Firesafe & Hard Disk

[magitek369]

I recently bought a safe which claims, "fire protection of CD's, DVD's, USB drives, and memory sticks up to 1550 degrees". Is this level of protection suitable for hard disk drives as well?

[kode54]

It should be safe, considering that optical media is much more sensitive to heat. Also, the flash memory devices being safe would mean the electronics in a hard drive would also be insulated by the safe. Of course, maybe they don't guarantee hard drives or other magnetic media due to the safe not being magnet proof... Of course, that has nothing to do with fire.

[mastershake1]

If whatever you are backing up is that important and you have the means to afford it, you may want to consider springing for a safe deposit box at a bank.

[grinvader]

If whatever you are backing up is that important and you have the means to afford it, you may want to consider springing for a safe deposit box at a bank.

There's not many things in life that show you've been successful quite like owning your own safe, though. :)

[odditude]

one thing to keep in mind - just because a safe is marketed as fireproof does NOT guarantee that the interior of said safe will remain at a low enough temperature to prevent damage. make sure it's UL certified for media storage.

[magitek369]

If whatever you are backing up is that important and you have the means to afford it, you may want to consider springing for a safe deposit box at a bank.

There's not many things in life that show you've been successful quite like owning your own safe, though.

Haha, well thanks, I'll just let everyone think that then.

one thing to keep in mind - just because a safe is marketed as fireproof does NOT guarantee that the interior of said safe will remain at a low enough temperature to prevent damage. make sure it's UL certified for media storage.

It is UL certified, but it doesn't mention hard disks especially, just the above. Still, I gotta figure if it'll stay cool enough to protect your CD's from melting than a hard disk should be good, right?

[Gil_Hamilton]

It is UL certified, but it doesn't mention hard disks especially, just the above. Still, I gotta figure if it'll stay cool enough to protect your CD's from melting than a hard disk should be good, right?

Google curie point.
It's not a concern of if the drive MELTS or not. Past a certain temperature, the data layer will simply lose all ability to store a magnetic field.

It's also possible that heat can warp the platters.
Or the CD, for that matter, which apparently is a risk any time you pass 120 degrees celsius.

[magitek369]

Well, I'm just using melt as a synonym for kill. You know what I mean.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Well, I'm just using melt as a synonym for kill. You know what I mean.

I didn't, actually. I assumed you thought major physical damage was required for data loss.

Either way... failure temperatures are a lot lower than you would expect.
CD warp can occur in a car parked in the sun. To be fair, a car parked in the sun can get a lot hotter than most people expect.

[magitek369]

Well, I'm just using melt as a synonym for kill. You know what I mean.

I didn't, actually. I assumed you thought major physical damage was required for data loss.

Electronics are delicate stuff. Even I know that.

Still, I'm happy enough. Not that I'm planning on burning the house down anytime soon, but any protection is better than no protection.

[Rashidi]

car/melt/burn

if you can't tested with burning fire, why not employing what Gil said?

Put your safe on car, Parks your car in manner as Gil said, Put any arcylic,vinyl,.. stuff on your safe.
if those survives, your safe is good.

[Gil_Hamilton]

car/melt/burn

if you can't tested with burning fire, why not employing what Gil said?

Put your safe on car, Parks your car in manner as Gil said, Put any arcylic,vinyl,.. stuff on your safe.
if those survives, your safe is good.

Fires get way hotter than cars in the sun, though.

For the fire safe to work, it has to keep the internal temperature below... we'll say 110, while sitting in excess of 1500 degrees.
Which brings us to why they're so damn heavy. Lots of mass to soak heat greatly reduces the temperature rise on the inside.
That's also why they guarantee them for a temperature AND time frame.

[magitek369]

This is starting to sound like a job for MythBusters...

[Gil_Hamilton]

Except the MythBusters clips I've watched have demonstrated a fairly poor understanding of science.
I'm becoming convinced they don't really know a lot, they just like blowing shit up.

[odditude]

Except the MythBusters clips I've watched have demonstrated a fairly poor understanding of science.
I'm becoming convinced they don't really know a lot, they just like blowing shit up.

they're special-effects guys - of course they like blowing shit up!

that being said, when hard science is needed, they usually include an expert consultation in the episode.

they're also willing to concede scientific fuckups, resulting in the retesting of some myths in later episodes.

not to say that the show is fantastic for educational purposes, but i definitely enjoy it.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Except the MythBusters clips I've watched have demonstrated a fairly poor understanding of science.
I'm becoming convinced they don't really know a lot, they just like blowing shit up.

they're special-effects guys - of course they like blowing shit up!

that being said, when hard science is needed, they usually include an expert consultation in the episode.

they're also willing to concede scientific fuckups, resulting in the retesting of some myths in later episodes.

not to say that the show is fantastic for educational purposes, but i definitely enjoy it.

Admittedly, I base this more on two thermite clips than anything else.

But god dammit, that ice pile exploded from pure temperature differential! Have they never put ice in a drink before? What WERE they talking about, with off-the-cuff theories about thermite breaking water apart into constituent atoms!



And don't get me wrong, I respect anyone that can get a job blowing stuff up on television.

[odditude]

ice pile exploded

eh? haven't seen that one. woo, steam-filled explosion!

[grinvader]

they should try it with ammonium nitrate, just for fun

watching at close range is a must

[Gil_Hamilton]

ice pile exploded

eh? haven't seen that one. woo, steam-filled explosion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnHR4cMXiyM

And now you have.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPAYZMzGMwQ
And this one, I think they should've figured out they were doing it wrong when no one could tell them how to mix that much thermite at once.
And the fact that most of their thermite flowed off the front end tells me they needed a baffle at the end of the roof.