SMART

8/23/97

SMART (or as Quantum would have it -- S.M.A.R.T.) stands for Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology. It is a technology that allows disk drives to report the results of internal performance monitoring. It is an open industry standard supported by several vendors and defined by a specification -- SFF-8035 -- from the disk drive manufacturer Small Form Factor Committee. Although currently available only for a few disks from a few vendors, it is expected to be more widely used in the future and is designed to be expandable to other media.

SMART causes the disk drive to continually monitor performance/failure data and to save information for user inquiry. Diagnostic capabilities (test and report results) may also be supported. Parameters reported reflect information such as defective sectors, operation retries, etc that can be used to determine drive health and to predict future failure. Operating parameters such as hours on and drive start stops can also be monitored in order to support maintenance philosophies that replace aging drives whether they are failing or not.

No, I do not know how Quantum expects you to pronounce "S.M.A.R.T."