Hard Drive

Disk (HDD)
 Hard Drive
A hard disk drive (sometimes abbreviated as Hard drive, HD,
or HDD) is a non-volatile memory hardware device that
permanently stores and retrieves information. There are many
variations, but their sizes are generally 3.5" and 2.5" for desktop
and laptop computers respectively. A hard drive consists of one or
more platters to which data is written using a magnetic head, all
inside of an air-sealed casing. Internal hard disks reside in a drive
bay, connect to the motherboard using an ATA,SCSI,
or SATA cable, and are powered by a connection to the PSU(power
supply unit).
 A hard drive can be used to store just about any type of data,
including pictures, music, videos, and text documents. Computers
have a hard drive and use it to store files for the operating
system and software that run on the computer, as well as files
created or downloaded to the computer by a user.

The amount of data a hard drive can store depends on the storage
space of the hard drive. Older hard drives had a storage size of
several hundred megabytes (MB) to several gigabytes (GB) . Newer
hard drives have a storage size of several hundred gigabytes to
several terabytes (TB). Each year, new and improved technology
allows for increasing hard drive storage sizes.
 History of Hard Drive
• The first hard drive was introduced to the market by IBMon
September 13, 1956. The hard drive was first used in the
RAMAC 305 system, with a storage capacity of 5 MB and a
cost of about $50,000 ($10,000 per megabyte). The hard
drive was built-in to the computer and was not removable.
• In 1963, IBM developed the first removable hard drive,
having a 2.6 MB storage capacity.
• The first hard drive to have a storage capacity of one
gigabyte was also developed by IBM in 1980. It weighed
550 pounds and cost $40,000.
• 1983 marked the introduction of the first 3.5 inch size hard
drive, developed by Rodime. It had a storage capacity of 10
MB.
Seagate was the first company to introduce a 7200 RPM hard
drive in 1992. Seagate also introduced the first 10,000 RPM
hard drive in 1996 and the first 15,000 RPM hard drive
in 2000.
The first solid-state drive (SSD) as we know them today was
developed by SanDisk Corporation in 1991, with a storage
capacity of 20 MB. However, this was not a flash-based SSD,
which were introduced later in 1995 by M-Systems. These
drives did not require a battery to keep data stored on the
memory chips, making them a non-volatile storage medium.
 Parts of Hard Disk Drive
PLATTER :
• A hard disk platter or the disk is a circular disk in which the magnetic data is
stored. A hard disk drive can have several platters that are mounted on the
same spindle.
SPINDLE / SPINDLE MOTOR :
• The spindle motor is responsible for turning the hard disk platters and must
provide stable, reliable and consistent turning , to allow the hard disk to
function properly.
HEAD :
• Responsible for read - write operation of data from and to the platter
ACTUATOR :
• Used to position the head arms to different tracks on the surface of the
platter, actuator is used in changing from track to track the only operation on
the hard disk that requires active movement. This mechanism of hard disk
must works at extreme speed, with precise accuracy for the data to be read
and write accurately on the platter.
Platter
 READ/WRITE HEADS:
The heads are an interface between the magnetic media where the data is stored and
electronic components in the hard disk. The heads convert the information, which is in
the form of bits to magnetic pulses when it is to be stored on the platter and reverses the
process while reading.
Spindler
 HARD DISK LOGIC BOARD:
Hard disk is made with an intelligent circuit board integrated into
the hard disk unit. It is mounted on the bottom of the base casting
exposed to the outer side. The read/write heads are linked to the
logic board through a flexible ribbon cable.
 DRIVE BAY:
The entire hard disk is mounted in an enclosure designed to protect it from the
outside air. It is necessary to keep the internal environment of the hard disk
free of dust and other contaminants. These contaminants may get accumulated
in the gap between the read/write heads and the platters, which usually leads to
head crashes.
 Different types of Hard disk drive
(HDD)
• Parallel Advance Technology Attachment (PATA) drives are
also known as Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) developed
by Western Digital under the name Integrated Drive
Electronics (IDE)
Small Computer System Interface or SCSI for short and can be pronounce as
"skuzzy" are high performance storage drives. SCSI drives are commonly
found in servers were real time performance or 24/7 operation is required.
SCSI drive are much faster than the standard drive Parallel ATA (PATA) with
5400RPM - 7200RPM access time compared to 10000RPM - 15000RPM for
SCSI. Revolution Per Minute "RPM" of hard drives is a measurement of how
many complete revolutions a computer's hard drive makes in a single minute.
Fast rotation speed of the spindle means high data transfer , the higher the
RPM, the faster the data will be accessed
 Serial ATA was designed to replace the older parallel ATA
(PATA). SATA offers several advantages over the older IDE drive
such as reduced cable size reducing from 40 pins in IDE to 7 pins
in SATA, native hot swapping and has faster data transfer through
higher signaling rates.
 The Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is a new generation serial communication
protocol for devices designed to allow for much higher speed data transfers
and is compatible with SATA. The serial transmission of data requires fewer
connections and eliminates the SCSI bus and still uses the very capable SCSI
protocol. SAS uses a mechanically identical data and power connector to
standard 3.5-inch SATA1/SATA2 HDDs and many server-oriented SAS RAID
controllers are also capable of addressing SATA hard drives. SATA drives can
be attached to a SAS drive controller and they will work perfectly because
they are compatible but not SAS drive connected to a SATA controller this
configuration will not work.
 Functions of HDD
• A hard disk drive, also known as a hard drive or HDD, is used to store data long
term. Data can include the computer's operating system and applications as
well as personal files including photographs, documents and music. When a
computer is booted up, or turned on, the computer access the hard drive to
load the operating system, such as Windows, OSX or Linux.
• The major characteristics of hard drives are the amount of data it can store,
called capacity, and performance. The capacity is measured in gigabytes or
terabytes. For example, 1 GB is equal to 1,024 megabytes and 1 TB is equal to
1,024 GB. When it comes to selling hard drives, however, the manufacturer
usually uses multiples of 1,000 rather than 1,024. This can make some hard
drives show less capacity in the operating system than they do on the box.
• Hard drive performance can refer to read speeds, write speeds, latency and
the seek time. The seek time and latency are measured in the time it takes for
the magnetic heads in a magnetic hard drive to access the data desired. The
read and write speeds, or data transfer rate, are measured by how much data
can be written to the drive or read from the drive within a specified period.