Hard Drives
INTRODUCTION
|
A hard drive, also known hard disk, hard disk drive or fixed disk, is a non-volatile data storage device. Non-volatile in that it can retain stored information even when not powered. Technically, hard drives and hard disks are not the same since hard drives consist of multiple hard platters, the hard disk reader and writer head, the hard drive motor, and the drive electronics, whereas a hard disk is the storage medium itself.
Often, inexperienced computer users confuse hard drives with memory. While memory can refer to any medium of data storage, it usually refers to RAM (Random Access Memory). When your computer boots up, it loads the operating system into its memory, or RAM. This allows your computer to access system functions, such as mouse clicks and keystrokes, since the event handlers are all loaded into RAM. Whenever you open a program, the interface and functions used by that program are also loaded into RAM.
RAM operates at a very high-speed which makes it ideal for storing and accessing active programs and system processes. It differs from hard drive space in that RAM is made up of memory chips, while hard drives are made up of several magnetic disks that spin at a high rate of speed inside a hard drive. Accessing RAM is much faster than accessing hard drives because RAM access is based on electric charges, while the hard drive needs to seek to the correct part of the correct disk before accessing the data. All information stored in RAM is erased when the computer's power is turned off. The hard drive, on the other hand, stores data magnetically and does not require electrical power to retain the data. A hard drives main function is to store information such as the operating system, programs and working files such as documents, pictures, music, etc. The main function of memory is to store active programs and files as well as portions of the operating system. Memory can be accessed and used much faster than a hard drive which is why active files are loaded into RAM.
Many operating systems such as Windows and Linux create a swap file to move less active processes and programs from memory back onto the hard drive to conserve memory for more active processes and programs as computers typically have much more hard drive space than memory.
HISTORY
|
|
On October 11, 1962 IBM introduced the IBM 1311 which was first removable hard drive with a capacity of 2.6 MB and consisted of six 14-inch disks contained in a pack weighing about 10 pounds.
On March 13, 1973, IBM introduced the 3340 code named Winchester. Its removable disk packs were sealed and included a head and arm assembly. This advanced technology more than doubled the information density on disk surfaces and was adopted by the industry and used for the next 20 years. The Winchester technology allowed the heads to land and take off from the disk as the disk spun up and down, riding on a layer of air, 18 millionths of an inch thick, resulting in a significant savings and a large reduction in complexity of the head and arm actuating mechanism. This drive was capable of storing up to 70 MB of data.
In 1979, Shugart Associates' came out with the first form factor compatible hard drive, the SA1000 series. Having the same dimensions and a compatible interface to the 8 inch floppy drive, the drive measured 4 3/5 inches high, 9 1/2 inches wide and 14 1/4 inches long. The drive came in 2 models, the SA1002 at an unformatted capacity of 5.33 MB and the SA1004 at an unformatted capacity of 10.67 MB. The drive was based on Winchester technology.
In June of 1980, Seagate releases the first 5.25 inch Winchester hard drive with a capacity of 5 MB. This, the ST-506 would be the first hard drive developed for microcomputers. This drive would be a full height, 5.25 inches wide and taking up 2 full size 5.25 inch drive bays. This drive used an MFM (Modified Frequency Modulation) encoding scheme to store data on the drives. Later drives would use a variety of encoding schemes to include RLL (Run Length Limited) and ARLL (Advanced Run Length Limited) which would prove to increase the amount of data that could be stored on the same size drive.
|
In 1982, Western Digital announced the first single chip Winchester hard drive controller. In 1983, Western Digital won the contract to provide IBM with controllers for the PC/AT. That controller, the WD1003, became the basis of the ATA interface setting the standard in 1984. In 1985, Control Data, Compaq Computer, and Western Digital collaborated to develop the 40-pin IDE (Intelligent Drive Electronics) interface, more commonly known as Integrated Drive Electronics.
|
In 1985 Quantum introduced the Plus Hardcard, which allowed the addition of a hard drive without an available bay or a separate controller card as the drive was mounted onto the card. Also in 1985, Western Digital produced the first ESDI (Enhanced Small Device Interface) controller board, which allowed for faster and higher capacity hard drives to be used in PCs. Control Data, Compaq Computer, and Western Digital collaborated and developed the 40-pin IDE interface. IDE stands for Intelligent Drive Electronics though is more commonly known as Integrated Drive Electronics.
1986 was a busy year for hard drive manufacturers and electronics companies. Conner introduced the first 3.5 inch hard drive with voice coil actuators, but half 1.6 inch and full height 5.25 inch drives persisted for several years. This same year, the original SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) was developed and standardized. The SCSI interface was faster than ATA and allowed up to 7 SCSI drives to be attached. Apple Computer's Mac Plus was one of the first computers to use the SCSI standard.
In 1988, Prairie Tek releases the 220, the first 2.5-inch hard drive designed for the rapid increasing notebook computer market. This was a 20MB drive. Also, in 1988, Connor introduced the first 1-inch-high 3.5-inch hard drive, a form factor still common today. Before this, hard drives were either full height or half-height.
