In: Categories » Computers and technology » Storage devices » Hard Drive Advancements
| In 1957, Cyril Northcote Parkinson published his famous compilation of essays titled Parkinson's Law, which begins with the statement, "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." A corollary of Parkinson's most famous "law" can be applied to hard drives: "Data expands so as to fill the space available for its storage." This, of course, means that no matter how big a drive you get, you will find a way to fill it. I know that I have lived by that dictum since purchasing my first hard disk drive more than 20 years ago. Even though I am well aware of the exponential growth of everything associated with computers, I am still amazed at how large and fast modern drives have become. The first hard drive I purchased in 1983 was a 10MB (that's 10 megabyte, not gigabyte) Miniscribe model 2012, which was a 5 1/4" (platter) drive that was 203.2mmx146mmx82.6mm or 8"x5.75"x3.25" in overall size and weighed 2.5kg (5.5 lb., which is heavier than some of today's laptop computers)! By comparison, one of the biggest drives available to datethe Hitachi 7K500 SATA driveuses smaller 3 1/2" platters, is about 5 3/4"x4"x1" (146mmx102mmx25mm) in overall size, weighs only 1.54 lb. (0.70kg), and stores a whopping 500GB (which is 50,000 times more storage in a package that is about one-sixth the size and one-fourth the weight of my old Miniscribe). Obviously, the large storage capacities found on modern drives are useless unless you can also transfer the data to and from the disk quickly. The hard disk as found in the original IBM XT in 1983 had a constant data transfer rate from the media of about 100KBps. Today, most commonly used drives feature the Serial ATA interface, which offers variable media data transfer rates of up to 66MBps (average rates are lower, up to about 50MBps). Much like the increase in drive capacity, the speed of the interface has also come a long way since the MFM and RLL interfaces that were commonplace in the '80s. As always, the interfaces are much faster than the actual drives. The Parallel ATA, Serial ATA, and SCSI interfaces are commonplace now and offer data transfer rates of up to 133MBps for Parallel ATA, 150 and 300MBps for Serial ATA, and 320MBps bandwidth for Ultra-320 SCSI. All these interfaces are much faster than the drives they support, meaning that the true transfer rate you will see is almost entirely limited by the drive and not the interface you choose. The modern interfaces have bandwidth to spare for future developments and advances in hard disk technology. Note The book Parkinson's Law (ISBN: 1-5684-9015-1) is still in print and is in fact considered one of the essential tomes of business and management study even today. To give you an idea of how far hard drives have come in the 20+ years they have been used in PCs, I've outlined some of the more profound changes in PC hard disk storage:
Note In a rather stunning move, IBM sold its Hard Disk Drive operations division to Hitachi on January 6, 2003. The resulting new company is called Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (www.hitachigst.com); comprises the hard disk drive operations of Hitachi and IBM; and is headquartered in San Jose, California. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies now manufactures, sells, and supports the former IBM Travelstar, Microdrive, Ultrastar, and Deskstar product lines. The new company is 70% owned by Hitachi, with the remaining shares held by IBM. Hitachi assumed full ownership at the end of 2005, and IBM has no involvement in the management of the new company. What is stunning about this is that IBM invented the hard drive, so it is sad to see it exit the business.
 |
legal disclaimer
1) Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article as well for any and all copyright infringements by authors and writers. E-articles is a free information resource. If you suspect this article for any copyright infringements, please read the Terms of service and contact us to investigate the problem.
2) The E-articles directory team is not responsible for inaccuracies, falsehoods, or any other types of misinformation this tutorial may contain and will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by a user through the user's reliance on the information gained here. Please read the Terms of service
Useful tools and features
If you like this article (tutorial), please link to it from your web page using the information above. Linking to this page, this is the only way to help us improve our service, the same time providing your visitors with a way to improve their online experience.
related articles
Handling errors when reading a disc was a big part of the original Red Book CD standard. CDs use parity and interleaving techniques called cross-interleave Reed-Solomon code (CIRC) to minimize the effects of errors on the disk. This works at the frame level. When being stored, the 24 data bytes in each frame are first run through a Reed-Solomon encoder to produce a 4-byte parity code called "Q" parity, which then is added to the 24 data bytes. The resulting 28 bytes are then run though another encoder that uses a different scheme...
