WORKSHOP PRACTICE HARD DISK DRIVES

TOPIC : HARD DISK DRIVES AND DEVELOPMENT

1. What Does Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

A computer hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile data storage device. Non-volatile refers to
storage devices that maintain stored data when turned off. All computers need a storage device,

and HDDs are just one example of a type of storage device.

2. History of the Hard Disk Drive

A computer hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile data storage device. Non-volatile refers
to storage devices that maintain stored data when turned off. All co History of the hard drive.

When the IBM produced the first hard drive on 13 September 1956, few people had
imagined the impact that it would have on our daily lives for over 50 years.

The RAMAC ("Random Access Method of Accounting and Control") was the size of two
refrigerators and weighed a ton. An air compressor was required to protect its heads, its plates
were as large as pizzas and its storage capacity (5Mb!!) is now small enough to fit in your
pocket. The RAMAC was available for long-term loan at a modest sum of USD $35,000,
equivalent to USD $254,275 today.

Twenty-five years later, the first hard drive for PC was invented. Thanks to the MFM
encoding method, the PC could hold 4Mb of data and attained a transfer speed of 625Kb/s.
A later version of the interface ST506 introduced the RLL coding method which allowed an
even larger storage capacity and faster processing speed.

IBM once again rewrites history on the 12 August 1981, with the launch of the first personal
computer – "Personal Computer (PC), IBM 5150." At a cost of USD $1,565, IBM 5150
offered just 16Kb of memory, the size of a small email. We had a hard time reminding
ourselves that even at the end of the 80s, 100Mb was considered a very large drive space.
Today, this size would barely be enough to install the operating system and of course,
completely inadequate to run any applications.

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First Hard Disk Drives

3. Why Computers need Hard Disks Drives

Storage devices like hard disks are needed to install operating systems, programs and additional storage
devices, and to save documents. Without devices like HDDs that can retain data after they have been
turned off, computer users would not be able to store programs or save files or documents to their

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computers. This is why every computer needs at least one storage device to permanently hold data as
long as it is needed.

4. How do hard disk drives works

Most basic hard drives consist of several disk platters -- a circular disk made of either
aluminum, glass or ceramic -- that are positioned around a spindle inside a sealed chamber.
The platter spins with a motor that is connected to the spindle. The chamber also includes the
read/write heads that magnetically record information to and from tracks on the platters using
a magnetic head. The disks also have a thin magnetic coating on them.

5. What are external HDDs

Most HDDs are found internally in a computer and work as stated above. However,
individuals can also purchase external hard drives. External hard drives can be used to expand
the storage capacity of a computer or to act as a portable device to back up data. External
drives connect to a computer or device through interfaces like USB 2.0, USB-C or with
External SATA (eSATA). External hard drives may also have slower data transfer rates
compared to internal HDDs.

The main advantage of an external hard drive, aside from being able to expand a device's
storage space, includes being portable. Users can store data from multiple devices and
physically bring that data with them wherever they go.

6. HDD evolution and technology developments

The main advantage of an external hard drive, aside from being able to expand a device's
storage space, includes being portable. Users can DD evolution and technology developments
In 2013, Seagate Technology announced hard disk drives that use shingled magnetic
recording (SMR) technology. SMR increases storage density in hard disk drives by layering
the magnetic tracks on each disk, rather than placing them parallel to each other. It is referred
to as shingled because the tracks overlap similar to shingles on a roof.HGST announced the
first helium-filled hard disk drive in 2012. Helium is less dense, cooler and lighter than air,

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consumes less power, increases drive density and improves performance compared to
traditional hard disk drives. In 2016, Seagate announced its own 10 TB helium hard drive. In
2021, drive manufacturer Western Digital unveiled two 20 TB HDDs -- the Ultras DC
HC560 and WD Gold HDD Enterprise Class SATA HDD. Currently, 20 TB is the largest
available HDD size. Both hard disk drives come in the standard 3.5-inch form factor but have
different use cases. The Ultras DC HC560 is meant for cloud storage providers and for
business servers, security systems and network-attached storage devices. The WD Gold HDD
is designed for enterprise businesses that run heavy application w or loads

. 7. Types of Hard Drives

Currently, hard drives are divided into 4 major types:

1) Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA)

2) Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)
3) Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
4) Solid State Drive (SSD)

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1. Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA)

The PATA hard drives were first introduced to the market by Compaq and Western Digital in
1986. They can have up to 80GB capacity and transfer data as fast as 133 MB/S.

They were named Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment because they use a parallel ATA
interface to connect to the computer. Apart from PATA, they are also called Integrated Drive
Electronics (IDE) and Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics (EIDE).

PATA hard drives are made of mechanical moving parts and are based on parallel signaling
technology – meaning they transmit multiple bits of data simultaneously.

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2. Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)

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In recent times, a lot of desktop and laptop computers have gotten SATA hard drives because
they have superseded PATA hard drives in size, power consumption, and even better pricing.
The mode of connection to a computer remains the same as PATA, but instead of parallel
signaling technology for data transmission, they use serial signaling technology. This means that
they transfer data one bit at a time.

A notable advantage SATA hard drives have over PATA hard drives is the transmission of data
at a rate of 150 – 300 MB/S. In addition, they have thinner cables and a cable limit of 1 meter.

3. Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)

SCSI hard drives are upgrades over SATA and PATA drives for many reasons such as round-
clock operations, speed, storage, and several others.

For connection, SCSI hard drives use a small computer system interface – which is a standard
for connecting peripheral devices such as printers, scanners, and others.

Best of all, they allow the connection of peripheral devices such as printers, scanners, and
other hard drives. In addition, they transmit data at 320 MB/S and you can connect them
internally or externally.

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Connections through SCSI on personal computers have now been replaced by the Universal
Serial BUS (USB). This means that SCSI is no longer used as consumer hardware.

4. Solid State Drive (SSD)

SSD hard drives are one of the latest hard drive technology at the time of writing this article.

Unlike the hard drive technologies before SSD drives, they don’t consist of moving parts and
they don’t use magnetism for storing data.

Instead, they use integrated circuits (ICs) just like third-generation computers. This makes
them more durable, faster, and less prone to damage and corruption.

SSD hard drives have a notable advantage of transferring data at speed of 550 MB/S and allow
faster boot times than the types of hard drives before them.

8. Conclusion
This article showed you different types of hard drives and elaborated on them, so you can
learn more about hard drives and choose the best one for your needs.

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From PATA to SATA, SCSI and SSD, hard drives continue to evolve and research to make
better ones is on going.`

In fact, there is a new variation of SSD hard drives called NVMe (Non-volatile Memory
Express) SSDs that has the capacity to transfer data as fast as 3.5 GB/S. This makes them the
best choice for video editing and high-resolution gaming, though they require more power
than the actual SSDs.

9.Reference

What is a Hard Disk Drive (HDD)? Definition from SearchStorage.com

What is a Hard Disk Drive (HDD)? Definition from ... – TechTarget.com

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