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#1
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solar storm protection
I was reading about the Solar storm of 1859 on wikipedia.org and about
how really massive solar storms can fry electronics and... I'm curious... what could one do to protect against a hard drive against this? As I understand it, placing an object in a faraday cage should provide sufficient protection, however, not all farady cages are equal. A microwave is a faraday cage but it only protects against wavelengths that are longer than than the mesh. An antistatic bag is supposed to be a faraday cage but since they're often transparent I don't imagine it'd protect against anything with a shorter frequency than visible light (eg. gamma rays or whatever). Lead bricks are often placed around radiation sources to block the radiation they emit... are these actually faraday cages, as well? Also, what frequencies are actually dangerous to electronics? I imagine it's the higher frequencies - I imagine hard drives are already exposed to the lower frequencies fairly frequently. |
#2
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solar storm protection
Also, what frequencies are actually dangerous to electronics? I imagine it's the higher frequencies - I imagine hard drives are already exposed to the lower frequencies fairly frequently. AIUI it's not wireless waves you have to worry about, we are immersed in a sea of many wavelengths, and it doesn't seem to affect hard drives. Surely it's strong changing magnetic fields that are the problem? including suppen changes in the earths magnetic field due to a large Solar storm. So forget Faraday cages as the first line of protection, think a thick mu-metal box, perhaps inside a solid copper lined, well grounded, against a direct lightning strike, Faraday cage, on the belt and braces principle. With that surrounded by the lead bricks and enough food for a couple of months you should be able to ride out any solar storm, but back up you drives on to optical media, just in case. |
#3
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solar storm protection
yawnmoth wrote:
I was reading about the Solar storm of 1859 on wikipedia.org and about how really massive solar storms can fry electronics and... I'm curious... what could one do to protect against a hard drive against this? No need. As I understand it, placing an object in a faraday cage should provide sufficient protection, however, not all farady cages are equal. All faraday cages _are_ equal for most practical purposes. Unless you make the conductor thin enough that it has a very, very high resistance. A microwave is a faraday cage but it only protects against wavelengths that are longer than than the mesh. A microwave is a form of elecromagnetical radiation. Or are you referring to a microwave oven? Also, a faraday cage does not protect against electromagnetical radiation, but against an electric field. Sunstorms are charged particles and when they hit something, they charge it, thus creating an electric field. An antistatic bag is supposed to be a faraday cage but since they're often transparent I don't imagine it'd protect against anything with a shorter frequency than visible light (eg. gamma rays or whatever). You are confusing elecrtomagnetic radiation and electrical fields. ESD bags have zero protection against electromagnetical radiation. They do protect against electrostatic damage, i.e. very high voltage electrical fields. Lead bricks are often placed around radiation sources to block the radiation they emit... are these actually faraday cages, as well? Yes, but that is pure coincidence. Lead is used to block gamma rays, an extremely high-freqency electromagnetic radiation (high enough it cannot be generated by electronics) and beta radiation, which is protons. Also, what frequencies are actually dangerous to electronics? As a static electrical field does not have a frequency, the question is meaningless. You need to ask after voltages. Typical digital electronics can withstand something like 500-1000V electrostatic discharge. Drivers may be able to withstand up to 50'000V. I imagine it's the higher frequencies - I imagine hard drives are already exposed to the lower frequencies fairly frequently. See above. I recomend you read up on what solar storms are actually. And what different forms of radiation is there. You are mixing them up indiscriminately, which prevents you from understanding what is going on. Incidentially, solar storms are not radiation at all or not realy. They are charged particles and they require significantly longer than light to reach earth. Somethoing like 6-8 hours, if I remember correctly, while light takes afew minutes. That is the reasoen that there is the occasional early warning of a solar storm. Now, solar storms do interact with the magnetif field of earth and that does create electromagnetic waves, which in turn can disrupt communicatuions electronics, as they are connected to antenae or long cables that act like antenae. Usually, no damage is done. As a HDD has no antenna or other long cable attached to it, it is not at risk at all. Incidentially, a faraday cage does protect against a solar storm, but not at all against the electromagnetic radiation created in the magnetosphere of earth. For that you need electro-magnetic shielding, which needs thick metal (effectiveness dependent on metal type thickness and frequency), but only needs to be between radiation source and equipment to protect, while a faraday cage needs to go all around in 3 dimensions. Arno |
#4
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solar storm protection
"Arno" wrote:
Lead is used to block gamma rays, an extremely high-freqency electromagnetic radiation (high enough it cannot be generated by electronics) and beta radiation, which is protons. Lead is used to block X-rays and gamma rays. Beta radiation consists of free electrons or positrons (not protons), and because electrons and positrons are charged and extremely low in mass, they don't travel far through air or flesh. *TimDaniels* |
#5
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solar storm protection
yawnmoth wrote in news:0a6f4db8-4c2c-41f7-9691-
: I was reading about the Solar storm of 1859 on wikipedia.org and about how really massive solar storms can fry electronics and... herf guns can do this. |
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