Hard Disk Monitoring

Is it possible to accurately predict the remaining lifetime of a hard drive, and if so, how can this information be used to prevent data loss and ensure optimal performance?

Hard Disk Sentinel does this exactly: based on the actual status (power on time, usage, Health %, errors, wearout and other factors) provides an estimate when it is better to plan replacement of the disk drive to avoid sudden failure and data loss.
When the end of lifetime reached, disk drives may suddenly fail (even if worked for years without issues and the Health was 100%) so this is an important area to notice to avoid data loss caused by sudden disk failure in a mission critical environment.