Powering down/sleeping hard disk when gone?

I really have never thought about this until recently that I've been leaving my desktop on 24/7 (acts as part server here or there too). I am wondering:
1. Is ability to power down or "sleep" hard disks when not in use for extended time (like sleeping/gone to work/etc.) reliable in linux? (Maybe silly question but just checking )
2. Is it worth it/makes sense? I mean, would it warrant the effort to set up the process, that it would be good for the hard disk and/or save power...
Thanks a lot fellow Archers

1. I don't really know whether it is reliable, but this thread assumes that to much spin downs can shorten hdd life:
...you could use smartd to tell you how many times the hdd spins down per hour. if its too much you could use hdparm to turn off or decrement power management on the hdd in order to preserve its life
2. I have a device to measure power consumption directly at the electric plug. My rather old desktop computer consumes normally, when no tasks run, 65 Watts. If I put my only hdd to standby with hdparm, consumption decreases to 60 Watts. Now just make some calculations...
(Actually cpu has a larger effect on energy consumption.)
Last edited by barto (2009-10-27 20:09:19)

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