Will a hard drive immersed in non-conductive fluid or oil work properly? - Page 7

Ischemia24 · 29th Oct 2008, 04:23 AM

I guess I'm a little late in suggesting it, but why not dry off the hard drive as best you can, then disassemble it and check for signs of oil inside?

I can't post links yet, but if you go to oilpc dot net and click on "Test to see if the hard drive will be able to function in the mineral oil" on the right, it seems that someone was able to adequately seal the hard drive so that it functioned in mineral oil indefinitely.

Not sure if anyone's posted this yet, but you can purchase a PC that's fully submerged in liquid (including solid state drives) on hardcorecomputer dot com.

Spanner · 29th Oct 2008, 04:49 AM

I think too much drag on the platters would reduce the performance of the drive and slow it down.....

Max_87 · 29th Oct 2008, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanner

I think too much drag on the platters would reduce the performance of the drive and slow it down.....

The oil is not suppose to go inside the hard drive... If that happens the drive would most likely fail instantly.

Rotarizer · 6th Nov 2008, 08:19 PM

The drive heads make use of the GMR effect to read data off the platters. They must be calibrated for an air gap between the drive head and the magnetic film on the platter. If the magnetic permeability of the media between the head and the platter is different, it may have trouble reading the bits and bytes accurately. Just my guess only.

This is is apart from the problems of viscous drag on the heads and the resulting strain on the actuator arm/motor.

But an interesting experiment nonetheless.

malmal · 12th Nov 2008, 10:55 AM

The read head "flies" on a cushion of air. Thats why there is a altitude restriction.
I wonder how hard drives are prepared for space situations. like the Hubble or ISS or even the rovers on Mars.

mikegas · 12th Nov 2008, 02:52 PM

Maybe a tape drive is used. ...

I don't think they want to use something in space station that is possible of failing ...

Chai · 12th Nov 2008, 03:58 PM

What about SSD?

Adrian Wong · 12th Nov 2008, 03:59 PM

I thought they used rad-hardened flash memory?

Other than the risk of radiation, flash memory should be the best storage solution for the rigors of space.

malmal · 13th Nov 2008, 03:06 AM

SSDs werent around when Hubble went up. 1990 ? Dont know about flash in 1990.
How about a sealed nitrogen hard drive.

PsYkHoTiK · 13th Nov 2008, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malmal

SSDs werent around when Hubble went up. 1990 ? Dont know about flash in 1990.
How about a sealed nitrogen hard drive.

Actually....

The Hubble went up with tape recorders as a means to record data. But subsequent service missions (namely Service Mission 2 and 3A) replaced the tape recorders with *tadaa* solid state drives.

http://hubble.nasa.gov/a_pdf/news/SM3A-MediaGuide.pdf

Page 14 and figure 2-12.

Just because its not feasible for most users to use SSDs at the time (SSDs go way back to the late 70s I believe), it doesn't mean it's not feasible for groups like NASA.

View Poll Results: Can a hard drive immersed in non-conductive liquid work properly?
Yes, I think it's possible.	5	21.74%
No way! No way in hell it will run.	18	78.26%
I don't really care or wish to guess.	0	0%
Voters: 23. You may not vote on this poll

29th Oct 2008, 04:23 AM	#61 (permalink)
Ischemia24 Just Started Join Date: 11 Oct 2008 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 42 Reputation: 104 Rep Power: 0	Test the hypothesis I guess I'm a little late in suggesting it, but why not dry off the hard drive as best you can, then disassemble it and check for signs of oil inside? I can't post links yet, but if you go to oilpc dot net and click on "Test to see if the hard drive will be able to function in the mineral oil" on the right, it seems that someone was able to adequately seal the hard drive so that it functioned in mineral oil indefinitely. Not sure if anyone's posted this yet, but you can purchase a PC that's fully submerged in liquid (including solid state drives) on hardcorecomputer dot com.

12th Nov 2008, 03:58 PM	#67 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 26,975 Reputation: 4108 Rep Power: 74	What about SSD? __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

12th Nov 2008, 03:59 PM	#68 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my ASUS F8V notebook! Posts: 30,382 Reputation: 3147 Rep Power: 68	I thought they used rad-hardened flash memory? Other than the risk of radiation, flash memory should be the best storage solution for the rigors of space. __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

29th Oct 2008, 04:49 AM	#62 (permalink)
Spanner Just Started Join Date: 4 Oct 2008 Posts: 48 Reputation: 36 Rep Power: 0	I think too much drag on the platters would reduce the performance of the drive and slow it down.....

6th Nov 2008, 08:19 PM	#64 (permalink)
Rotarizer Newbie Join Date: 22 Jun 2007 Location: Jurong Posts: 6 Reputation: 59 Rep Power: 0	The drive heads make use of the GMR effect to read data off the platters. They must be calibrated for an air gap between the drive head and the magnetic film on the platter. If the magnetic permeability of the media between the head and the platter is different, it may have trouble reading the bits and bytes accurately. Just my guess only. This is is apart from the problems of viscous drag on the heads and the resulting strain on the actuator arm/motor. But an interesting experiment nonetheless.

12th Nov 2008, 10:55 AM	#65 (permalink)
malmal Newbie Join Date: 11 Sep 2006 Posts: 4 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	The read head "flies" on a cushion of air. Thats why there is a altitude restriction. I wonder how hard drives are prepared for space situations. like the Hubble or ISS or even the rovers on Mars.

12th Nov 2008, 02:52 PM	#66 (permalink)
mikegas I'm a regular Join Date: 7 May 2008 Posts: 380 Reputation: 206 Rep Power: 3	Maybe a tape drive is used. ... I don't think they want to use something in space station that is possible of failing ...

13th Nov 2008, 03:06 AM	#69 (permalink)
malmal Newbie Join Date: 11 Sep 2006 Posts: 4 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	SSDs werent around when Hubble went up. 1990 ? Dont know about flash in 1990. How about a sealed nitrogen hard drive.