Time for new external hard drive?

I've got an external LaCie D2 hard drive, about 6 years old. Use it for Final Cut files, also holds my iTunes library. I don't use FC for work, just family stuff. At one time I needed the extra space for my iTunes because my laptop was too small. Now that I have an iMac, I still have ~ 200 GB to spare, but all iTunes files remain on my ext drive.
Recently, my computer failed to recognize the LaCie drive. Couldn't mount. Was unable to fix with Disk Utility, but DiskWarrior fixed the problem. Said "the original directory was too severely damaged". Hard drive is back in business, files were all safe, iTunes is functional again
After this experience, where my external drive which was the primary source of all my iTunes (no backup), I've decide to at least move the iTunes library to my iMac, and use the Lacie to backup. I'll probably use my MobileMe storage space to backup the iPhoto library (about 16 GB)
Question:
I've had no problems with the LaCie thus far, but is this a sign the > 6yr old drive is failing? Should I replace it before it happens again? Or do you just hold on to an external drive until it fails, and count on your backup to restore your files?

External drives usually have a lifespan of around a year, just because they're generally taking little bits of abuse here and there which adds up, so you've gotten some truly phenomenal life out of that thing. However, it does sound like it's coming to an end. Exactly how long it will be before it fails is impossible to tell, but better to replace it now before you lose everything.
You can keep the current one around for non-critical stuff until it finally does die. Use it as a scratch disk or something for Final Cut Pro.

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