In 1990, Western Digital introduced its first 3.5-inch Caviar IDE hard drive. This new design used the latest in embedded servo and computerized diagnostic systems. Also, the SCSI-2 standard was approved increasing the drive bandwidth from 5MB/s to 40MB/s.
In 1991, the PC industry moved from ST-506 and ESDI drives to ATA and SCSI. Western Digital was selling more and more Caviar drives. IBM introduced the 0663 Corsair, the first disk drive with thin film magneto resistive (MR) heads. It contained eight 3.5-inch platters and stored 1GB. IBM introduced the 2.5-inch 100 megabyte hard drive notebook hard drive.
|
In 1992, Seagate Technology came out with the first 2.5 inch hard drive with shock-sensing technology. They were also the first to market a 7200 rpm hard drive, the 2.1GB Barracuda. Also, MiniStor Peripherals introduces the Portables series of 1.8-inch diameter platter hard drives weighing only a few ounces, for use in notebook computers. A 32 MB model fits in a PCMCIA Type III slot. During this same year, Hewlett Packard came out with the first 1.3-inch hard drive, the HP Kittyhawk. The Kittyhawk held 20MB of data with later versions called the Kittyhawk II holding up to 40MB. Both models had IDE interfaces. Some variations of the hard drive were produced with PC card interface as well. The drive measured 0.4 in. by 2 in. by 1.44 in, and weighed about 1 ounce. Hard drives with form factors of 2.5 inches and less currently are required only by computers where light weight and compactness are key criteria such as notebook and netbook computers. Where capacity and cost are the most important criteria, larger hard drives were still preferred over their compact cousins. For this reason, 3.5 inch hard drives will at this time, continue to dominate the market in the foreseeable future for desktop PCs, workstations and servers, while 2.5-inch hard drives will continue to dominate in portable computers.
In 1994, Western Digital develops Enhanced IDE, an improved hard drive interface that breaks the 528MB-throughput barrier. EIDE also allows for attachment of optical and tape drives.
In 1996, Seagate introduces its Cheetah family, the first 10,000-rpm hard drives. The SCSI-3 standard is approved increasing drive bandwidth from 40MB/s to 160MB/s. IBM introduces GMR (Giant MR) Technology for read sensors. GMR heads can detect much weaker and smaller signals. This is key to increasing areal density, capacity and performance.
In 1997, IBM introduced the world's highest capacity desktop PC hard drive, the first drive to use the giant magneto resistive (GMR) heads, the Deskstar 16GP Titan, stores 16.8GB on five 3.5-inch platters. Seagate introduced the first 7,200 RPM, Ultra ATA hard disk drive for desktop computers.
In 1998, IBM announced its Microdrive, the smallest hard drive fitting 340MB on a single 1-inch platter. IBM announced a 25GB hard drive the Deskstar 25GP. UltraDMA/33 and ATAPI is standardized.
In 1999, IBM raised the bar in hard drive technology with a new family of record-breaking hard drives and a new technology that protects drives against temperature variation and vibration. IBM introduced two new high-performance hard drive models: the 36GB Ultrastar 36ZX, and the server-class 10,000 RPM Ultrastar 72ZX, the world's highest capacity drive at 73GB. Later, the company announces the Travelstar 25GS, the world's highest capacity notebook PC hard drive, holding four times as much data as the average notebook hard drive. It also has the highest rpm of any notebook PC hard drive.
The year 2000 marked several milestones in the hard drive industry. IBM tripled the capacity of the world's smallest hard disk drive. The 1Gb Microdrive, the world's smallest, lightest and largest capacity mobile hard drive is the size of an American quarter. Seagate produced the first 15,000-rpm hard drive, the Cheetah X15. Seagate also introduced the world's highest capacity hard drive, the 180GB Barracuda.
In 2001, the Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA I) specification was released allowing for 1.5Gb/s burst rates. This brings a new hard drive interface into the PC market allowing for faster drives and smaller cables. While the mechanical limitations of a hard drive transfer sustained data at 157MB/s, the new SATA interface will prove to change drives in the future.
|
2002, Seagate successfully demonstrated HAMR (Heat-assisted magnetic recording) technology – HAMR aimed to increase areal density by more than 100 times. HAMR is a technology that magnetically records data on high-stability media using laser thermal assistance to first heat the material. Seagate also delivered industry's first SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) disc drive, the Barracuda ATA V. The 137GB addressing space barrier was broken allowing for larger hard drives.
2003, Western Digital introduced the first 10,000-rpm SATA hard drive, the 37GB Raptor, which is designed for the enterprise. Seagate entered the notebook market with Momentus 2.5 inch hard drive.
|
2004, Seagate launched 12 new products, an unprecedented array of hard drives targeting a wide range of applications such as MP3 players, DVR's, consumer electronics, notebook computers, PCs, servers and corporate data centers. Seagate announced Savvio, the industry's first 2.5 inch enterprise hard drive. The first 0.85 inch hard drive, Toshiba's MK2001MTN, debuted. This drive was about the size of a postage stamp and stored 2GB on a single platter. A later release of these small drives held twice the data at 4GB. These drives were primarily used in mobile phones, tiny MP3 players, digital cameras, and camcorders. In fact the postage stamp sized 0.85-inch HDD was named the smallest Hard Disk Drive in the 2005 Guinness Book of Records. The SATA II specification was released allowing for 3Gb/s burst rates. External SATA was standardized and the SATA specification was revised to support external devices, known as eSATA.
