"Steven M. Bellovin" <smb@research.att.com> writes:

> In message <200312040401.hB441GvZ029137@fearless-vampire-killer.waterside.net>,
>  Rafal Boni writes:
> >So the thread about hot WD 250GB drives made me decide to check up on my
> >Seagate 120GB drives I put in a mirrored config recently, and got this:
> >
> ># atactl wd2 smart status
> >SMART supported, SMART enabled
> >ATA device returned Aborted Command
> 
> Hmm, I didn't even realize we had SMART support.  Is there any 
> disadvantage to having it enabled?  Should I just put an enable command 
> into rc.local?

I don't know of any disadvantages to having it enabled. But you
shouldn't need to enable it in rc.local; turning on SMART is supposed
to be persistent (at least according to atactl(8)). That said, I think
I have some drives where it isn't persistent, and as a result I don't
trust their long-term SMART data-tracking.

        - Nathan