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Why Degauss Your Media?
Authored by Don Blackburn -
BOW Industries, Inc.
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I n spite of all the material written about
degaussing, most of it is in a format not easily understood by an average
person. I wanted to try to answer some of the questions that cause about 90% of the
confusion. First however we need a simple glossary of common terms and a couple "Rules of
Thumb".
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Gauss
Origin: Karl Friedrich Gauss, 1777-1855, was a
German mathematician, astronomer and physicist.
Definition: Gauss is a unit of measurement of
magnetic flux density produced by a magnetic force (coils).
Translation: Gauss is the amount of energy that
is produced by a magnetic force (coils). Gauss is a measurement of coil
strength.
Oersted
Origin: Hans Christian Oersted, 1777-1851, was a
Danish physicist.
Definition: A unit of magnetic intensity equal to
the intensity of a magnetic field in a vacuum.
Translation: Oersted is a measurement
of magnetic intensity applied to
magnetic media.
Coercivity
Definition: The amount of applied magnetic field
(of opposite polarity) required to reduce magnetic induction to zero.
Translation: The ease (or difficulty) by which
magnetic media can be demagnetized.
NOTE: The words oersted and coercivity are often used
interchangeably, which only adds to the confusion. Newer technology tapes
generally have a higher oersted rating than older tapes.
RULES OF THUMB
Rule of Thumb #1
The higher the oersted rating, the more energy
needed to degauss it.
Rule of Thumb #2
In order to degauss magnetic media, a magnetic
force (gauss) of 2 to 3 times greater than the oersted rating of the media
should be created.
Therefore, in theory magnetic
media with an oersted of 1800 would require a
magnetic field strength in the neighborhood of 3600-6400 gauss in order to
properly degauss it.
DEGAUSSING - WHY?
Why would anyone want to degauss magnetic media
in the first place? Media is degaussed because there is either laws or
regulations on the books that
requires that media be degaussed or you simply want to reuse the media.
For starters, we degauss media
for:
1. Declassification for security purposes or to
conform to privacy laws.
2. Reuse of media. Degaussing eliminates recording errors from residual
magnetic signals.
3. Disposal purposes.
There are dozens of Federal and State laws
relating to data privacy - Fair Credit Reporting Act, Freedom of Information
Act, Title 28, Buckley Amendment (Educational Records), and many more.
Today's
records relative to insurance, consumer credit, bank records, etc., all must
meet various standards of data privacy. Also, lets never forget national
defense.
In short, if magnetic records get tossed out
without being degaussed and someone recovers the data - you've got a BIG
problem. You could
be looking at a very expensive lawsuit or even jail time.
Degaussing simply makes sense. But, you say, "I
don't know anything about degaussing." Don't be alarmed - you've got a lot
of company!
A long time ago, someone developed this thing
called a degausser. The early versions were crude by today's standards and
looked something like a hot plate. Confidentiality in those days wasn't as
critical as it is today. Times have changed and we are concerned that sensitive
information might fall into the wrong hands.
Let's suppose that you have a cartridge or reel
of magnetic tape that is already encoded and you want to dispose of it. OK,
we'll degauss it.
So, how's it done?
Basically, all you do is introduce the recorded
magnetic media into a very strong magnetic field and uniformly withdraw it from
this same magnetic field. As it is leaving the magnetic field, the magnetization
of the recorded data becomes weaker and weaker until there is no residual
magnetic signals remaining on the media. In other words, you put it in
(magnetize it) and you take it out (demagnetize it).
However, some media is harder to degauss than others. For
example, a standard VHS cartridge tape at 650 oersteds is easier to degauss than
a cartridge at 1800 oersteds. In fact, most cartridges being used today have a
high coecivity rating - most around 1800 oersteds.
All this means is that you should choose a
degausser depending on the coecivity rating of the media to be degaussed. A
degausser designed to degauss media with a maximum coercivity rating of 650
(VHS) oersteds will not properly degauss media at the 1800 oersted
rating.
Coercivity is a measure, in oersteds, of the
magnetizability or erasability of a tape, cartridge or hard drive.
The higher the coercivity number the more
energy needed to degauss it. The higher the coercivity the harder it is to
erase.
So, all you really have to know is the bit about
withdrawing the media from a strong magnetic field in order to degauss it. Given
the type of media and the quantity, you will be able to choose the proper
degausser.
When choosing a degausser, cost should not
be the deciding factor. Consider the sensitivity of the data to be degaussed;
the frequency of degaussing; the laws relative to the destruction of records and
then choose the proper degausser for the job to be done. Please call our sales
staff at BOW Industries for any assistance you may require.
IMPORTANT:
Some media, such as 3590 and LTO cartridge tapes and hard drives
should not be degaussed unless being done for destructive purposes. Degaussing
will destroy the servo tracks or chips rendering the media useless.
One should also consider physical destruction in addition to or in place of
degaussing depending on the requirements and budget. Please see BOW's line of
destroyers.
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