External USB HDD Power Management?

I have a question about external USB HDD. I'm not talking about some special package from some brand names that might come with a software, I'm just talking about a regular HDD and you buy an external USB case for it. How do you guys keep it from overheating when not using("idling")? I mean, Windows sees it as an USB removable device, it doesn't see it as a normal HDD attached to the machine, so the regular power management options, like turn off HDD after a certain minutes, don't apply to the USD HDD. I noticed that if I keep it on("idling") for too long without using it, it will get overheated. I almost lost a HDD because of this. Is there any special software out there for this where it can manage all your external HDDs' power management? Right now I turn it on only when I want to read/write something from/to it, but it would be great if I can keep it on all the time without worrying.

Thanks.

 

Most of them have an on/off switch and that's about it. The only ones that have any form of power management are the mybook. There are external hard drive enclosures that have fans in them.

 

I've not encountered this problem. Almost all of my 2.5" HDD external units have metal casings which act as good heat sinks. Does you HDD have a metal or plastic casing.

I've never tried to understand the finer points of external 2.5" HDD power management but I would expect power consumption under active idle conditions (ie no read / write activity) to be around 1W or a little over.

John

 

Yeah, mine has an on/off switch and a fan too, but when it's on and idling for too long, it can get overheated if I don't switch it off.

 

That's what I thought long time ago, but I noticed the idle speed of an external USB HDD seems to be faster than the idle speed of an regular HDD.

By the way, the case I'm using has a lot of room and has a fan too, it's actually a case that can fit a DVD drive, but you can also use it for 3.5" HDDs.

 

By the way, do you keep yours on like 24/7 even when you're not using it? I mean your 2.5" external HDDs.

 

I have used Buffalo External drives and it has a power management utility.You can see if that works for it.It's doesn't reduce the RPM but if it's not used for a specified time,put it to sleep.

 

Thanks, I'll take it look, but I doubt it will work though... :/

 

I see we are discussing 3.5" external units. I have a couple of Freecom 3.5" units which have a thick aluminium case (which acts as a heat sink) and cool running Samsung 5400rpm HDDs inside. That HDD speed is still much faster than USB 2.0. Those units have no fans, hum quietly and never get more than warm even if left running overnight buried under other stuff.

John

 

This is the thing, idling and running are totally different, I noticed running overnight is perfectly fine, just idling for a long time, that might be an issue. Kinda like an engine, idling too long at the same speed will cause it to heat up.