In 2005, Hitachi shipped the first 500 GB hard drive. Serial ATA at 3Gbps was standardized. Seagate introduced Tunnel Magneto Resistive Read Sensor (TMR) and Thermal Spacing Control. Faster SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) was introduced. The first perpendicular recording hard drive, the Toshiba 1.8 inch 40/80 GB hard drive shipped. During the same period, Seagate drives innovation with 10 new, groundbreaking hard disc drives including the first perpendicular magnetic recording 2.5 inch drive, boosting its capacity to 160GB, and first drive with Full Disc Encryption data security. The storage industry continues to find ways to increase storage densities. The latest technology at this time was called Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR), which moves magnetization of particles from a horizontal to a vertical alignment, so more bits can fit the same space.
2006, Seagate also released the Barracuda 7200.10, at 750GB the largest hard drive to date. Toshiba released the first 200 GB 2.5 inch hard drive utilizing perpendicular recording. Western Digital launched its 10,000-rpm Raptor X SATA hard drive, boosting its capacity to 150GB and placing a flashy transparent window that allowed specially designed computer cases to showcase its inner workings. Cornice and Seagate each announced a 1 inch hard drive that held 12GB. The drives were slated to ship in the third quarter of this year. Advanced Media, Inc. is set to add a non-volatile Flash Solid State Disk (SSD) storage medium to its RIDATA line. It is available in 16 GB and 32GB capacities. Solid State Drives transfer data at up to 308 MB/s.
2007, Seagate shipped the world's first laptop drives with high capacity and performance along with innovative technology, such as self-encryption and free-fall sensors. Seagate launched a new era of digital storage by shipping in volume hybrid notebook hard drives that combine disc storage with flash memory to deliver ultra-power efficiency, faster boot-ups and greater reliability for the exploding notebook market. Hitachi is first to announce shipment of a 1 terabyte hard drive, the Deskstar 7K1000. Hard drive docks were produced for internal hard drives so that they may be used externally, using the USB or eSATA interface.
|
In 2008, Samsung announces increase in capacity of its flash-based SSD line to 256 GB. Seagate announced the first 1.5 terabyte hard drive. Intel launches the fastest SSD (or hard drive for that matter) in existence, the 80GB and 160GB Intel X25M SSD using intel's own controller and NAND flash memory. Addonics released a Compact Flash (CF) - SATA HDD Adapter, to make up to two Compact Flash cards (possible to use in RAID) to act as a Solid State Drive (though slightly slower, but much cheaper). Toshiba ships first 6Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) enterprise hard drive, brought the highest capacity portable external hard drive to market with a 320GB USB 2.0 enabled solution, launches the highest capacity 2.5 inch hard drive at 400GB, and introduced the 250GB 1.8 inch Micro SATA drive.
|
For 2009, Western Digital announced the world's largest capacity hard drive to date, holding 2TB, as part of their "Cool and Quiet, Caviar Green" series with a 5400RPM spindle speed. They also introduced us to the first 4TB external hard drive, the My Book Studio Edition Dual-drive external storage system and, the first 1TB mobile hard drive, the WD Scorpio Blue 1 TB (model WD10TEVT). Seagate introduced the 7,200rpm 2TB Constellation ES, the first 2TB hard drive to run at 7200RPM. They also unveiled the world's thinnest 2.5 inch drive for slim laptops. Super Talent announced the first 512GB 2.5 inch solid state drive. OCZ Technology introduced MiniPCI–Express solid state drives and the Z-Drive PCI-Express SSD with up to 1TB of storage. A-DATA unveiled the world's slimmest portable hard drive, the NH92. Super Talent ships a new line of flash drive modules that incorporate a standard IDE hard drive interface and use solid state NAND flash as the storage media in 8, 16 32GB capacities. Samsung launched the Spinpoint F3 which utilizes advanced 500GB per platter technology, so that two-platter 1TB capacity is achieved. The SATA III specification was released allowing for 6Gb/s burst rates.
In 2010, Seagate announced shipments of the Momentus XT drive, the world's fastest 2.5 inch laptop PC hard drive, combining SSD-like performance with the massive capacity and much lower cost of hard drives. Seagate introduces the first 3TB hard drive but there's a catch. It's external only. Seagate announced the availability of the Barracuda Green hard drive, the industry's highest performance eco-friendly 3.5-inch desktop drive for low-power personal computers, multi-drive home networking systems and external PC storage. Western Digital shipped the first 2.5 TB and first 3 TB internal hard disk drives. Micron shipped its first enterprise-class SSD, the P300, which sports read/write speeds of up to 360MB/sec and 275MB/sec, respectively, and is rated to handle 1.9TB of data per day for five years. The SSD is available in 50GB, 100GB and 200GB capacities. OCZ announced a 2TB Z-Drive SSD with 1.4Gbit/sec throughput for enterprise-class environments.| Back To The Top | Types Of Hard Drives |
