One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates determining whether a disk drive is likely to fail. The system monitors a first acoustic signal emitted from the disk drive during operation of the disk drive. Next, the system compares characteristics of the first acoustic signal against characteristics of a first baseline acoustic signal that reflects normal operation of the disk drive. If the first acoustic signal differs by a predetermined amount from the first baseline acoustic signal, the system indicates that the disk drive is likely to fail.