Can hard drives experience magnetic interference from a server chassis?

Posted by eek142 on Super User See other posts from Super User or by eek142
Published on 2012-10-05T00:45:15Z Indexed on 2012/10/05 3:41 UTC
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hard-drive

I'm currently building a server, and it's exhibiting the weirdest behavior with the hard drive. It is a 2U case, and I have trouble trouble accessing the Seagate SATAIII hard drive when it is in the bottom slot of the hard drive cage. The case is made of galvanized/anodized steel. I thought the drive was DOA, but then I swapped it into the top slot, and the problem was solved--the system had no trouble recognizing the drive anymore!

This got me thinking: Is it possible that the magnetic field from the chassis was affecting the hard drive's functionality? I only have this problem with the mechanical hard drive, not the SSD. Could it be because the chassis is made of steel? I'm baffled.

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