Free Microsoft programs for disk subsystem reliability and performance testing

Note: these programs do not require Microsoft's SQL Server to be installed. They are often mentioned in the context of SQL Server because SQL Server users often care about these issues.

1. For disk subsystem reliability: SQLIOSim (has both GUI and command line)

More info:
https://www.simple-talk.com/sql/database-administration/the-sql-server-sqliosim-utility/
http://blogs.technet.com/b/beatrice/archive/2007/04/20/sqliosim-for-dummies.aspx

Previous thread: Data corruption test programs

2. For disk subsystem performance: SQLIO
Separate GUI for SQLIO: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sqliogui/

More info:
http://www.howtogeek.com/110689/how-to-stress-test-the-hard-drives-in-your-pc-or-server/
http://www.slashroot.in/microsoft-sqlio-disk-performance-test-and-benchmark-tool

From http://social.technet.microsoft.com...rk-tool-troubleshooting-hangs-and-errors.aspx: