New hard drive testing

[Dreikin]

So as part of my new computer there are a couple of new large spinning disk drives. Before I go about putting stuff on them, is there a recommended way to test them for defects? Or just copy the stuff over and then compare to the source?

[e4tmyl33t]

@Dreikin Run a SMART test on them?

[dangeRuss]

DBAN it a few times (maybe with verification).

Smart helps too (boot into linux and run smartctl -t long, if memory serves me correctly)

[Tsaukpaetra]

Actually asked myself this question for the last few weeks. I've settled on a combination of Microsoft's diskspd utility

GitHub - microsoft/diskspd: DISKSPD is a storage load generator / performance test tool from the Windows/Windows Server and Cloud Server Infrastructure Engineering teams

DISKSPD is a storage load generator / performance test tool from the Windows/Windows Server and Cloud Server Infrastructure Engineering teams - microsoft/diskspd

and

GitHub - ncw/stressdisk: Stress test your disks / memory cards / USB sticks before trusting your valuable data to them

Stress test your disks / memory cards / USB sticks before trusting your valuable data to them - ncw/stressdisk

[dangeRuss]

You can also run hdtune. They have a speed test and a health test.

[gleemonk]

I run badblocks -w on disks of dubious origin. This also wipes them for convenience.

[ben_lubar]

dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sda1 skip=1