Magnets

[FCase]

What are your opinions on the use of magnets in PC builds?
I remember when I worked for the government, magnets were part of our procedures to declassify and destroy HDDs. Now I am working on a case design where they would be perfect to hold on a modular HDD section of the case. But I can't get over how little they play nice with HDDs.

What say the community?

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Well ... I wouldn't . Any sketches or rendering or your HDD bay concept ? We might help finding a replacement solution not involving magnetic fields .

 

[EdZ]

If you've worked with HDD degaussing units, you've probably noticed how enormous they are. You need a REALLY strong magnetic field before you start affecting the data stored in the magnetic domains on a drive platter. As long as you're not sticking a high power Neodymium magnet directly to the side of the HDD, or applying a large moving field, then it won't have any effect.
Remember, HDDs already contain a pair of pretty powerful magnets right next to the platter as part of the voice-coil mechanism that moves the read/write head arm.

 

[FCase]

Just a doodle of an air-cooled wooden (my UN should be Leave it to Beaver) case where the vented top is removable for an optional multi disc drive sled. I was thinking of using magnets in each corner of the .5" wood shell to hold it securely while allowing easy removal.

"Edit": The pic is down sized kinda small. Just copy and paste the url and remove the "s" just before the .jpg extension to show full size.

 

[FCase]

If you've worked with HDD degaussing units, you've probably noticed how enormous they are. You need a REALLY strong magnetic field before you start affecting the data stored in the magnetic domains on a drive platter. As long as you're not sticking a high power Neodymium magnet directly to the side of the HDD, or applying a large moving field, then it won't have any effect.
Remember, HDDs already contain a pair of pretty powerful magnets right next to the platter as part of the voice-coil mechanism that moves the read/write head arm.

@EdZ what about 2.5 SSDs? Is the danger greater compared to plattered HDs? I am planning a hot swap SSD cage.

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Velcro strips ?

 

[LocoMoto]

@EdZ what about 2.5 SSDs? Is the danger greater compared to plattered HDs? I am planning a hot swap SSD cage.

An SSD is a lot more resistant to external magnetic fields

 

[Ceros_X]

For the lazy

 

[Ceros_X]

@FCase Are you planning on hanging the cage under one of the panels or to the frame?

 

[Kmpkt]

I vote for magnets

 

[FCase]

@FCase Are you planning on hanging the cage under one of the panels or to the frame?

Looking at the pic the block floating off to the left is the shell of the drive cage. The top will be sanded and stained nice and pretty. The front will frame the opening to access the drives. The bottom will be open to install/remove/replace/wire the cage. Along the bottom edge is where I want to put the magnets. I may just use dowel pins. They just can't be too tight.

I vote for magnets

LOL

 

[Sean Crees]

You would need a powered electro magnet to affect the data or heads on a mechanical hard drive.

 

[EdZ]

@EdZ what about 2.5 SSDs? Is the danger greater compared to plattered HDs? I am planning a hot swap SSD cage.

A static magnetic field (i.e. a nearby magnet) will have no effect on an SSD. It would probably be OK in the centre of an MRI magnet too. Unless you want to run a system inside one of the MagLab's toys, an SSD will be fine.

Along the bottom edge is where I want to put the magnets. I may just use dowel pins. They just can't be too tight.

You could combine the two: relatively loose dowel pins to keep the cage located, and a magnet to hold the cage onto the dowel pins.

 

[FCase]

You could combine the two: relatively loose dowel pins to keep the cage located, and a magnet to hold the cage onto the dowel pins.

So the consensus is magnets are OK as long as they are not big or powered. I will include them in my design and add the dowel pins.
Thanks for your help.
This community is awesome.