A hot water tank gives plenty of warning before it fails, and almost nobody notices it. Supply, installation, repair and replacement, plus a straight answer on whether yours has time left in it.
Most tanks last somewhere between eight and twelve years. Unlike a furnace there is not much to repair once the tank itself starts to go, because the failure is the steel and the lining rather than a part bolted to the outside of it.
The rumbling noise people describe is sediment. It settles on the bottom, the burner has to heat through it, and the water underneath it boils. That is the tank telling you it is late in life. A tank that is leaking is not a repair at all, it is a replacement, and the honest point is that a planned replacement on a Tuesday costs the same as an emergency one and involves a great deal less mopping.
Our own jobs, our own photos. Not stock pictures of somebody else's basement.
