A solid state drive is a storage device that uses solid state memory to store data. While technically not a disk, a solid state drive will often be referred to as a solid state disk drive, or a solid state disk, in reference to the fact that, in some ways, it replaces the traditional … [Read more...]
Guide to Western Digital’s GreenPower hard drive technology
Western Digital's release of its GreenPower hard drive technology signalled another significant move by a major manufacturer into the provision of 'green' or environmentally friendly hardware. The GreenPower drives were made available in desktop, enterprise, CE and external hard drive … [Read more...]
Hard Disk Millipede
In late 1999, IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory unveiled a concept which suggests that micro- and nanomechanic systems may be able to compete with electronic and magnetic devices in the mass storage arena. Instead of writing bits by magnetising … [Read more...]
Hard Disk PLEDM
Notwithstanding the various candidates for the hard disk technology for the next millennium, it could be that the future of hard disks doesn't lie in mechanical storage systems at all. Developments in memory technology could mean that … [Read more...]
Hard Disk OAW Technology
While GMR technology is looking to areal densities of up to 40Gbit/in2 in the next few years, some hard disk manufacturers anticipate that the phenomenon of losing data due to data bits being packed too close together will … [Read more...]
Hard Disk MicroDrives
GMR technology was a key feature of IBM's (the company's hard disk drive business was subsequently acquired by Hitachi Global Storage Technologies in 2002) revolutionary Microdrive device, launched in mid-1999. The world’s smallest, lightest one-inch hard drive was invented at … [Read more...]
Hard Disk SMART Drives
In 1992, IBM began shipping 3.5-inch hard disk drives that could actually predict their own failure - an industry first. These drives were equipped with Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA), an IBM-developed technology that periodically … [Read more...]
RAID – Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks
In the 1980s, hard-disk drive capacities were limited and large drives commanded a premium price. As an alternative to costly, high-capacity individual drives, storage system developers began experimenting with arrays of smaller, less expensive hard-disk drives. In a 1988 publication, A Case … [Read more...]
Hard Disk Perpendicular Recording
In perpendicular recording, the magnetisation of the bit is aligned vertically - or perpendicularly - in relation to the disk drive's platter. Since the bits do not directly oppose each other, the need for transition packing is significantly reduced. This allows bits to be more closely … [Read more...]
Hard Disk Longitudinal Recording
For nearly 50 years, the disk drive industry has focused nearly exclusively on a method called longitudinal magnetic recording, in which the magnetisation of each data bit is aligned horizontally in relation to the drive's spinning platter. In longitudinal recording, the fields … [Read more...]