"It seems though that the one URE in 10^14^ bits (an error every 12.5 TB of data read) is a worst-case specification. In real life, drives are way more reliable than this specification."
I don't believe that statement without data backing it up.
Disk drives are right at the engineering edge. There is a reason why consumer class drives have one MTBF and enterprise drives have a better MTBF. If a disk drive manufacturer could somehow cite a better MTBF, they absolutely would (see the whole GB vs GiB marketing stupidity, for example).
"It seems though that the one URE in 10^14^ bits (an error every 12.5 TB of data read) is a worst-case specification. In real life, drives are way more reliable than this specification."
I don't believe that statement without data backing it up.
Disk drives are right at the engineering edge. There is a reason why consumer class drives have one MTBF and enterprise drives have a better MTBF. If a disk drive manufacturer could somehow cite a better MTBF, they absolutely would (see the whole GB vs GiB marketing stupidity, for example).