One of the biggest nightmares for the IT department is the failure of a critical storage drive. It's not an "if" but a "when." Most hard drives will last up to five years before they start developing problems and eventually burn out. The most important job for an IT department is to make sure the data is always backed up. One thing is good to know: if a drive fails and you are still under warranty, the manufacturer will replace the drive and restore the data. But fate being what it is, the hard drive is likely will fail after the warranty has expired. So remember to pay attention to the brains of your critical systems.

For more on keeping your hard drive in good health:
- See this article from the Calgary Herald