Backblaze is an online backup service.
That explains why I don't know of them, and am not particularly interested in what they have to say.
But you didn't really answer my question. I already knew they were a "cloud" service. If Google, Yahoo, or the NSA were publishing statistics about HDD longevity, it might be more credible. AFAIK, "Backblaze", is still "nobody". Or at least, nobody of great importance.
As far as manufacturers go, they pretty much attach whatever life expectancy prediction to their HDDs they feel like, in a endeavor to get them out the door.
With that said I haven't had trouble with ANY HDDs to date. I even have a few of those "lousy" barracuda elevens. Even when Seagate, had their, "big recall of 'bricking' drives", I didn't have a stitch of trouble with mine.
As far as warranty issues go, manufacturers used to spend enormous sums when warranties were long. Instead of hassling with that, they just pass the savings on to consumers, who are now tacitly, "on their own".
Given my usage patterns, against predicted lifespans, (even divided by 2), most likely, 90% of my current HDDs will still be running long after I'm dead and buried.
I've known since the first ones hit the market, "green drives", were a piss poor idea from the jump. They read slow, continually shut down, and don't really save that much energy. But if you want to buy into that crap, please be my "guest".
It's sort of like credit cards companies that "guilt you into" giving up paper statements, and go green. They won't lower your interest rate though, and the only thing you gain, is the need to have internet service constantly. Should your web go down, and you miss a payment, the late charge is the same, whether you're "green", or otherwise.
So, who cares if "green HDDs" break, you won't catch me dead with one of those turds in my computer in the first place.
And like I said earlier, if "Backblaze" wants to run with the big boys, then they need to start buying, "big boy toys". That means enterprise service equipment. After all, they are trying to pass themselves off as an, "enterprise", are they not?
