I don't think Flash memory has problems with static magnets but HDDs surely have (Since the disk is spinning so fast). It's not the magnets that are problematic but moving magnetic fields that cause electrons to move around. Same applies if you move fast near a magnetic field, so I wouldn't recommend using this case with an HDD.
Well HDDs themselves have strong magnets in them (stringer than this mounting system I would imagine). Have you ever stacked HDDs together? Even their strong magnets don't affect each other.
Having a magnet near by isn't such a big deal. As mentioned above, HDDs have EXTREMELY strong magnets inside of them which are unshielded (and make the best fridge magnets after your HDD dies!). Adding another magnet near by will not be much different. The much larger deal would be to have a changing magnetic field, repeatedly, and over time. This could '0' the drive, or cause data corruption. If you ever use a magnet to erace a floppy drive or a casette tape you would notice it is actually very difficult to do. More than anything you change the bias of the recorded signal, rather than removing data. But if you use a hand-held degausser (which is higher power, and switches polarity several times a second), it will literally erase the media. It is the change in field that really kills, not simply having a field present.
it would be less susceptible. HDDs work based on the voltage change between bits. The smaller the bits are, the more accurate the read/write head has to be to affect a small enough area. A big dumb magnet is going to affect a large area, and change the bias away from 0v; but it is still going to have the same voltage change between individual bits. Sure, if you pull it far enough away from a baseline bias it will cause issues... but you would need one heck of a strong magnet to do that
I've heard flash memory can have problems with extremely strong magnetic fields (I'm infinitely close to 100% certain this table isn't strong enough), but I'm more concerned about HDDs
flash memory is electronic and stationary, so it will not be easily affected by magnets. HDDs though... it would probably work 'better than you would expect'... but probably not a good long-term idea lol. That said, to kill a HDD you need a change in magnitism to really do something. A stationary magnet near a HDD isn't a super-big deal, but moving towards and away from a magnetic field over and over again... that can slowly wipe a drive.
I use to work at a nonprofit PC refurbisher/recycler and we had a huge degausser. One of the fun demos that I would do to explain the difference to my volunteers was to take a working HDD out of a system, and put it through, and then plug it back in and have it be all messed up (it was actuially strong enough to induce a current strong enough to burn out the read/write head sometimes). Then I would take my cell phone and put it through with absolutely no effect.
HDDs are electro-magnetic storage, SSDs are electronic storage. Very large difference between the two.
Not much good for an ITX system, a big series of stacked solid sheets would block far too much airflow. Existing rail-based solutions work well enough if you really need to shift things around.
This seems like a really bad idea. I can see someone sticking a spinning drive on one of these no matter how many warnings you give them and screws last way longer than 5 years.
Why would there be warnings about spinning drives? And sure, screws last longer, but I'm willing to bet the kind of person that gets a case like this isn't going to mind swapping out some of the magnets every few years. It's less maintenance than replacing the water in a loop and there are a lot of custom water loops out there.
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MajGenRelativity - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
This has to be asked, but are the magnets strong enough to cause any issues with data retention on SSDs or HDDs?The Chill Blueberry - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
I don't think Flash memory has problems with static magnets but HDDs surely have (Since the disk is spinning so fast). It's not the magnets that are problematic but moving magnetic fields that cause electrons to move around. Same applies if you move fast near a magnetic field, so I wouldn't recommend using this case with an HDD.Diji1 - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Magnetic fields need to be massively powerful to affect hard disks. As in electromagnets not magnetic materials.MajGenRelativity - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Can you provide proof of that please?SirMaster - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Well HDDs themselves have strong magnets in them (stringer than this mounting system I would imagine). Have you ever stacked HDDs together? Even their strong magnets don't affect each other.MajGenRelativity - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
I do suppose you're right. I'd still probably test firstwoggs - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Google search is a wonderful thing...https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=hard-drive-...
MajGenRelativity - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Thank you!qlum - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
However this does not test the effect of long term use next to a magnet which may still be a problem especially of you are also writing to the disk.CaedenV - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
Having a magnet near by isn't such a big deal. As mentioned above, HDDs have EXTREMELY strong magnets inside of them which are unshielded (and make the best fridge magnets after your HDD dies!). Adding another magnet near by will not be much different.The much larger deal would be to have a changing magnetic field, repeatedly, and over time. This could '0' the drive, or cause data corruption. If you ever use a magnet to erace a floppy drive or a casette tape you would notice it is actually very difficult to do. More than anything you change the bias of the recorded signal, rather than removing data. But if you use a hand-held degausser (which is higher power, and switches polarity several times a second), it will literally erase the media. It is the change in field that really kills, not simply having a field present.
29a - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
I wonder how much more susceptible a newer hard drive would be with data being packed so much denser.CaedenV - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
it would be less susceptible. HDDs work based on the voltage change between bits. The smaller the bits are, the more accurate the read/write head has to be to affect a small enough area. A big dumb magnet is going to affect a large area, and change the bias away from 0v; but it is still going to have the same voltage change between individual bits. Sure, if you pull it far enough away from a baseline bias it will cause issues... but you would need one heck of a strong magnet to do thatMajGenRelativity - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
I've heard flash memory can have problems with extremely strong magnetic fields (I'm infinitely close to 100% certain this table isn't strong enough), but I'm more concerned about HDDsCaedenV - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
flash memory is electronic and stationary, so it will not be easily affected by magnets. HDDs though... it would probably work 'better than you would expect'... but probably not a good long-term idea lol. That said, to kill a HDD you need a change in magnitism to really do something. A stationary magnet near a HDD isn't a super-big deal, but moving towards and away from a magnetic field over and over again... that can slowly wipe a drive.I use to work at a nonprofit PC refurbisher/recycler and we had a huge degausser. One of the fun demos that I would do to explain the difference to my volunteers was to take a working HDD out of a system, and put it through, and then plug it back in and have it be all messed up (it was actuially strong enough to induce a current strong enough to burn out the read/write head sometimes). Then I would take my cell phone and put it through with absolutely no effect.
HDDs are electro-magnetic storage, SSDs are electronic storage. Very large difference between the two.
edzieba - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
Not much good for an ITX system, a big series of stacked solid sheets would block far too much airflow. Existing rail-based solutions work well enough if you really need to shift things around.29a - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
This seems like a really bad idea. I can see someone sticking a spinning drive on one of these no matter how many warnings you give them and screws last way longer than 5 years.jordanclock - Tuesday, June 19, 2018 - link
Why would there be warnings about spinning drives? And sure, screws last longer, but I'm willing to bet the kind of person that gets a case like this isn't going to mind swapping out some of the magnets every few years. It's less maintenance than replacing the water in a loop and there are a lot of custom water loops out there.