| A typical electrical shock does not have the | | | | temperature of the room where the computer is |
| potential to cause fatal damage to a human | | | | located. It has been noticed that ESD is greatly |
| being's nervous system. However, your | | | | reduced in conditions of relative humidity. |
| computer's hard drive is not designed to | | | | However, dry conditions could spark off shocks |
| withstand electrical shocks more than 10 volts. | | | | damaging your entire network. |
| This makes hard drives susceptible to | | | | - Never try to plug in a power or data cable drive |
| electrostatic discharges (ESD). An ESD has been | | | | in a network unless the power has been turned |
| defined as a portion of an imbalanced high voltage | | | | off |
| field on a non-conductive surface of something | | | | - ESD can be prevented by wearing a wrist strap |
| e.g. your hand, a screwdriver or your carpet that | | | | grounded to an unpainted surface on the chassis |
| has just moved or shifted its energies onto a | | | | of your computer |
| non-conducive surface in a rapid and uncontrollable | | | | - In case of unavailability of a wrist strap, it is |
| manner. In other words, ESD or static electrical | | | | recommended to touch the unpainted surface on |
| shocks are electrical bolts of more than 20 volts | | | | the chassis of your computer before handling |
| where the electrons move from your power plug | | | | your drive |
| point to your hard drive or vice versa. ESD has | | | | The Portable Hard Drive |
| the capacity to cause tremendous disk damage | | | | In August 2000, DataZone introduced the portable |
| resulting in permanent data loss. | | | | hard drive to combat ESD. This DataBook |
| More than 44% of data loss occurs due to ESD. | | | | portable hard drive had entry-level capacities from |
| Another side effect of ESD is the discarding of | | | | 6 to 25 GB with an incredible non-operational |
| these old damaged hard drives. In universities and | | | | shock specification of 10,000 G equalling a 30-inch |
| military organisations, hardware loss accounts for | | | | drop onto a concrete floor. This indicated more |
| more than 8% of the annual loss statements. | | | | than 2,0000G difference between the then |
| When combined, ESD usually leads to a total loss | | | | existent desktop hard drives and the new |
| worth more than 40,000 pounds every year. | | | | portable hard drive. In addition, the proprietary |
| Hence, it becomes very important to treat and | | | | technology of DataZone ensures that the portable |
| handle hard drives with extreme caution. | | | | hard disk drive is durable, compact and lightweight |
| Common Suggestions | | | | comprising of rugged periphery qualities. The |
| - Never touch your hard drive chassis or the | | | | portable drive is also equipped with low acoustic |
| circuit card with a bare finger or non-insulated tool | | | | emission units making it usable for audio/video |
| - Always unplug your computer from the | | | | applications. Its interface can be described as a |
| network point on hearing a grinding noise ensuing | | | | standard AT/IDE 36 pin connector with data and |
| from your computer | | | | power lines/ supply included. |
| - Always have a backup of all your information. | | | | Advantages |
| Backups are usually made on alternative drives | | | | - Readily available and easy to use |
| and disks such as floppies, CDs, DVD-RAM, tape | | | | - Allows flexible employment enabling |
| drive systems, and cartridge-based drives such as | | | | work-at-home employment |
| the Iomega JAZ or Castlewood ORB. | | | | - Enables frequent data exchanges between |
| - Always keep your hard drive in an ESD bag until | | | | computers through the Hot Swap software |
| use | | | | installed in these portable hard drives |
| - Always handle the drive with connector pins on | | | | - Enables the generation of e-mail, e-fax, |
| your drive with the proper cabling ends or | | | | teleconferencing, wireless communications, mobile |
| jumpers. It is advisable not to use a bare or wet | | | | computers coupled with removable and |
| finger including any non-insulated tools. | | | | transportable large capacity magnetic storage |
| - Avoid the usage of high voltage devices such as | | | | devices, reports, designs, software programs, |
| vacuum cleaners and fans near your computer. | | | | video editing and graphic designs at home |
| Some ESD experts suggest not placing vacuum | | | | - Helps in increasing productivity allowing |
| cleaners and fans near your computer drive to | | | | employees to work at their own pace |
| prevent any electrical shocks. | | | | - Saves telecommuting costs. |
| - You can prevent ESD by controlling the | | | | |