Yeah, there is no problem running just about any 1990 or newer drive of any kind so that its platter is either parallel or perpendicular to the ground. Only the very earliest hard drives have issues.
And the HD SC pictured was a later model that was specifically advertised as to be used vertically.
Floppies? Fine.
Hard drives? Newer than 1990 guaranteed fine, 1985-1990 probably fine, pre-1985 maybe.
Optical drives? As long as they have the little 'prongs' on the tray to hold the disc when vertical, it's fine. (And all slot loads are fine vertically.)
If you want to have fun, go find an old 10,000 or 15,000 RPM SCSI drive (dead is fine, as long as the platter spins,) power it on, and start tilting it. The centripetal force will cause the drive to want to "right" itself to be parallel or perpendicular to the ground.
And the HD SC pictured was a later model that was specifically advertised as to be used vertically.
Floppies? Fine.
Hard drives? Newer than 1990 guaranteed fine, 1985-1990 probably fine, pre-1985 maybe.
Optical drives? As long as they have the little 'prongs' on the tray to hold the disc when vertical, it's fine. (And all slot loads are fine vertically.)
If you want to have fun, go find an old 10,000 or 15,000 RPM SCSI drive (dead is fine, as long as the platter spins,) power it on, and start tilting it. The centripetal force will cause the drive to want to "right" itself to be parallel or perpendicular to the ground.