From tiny laptop hard drives to beefier desktop models, traditional disk-based hard drives have a very bold warning on them: DO NOT COVER THIS HOLE. What exactly is the hole and what terrible fate would befall you if you covered it?

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问题

超级用户读者oKtosiTe注意到了警告标签，需要弄清事情的真相：

On many hard drives, there’s a text warning to “not cover this hole”, sometimes adding that doing so will void the warranty.

What is the purpose of this hole and why would covering it cause damage or increase the likelihood of drive failure?

谢天谢地，不需要进行实地研究或取消保修就可以解开谜团。

答案

图片由超级用户贡献者奥利弗·萨尔茨堡提供。

超级用户贡献者Music2Meyear提供了一些关于小孔的见解，以及让它畅通无阻的重要性：

It allows for equalization of air pressure between the inside and outside of the drive. While it is not a complete pass-through of outside air into the HDD internals, there is a filter inside the hole that allows the air pressure to equalize.

If the drive were completely sealed, operating at altitudes significantly different from those the drive was manufactured and sealed at, it would cause problems and increase the likelihood of catastrophic failures.

This system works in much the same way as the Eustachian tubes that allow our ears internal pressures to equalize, preventing the explosion of our ear drums.

Dennis将我们引向维基百科中有关硬盘完整性的部分，进一步阐述了这一解释：

Check out the Wikipedia hard drive entry paying attention to the Integrity section with reference to the “breather hole”:

Hard disk drives require a certain range of air pressures in order to operate properly. The connection to the external environment and pressure occurs through a **all hole in the enclosure (about 0.5 mm in breadth), usually with a filter on the inside (the breather filter). If the air pressure is too low, then there is not enough lift for the flying head, so the head gets too close to the disk, and there is a risk of head crashes and data loss. Specially manufactured sealed and pressurized disks are needed for reliable high-altitude operation, above about 3,000 m (9,800 ft).[99] Modern disks include temperature sensors and adjust their operation to the operating environment. Breather holes can be seen on all disk drives—they usually have a sticker next to them, warning the user not to cover the holes.

仅仅提到撞车（以及我们上次撞车时发出的可怕声音）就足以警示我们了。

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