At my office we have been having server problems all week. I read on Space.com that there was a large solar storm earlier in the week. Could the two be connected? I know that a large solar storm a few years back knocked out a transformer in New Jersey, and computer servers are certainly much less robust pieces of equipment than electrical transformers.
I guess the broader question I am asking is this: Are modern computers and computer networks affected by solar weather (flares, sunspots, coronal mass ejections, etc.)?
Computers are only affect indirectly, if the power line itself is affected. Power lines are affected because they span many miles of ground- they get large induced electrical charges from the flares (actually from charged particles from the flares). The can cause large currents to flow, or voltages to develop over the power network depending on grounding, etc. Ultimately it can cause blown fuses, transformers, power surges, etc.
A computer sitting on your desk isn’t going to be directly affected, unless the power it’s plugged into has a problem. If your server is on a (functional) UPS, you probably wouldn’t notice anything.
Hmmm…what about a computer that is connected to a Wide area network… the Internet for example. the same premise could apply to the data lines that you are attributing to the power lines. Granted, good protective measures should have been taken on the data lines, too, but that may not always be the case.
I suppose if you had a very large “local” network (dozens or hundreds of miles) you could run into problems, but not generally by just connecting to the internet. Usually there’s some sort of router or other device that would have protection, and provide isolation (especially if some of the network uses fiber). This would be more likely if a company had two buildings connected via a point to point copper connection of many miles, or something like that.
Phone lines are not too likely either- the local loops aren’t all that long.
Of course, I’m sure someone will find a link to an incident where it’s already happened, now that I’ve claimed it’s unlikely
“At my office we have been having server problems all week. I read on Space.com that there was a large solar storm earlier in the week. Could the two be connected”
you blame server problems on something? I don’t think anyone can give a reason half the time why servers act up:)
