ISO 18943:2014 concerns the storage, care, and handling of HDDs. It recommends handling procedures to maximise the effective life of the data written on magnetic HDDs. Faulty care and handling methods can cause damage to a disk and the contents written thereon. It also recommends storage practices to preserve both the hard disk media and the content encoded thereon.
The recommendations in this International Standard apply where the desired result is extended-term retention of the data encoded on the disk. The use of the phrase "care and handling" in this International Standard is restricted to the physical domain or hardware aspects of the HDD. This International Standard is not intended to address associated or relative system aspects of HDDs. With recognition that the scope of systems is covered in other standards, this International Standard precisely aims to fill a void of information on HDDs as physical media with failure mechanisms and handling risks.
This International Standard does not promote or advocate that proper physical care and handling represents the only element on the path to extended-term usage (more than two years), but rather is part of a comprehensive set of practices to mitigate risks in the long term preservation of content stored on HDDs.