My external hard drive stays on even after I turn off my iMac. Why?

New 24” iMac (see below)
I have connected my 800 Firewire LaCie 500 Gigabyte external hard drive and it works fine. However, it doesn't turn off after I have turned off my iMac! I used Tiger before this and the very same LaCie external drive always turned off (its blue light would go off).
I am sure that my iMac is Off and is not actually still On.
Please advise, because I am not sure what could happen to my LaCie hard drive if it stays on constantly.
As for the iMac, since the instructions mention turning if off, I figure that turning it off is not harmful. Various people at the Apple Store have told me that keeping the iMac on 24 hours a day is not detrimental to the machine but I am old fashioned, I guess...... with that old fashioned paranoia about letting machines stay on all day. If I am wrong, please tell me.
~ Lorna in Southern California

Dear Dennis at LaCie support: Thank you so much for your reply. I did what you said and did indeed discover that when I unplug the LaCie 500 gig hard drive from my iMac, the hard drive turns off, which proves that there is powering still sent through the FireWire bus. It did not turn off with Tiger on my older iMac (the round white semi-circular base iMac).
BTW: I also have a LaCie 125 gig external hard drive bought several years ago. I am assuming that it has a FireWire which is rated at that 400 rather than the 800 that my 500 gig hd has. Am I right? If yes, then I will look for the cord that matches that hd. I hope that LaCie prints the number on the cord because if not, I will have a hard time.
I do see that on the new 24“ Intel iMac, the 800 port is the one farthest to the right in the back of the iMac, and the 400 port is to the left of it.
Wish me luck. I still have to figure out how I will use the 125 gig. I am now using the 500 gig for the Time Machine backups and the .Mac Backup. Also, other of the usual.
Thank you again,, Dennis. Makes me glad I bought La Cie hard drives.
I hope that the smaller one doesn't fritz up on me, since I bought it several years ago.
~ Lorna in Southern California

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