2. Floppy Drive Types
As distinct from diskette types and formats, six drive types have been installed in PC-compatible systems: 5.25-inch 160/180 KB (SSDD) Single-Sided, Double-Density(SSDD) was the standard FDD in very early PC-class systems. These drives read and write only SSDD diskettes. 5.25-inch 320/360 KB (DSDD) Double-Sided, Double-Density(DSDD) was the standard FDD in PC-class systems, and was often found as a second FDD in early AT and 386 systems. The...
3. How to choose a Tape Backup Drive
Choosing a tape backup drive can be a simple job if you need to back up a single standalone system with a relatively small hard drive. The decision becomes more complex if the system has a larger hard drive or if you must back up a desktop system as well as a laptop. Choosing a tape backup drive type can be an even more complex program if you must back up a network server's hard drives and perhaps even back up the workstations from the server. As you ponder which backup tape drive you should select, consider the following facto...
4. DVD Copy Protection
DVD video discs employ several levels of protection that are mainly controlled by the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) and a third-party company called Macrovision. This protection typically applies only to DVD-Video discs, not DVD-ROM software. So, for example, copy protection might affect your ability to make backup copies of The Matrix, but it won't affect a DVD encyclopedia or other software application distributed on DVD-ROM discs. Note that every one of these protection systems has been broken, so with a lit...
5. How to Manually Resolve Motherboard Conflicts
In the past, the only way to resolve conflicts manually was to take the cover off your system and start changing switches or jumper settings on the adapter cards. Fortunately, this is a bit easier with plug-and-play because all the configuration is done via the Device Manager software included in the operating system. Although some early plug-and-play cards also had jumper switches or setup options to enable them to be configured manually, this feature was found primarily on ISA PnP-compatible cards. Be sure you write down or print o...
6. How Magnetic Fields Are Used to Store Data
All magnetic storage devices read and write data by using electromagnetism. This basic principle of physics states that as an electric current flows through a conductor (wire), a magnetic field is generated around the conductor. Note that electrons actually flow from negative to positive as shown in the figure, although we normally think of current flowing in the other direction Electromagnetism was discovered in 1819 by Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted, when he found that a compass needle would deflect away from p...
7. Hard Disk Form Factors
The cornerstone of the PC industry has always been standardization. With disk drives, this is evident in the physical and electrical form factors that comprise modern drives. By using industry-standard form factors, you can purchase a system or chassis from one manufacturer and yet physically and electrically install a drive from a different manufacturer. Form factor standards ensure that available drives will fit in the bay, the screw holes will line up, and the standard cables and connections will plug in. Without these indus...
8. Magneto Optical Drives
One of the most neglected types of removable-drive technologies is the magneto-optical (MO) drive. Introduced commercially in 1985, magneto-optical drives are now available in capacities exceeding 9GB. Two sizes of magneto-optical media and drives are available for desktop computers: 3 1/2" and 5 1/4". The 3 1/2" drives have capacities up to 2.3GB, and the 5 1/4" drives have capacities up to 9.1GB. 12" MO drives are also available for enterprise systems. Originally, magneto-optical drives were strictly WORM (write once, r...
9. Tape Drive Backup Software
The most important decision you can make after you choose the tape standard and capacity of your backup tape drive is the backup software you will use with it. The three sources for tape backup software are Software bundled with the drive Software bundled with the operating system Software obtainable from third parties Use the following checklist to evaluate the software you plan to use with your tape backup drive: Device support. You might pref...
10. Introduction in the Microdrive Technology
If you prefer magnetic storage for digital camera or other electronic device data storage, consider the Hitachi Microdrive, originally developed by IBM and now manufactured and sold by Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. The Hitachi Microdrive has also been sold by various other companies under OEM agreements. The Microdrive is a true hard disk that spins at 3,600RPM and features a 128KB cache buffer. Since its introduction by IBM, the Microdrive in its Compact Flash Type II-compatible form factor has increased in capaci...