[Paine in the Neck]

So...having your server in the bathroom closet is not a good idea, then?

[Larry Lucido]

That’s what my computer keeps telling me. It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Years ago, around 1968, I read an article in SAGA magazine on how to kill a computer, the type used back then.

Cigarette smoke, excess perfume, spray cleaners and air fresheners all would take a computer off line real quick.

When I first had to work with computers, (1978) smoking was allowed in the control room. I noticed every once in a while one of the smokers would put his cigarette next to the small air intake and the computer would choke and go off line.
We thought it was fun until we found all the daily data was “doubtful” and we had to figure 24 hours worth of data by hand or on a calculator.

[Bob434]

Here’s another warning- don’t leave a computer unplugged for any real length of time- I had oen i left unplugged for awhile, in the cellar (which we kept pretty dry- dehumidifier and a nice dry cellar) and later tried to use it again- something happened to it- this thing would not start- it would post- then just turn off- I tried everything to get the thing going- nothing doing- bought several batteries, did the whole reseat memory thing, unplugged everything and tried starting- reset cmos- etc- nothing-

I suspect that even though the cellar was dry, somehow moisture caused some issue I had to junk the computer (it was an older P4 anyhow- wasn’t even worth getting a new M-board and cpu for it- the hardware was all pretty old as well- but it could have been used for basic stuff had it not died-)

IF you are goign to store a computer for any length of time- plug it in from time to time to make sure it’s dry inside, the heat from running should be enough to dry things out

[equaviator]

“Heat doesn’t kill hard drives.”

If I bake my old Seagate and Samsung hard drives in the oven at 500+ degrees for four hours, will that make them safe enough for the landfill or would I still want to take a ball-peen hammer to them?

[KarlInOhio]

So what failures are caused by humidity? Most of the electronics are sealed so I don’t expect that chips or capacitors dying would increase because of humidity. Is it cable connections? Inductors? Solder joints?

[dhs12345]

Interesting.

Long term reliability testing doesn't include humidity. Only temperature and temperature cycling (and voltage). Of course, with temperature cycling will come changes in dew point and condensation.

Then again, my experience has been with ICs and circuit boards. Not rotating/mechanical devices like Winchester drives. Although I have tested drives, it has only been secondary.

However, as a general rule, disk drives have the lowest MTBF of all system components (not accounting for batteries).

[varyouga]

Interesting. I almost forgot hard drives need to “breathe” since they stopped labeling the air holes.

It also looks like SSD systems would be better suited for “free cooling” in humid climates

[dfwgator]

Just like Florida.

[Mr. K]

I cannot imagine anyone putting 100% trust in “the cloud” for primary data storage

Secondary backup, OK... maybe even PRIMARY backup. But your whole life in some unknown location?

I just can’t see it

[Fhios]

I guess we’ll have to rethink entropy.

[Scrambler Bob]

M4L Hard Drive

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Relative humidity, not higher or more variable temperatures, has a dominant impact on disk failures.

I thought the innards of a hard drive are in a vacuum. How can humidity play a factor in a vacuum?

[ShadowAce]

[Conservative Gato]

Bookmark for later and thanks!