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RAID for Zero-G?

Posted by Cliff on from the betcha-space-ghost-has-a-beowulf-cluster-of-these dept.

Cujo asks: "In all seriousness, I need a RAID that supports at least level 3 and stores > 500 GB, and I need to it work in zero-G (but not in a vacuum), and be able to take a fair bit of vibration and noise when turned off. I don't want to spend huge sums: I'm thinking well less than $50,000. I've looked at Apple's XServe/XRaid products, and they look great (about $10,000), but are they rugged enough and who is their competition? Some people make hardened RAIDs for military use, but I'm unfamiliar with the best candidates in that field (and do I really need mil spec?)."

3 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. I don't have an answer, but... by Ummagumma · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How do you plan on getting this equipment into a zero-g enviornment? That will problable determine if you need hardened/milspec type equipment. If its going up on the shuttle, with those G forces on it during launch, then yeah, you probably do need 'milspec'. If its going to reside in a plane, that does zero-g free-fall testing, you can probably get away with something less... YMMV.

    --
    "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." - Thomas Jefferson
  2. Thermal managment by lonely · · Score: 4, Interesting


    Remember that a lot of mac kit is specifically designed to use convection to move air and therefore heat through the box. For example an old-style iMac will probably melt as it relies heat rising. Not something that is gonna happen in zero-g. You might need to be changing the fans and such like.

  3. Re:Scary by Anonymous+Cowdog · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Some issues I haven't seen mentioned:

    1) In zero-g, will lubricants (minimal as they are) be more prone to leak out?

    2) In zero-g, will friction be slightly lower, and will this cause any problems? Does modulation of RPMs depend in any way on any component of friction that is influenced by gravity? How about head movement?

    3) Is head movement and position affected by gravity? I'm guessing not, but then, I'm just joe random slashdotter.

    4) Will vibration issues be introduced by the removal of the (possibly dampening) force of gravity? Note I am not talking about external vibrations here, I'm talking about vibrations of the hard drive itself.