Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology

What Does Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology Mean?

Self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology (SMART) is a fault detection, monitoring and maintenance technology used by computers to provide advanced notification for hard disk drive (HDD) failures.

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In 1992, IBM launched SMART for their AS/400 disk array servers to identify and predict hard drive errors.

Techopedia Explains Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology

SMART resides between the basic input/output system (BIOS) and hard drive and works on drive faults that occur due to age and/or mechanical wear and tear. SMART may detect faults after evaluating bad sectors on the drive’s physical surface, the drive head and other mechanical parts.

Based on the level of wear and tear, SMART can predict a drive’s remaining lifespan, which allows a user to back up data and/or replace the drive. However, SMART is unable to detect sudden or accidental failures, such as electronic component failures or physical manhandling.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…