way to test the drives.
>
> We'd like to put together a basic process to allow us to test the
> given drive, preferably with the drive in the box/running/formatted so
> we don't have to test the drive in a separate box!!
>
> So, any input we can get on software to use, articles to review, etc
> in order to get a stable test process to get a good idea of the health
> of our drives would be cool
>
> Issues to consider::
> -We have running drives, that are partitioned/formatted
> -we have drives in systems that we haven't started to use
>    some primary formatted/some are installed as 2nd drives
>
> we need a way to be able to test all of the drives, preferably
>  without taking the drive(s) out of a box and testing them in a separate box
>
> Concern is/are:
>  -bad sectors/blocks
>  -health of drive
>  -capacity of drive
>  -etc..
>
> we've looked into hdparam/smartctl
>
> thanks guys!