HARD DISK DRIVE

Introduction
Hard Disk Drive is a nonvolatile data storage device, it means that the storage device retains the data even when no power is supplied to the Computer. Some of the profound changes in PC hard disk storage are its capacity, data transfer rates from the media.

Features of Hard Disk Drive

Storage Capacity

The storage capacity of the hard disk refers to the amount of disk space that can be used to store the user data.
Data Transfer Speed There are two ways to measure the speed of the disk drive is Average seek time and transfer rate Stability It has been measured by Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF).

PARTS OF HDD:.
MOTORS PLATERS SPINDLE STEM HEAD HEAD ACTUATOR OR VOICE COIL

TYPES OF MOTORS
SPINDLE MOTORS STEPPER MOTOR
FORMULA TO FIND THE CAPACITYOF DISK: CAPACITY = NO. OF HEAD X NO. OF CYLINDER X NO. OF SECTOR X NO. OF BYTES PER SECTOR

HARD DISK MECHANISM

A flat, round disk called platters is used in a hard disk The platters are loaded on a spindle. Spindle motor spins the platters.

Electromagnetic read/write devices called heads are mounted onto sliders.

Each platter has two heads.

Geometry of Hard Drive

Cylinders
It is a set of all platters.

Heads It is used to read data from the hard disk Drives disk platters Sectors per Track A track is a one ring of data on single side Tracks are divided into many sectors.

Write pre-compensation
Used to adjust the smaller tracks

 Platters

This platter is made up of substrate material, which gives structure and rigidity
Platters are physically connected in the middle and driven by the spindle motor.
Hard Disk Read/Write Heads

The hard disk drive read/write heads act like an interface between the magnetic media and the part of the hard disk. Heads are joined to the head actuator move across the disk.
Landing-Zone When the system is turned off, the BIOS should send the heads of hard disk to the cylinder where there is no data.

Types of Read or Write Heads

Ferrite Head It is used for magnetic recording. Metal in Gap Head (MIG) - A metal substance has been filled in the gap, and increases the resistance of magnetic saturation. Thin Film Head - This head floats closer to the disk than the other heads. Magneto Resistive Head - The MR head can change resistance.

 Giant Magneto Resistive Head (GMR) It will work on multilayer of materials dumped in it. Head Actuator Mechanism Stepper motor actuators is an electrical motor that can step from location to other, with click-stop positions Voice Coil Actuator It is used to shift the head arms in and out .

It has a special guidance system

 Spindle Motor The spindle motors are directly connected to the hard disk platter. It helps to spins the platters

Logic Board (s) The logic boards have Electronics that control the drives spindle and head actuator systems.

Data Read / Write Operation in HDD

The

data is recorded on the magnetic tracks of a hard disk drive.

Each track is divided into number of sectors. Data is pressed on each sector. Microcomputers hard disk drives are following the soft sector format.

In the latest soft sector format, the track number, head number and sector number is written on each sectors ID field.
Hard disk heads convert electrical signals to magnetic signals and magnetic signals to electrical signals. By using encoding method, the stored data has been recorded onto the hard disk. This encoding method translates zeros and ones into patterns of magnetic flux reversals.

OTHER INFORMATION

Sector Transfer Mode

Programmed mode

In this method the CPU is responsible of data transfer.

Interrupt mode

The CPU does data transfer but unlike previous method it is not responsible for checking if the device is read with a data byte.
DMA mode

DMA controller is responsible for data transfer.

 IO Address Devices use memory location for interfacing with the computer. A typical hard disk controller uses 1F0-1F7h I/O port. Interrupt Request (IRQ) It permits a hardware device to look inside the computer. When the device need attention, IRQ makes direct line to the microprocessor. 14 is the IRQ of HDD.

DMA Channel
Without CPU interference, the DMA controller transfers data from a drive to the computers memory.

 Low level formatting The disks tracks are divided into a specific number of sectors. LLF is most important for the proper operation of the drive. Partitioning The hard disk drive can support separate file systems by creating a partition on a hard disk drive. High level formatting The operating system marks the structures essential for managing files . High-level formatting is the creation of a table of contents for the disk

 Cluster Grouping sectors into larger blocks are called clusters .

Master Boot Record (MBR)

The location of the master boot record is cylinder 0, head 0, and sector 1.

DOS Boot Record (DBR)

In the beginning of the boot drive the DOS boot record will load . Boot Sector The two tasks of boot sector is to load in the operating system and to inform the user information about the disk.

 File Allocation Table The FAT has entry for each cluster, which describes how the file has been used, and which files are free for use. Root Directory FAT file system uses root directory to format disk. Data Area The content of the files are stored in data area.

Disk Cleanup Disk Cleanup will examine the selected drive to decide the amount of space that can be freed. If the drive investigation is completed, a list of file types will be presented for selection. Disk Cleanup permits to review the files that can be deleted. Drive Fragmentation From the menu bar Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools. Select the drive to defragments and click on the Analyze button Disk Compression The methods of compressions are: Utility based Compression Operating System File Compression Volume Compression

Small Computer System Interface

Introduction
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) general purpose interface for connecting different types of devices. is a

It is used to connect high speed hard disk drives for better performance in computers like Network servers. It can support a maximum of 7 or 15 total devices.

SCSI interface Features

Performance
Supports data transfer rate up to 320 MB/second. Provides connectivity for internal and external SCSI devices. It is compatible with the older peripherals. Most reliable interface when considering the

Connectivity

Compatibility

Reliability

SCSI Standards and Types

SCSI Standards
SCSI -1 This standard defines only the fundamental SCSI features and transfer modes. SCSI-2 The main feature of this standard was to standardize the SCSI commands. SCSI-3 The different features are grouped under three different categories Commands Protocols connectors

Types of SCSI

Types of SCSI
Regular SCSI (SCSI-1) . Wide SCSI Fast SCSI Fast Wide SCSI

Ultra SCSI
Ultra3 SCSI Serial SCSI . Internet SCSI (iSCSI)

SCSI

Standards

and Types

Some of the SCSI interfaces and the speed supported by them. Type Speed Peripheral Connection SCSI-2, Fast 10 MByte/sec Scanners, Zip drives, and SCSI CD-ROM (8-bit Narrow) Ultra SCSI 20 MByte/sec CD-R, CD-RW, tape, removable storage (Jaz), (8-bit and DVD drives Narrow) The table below compares the different server technologies Suitable for Benefits SATA Entry-level to Performance of first-generation mid-range Expected low cost, but still an servers emerging technology Fibre Server-to-server, Performance is 200 MByte/sec Chann campus Hard drive reliability el networks

SCSI Interface Components

SCSI Bus
It is a parallel I/O bus used for interfacing different peripheral devices.

SCSI Host Adapters

It is an additional Special card and is an interface between a SCSI

SCSI Interface Components

SCSI Connectors
Connector

Name

Pins an internal 50-pin connector

Device hard drives, CD drives, etc. scanners and tape drives

Figure of connector

Ribbon IDC 50

Centronic 50-contact s connector

DB-25 external 25Zip drives, SCSI pin connector scanners, connector and many Mac devices 50-pin DB-50 external 50Sun pin connector workstation s

SCSI cables

The internal cables and external cables are the two types of SCSI cable. The internal cable does not possess any risk from external components like the electromagnetic and radio frequency noise. The external cables must be designed in such a way that the data traveling through the cable is safe. The external SCSI cable looks like the one shown below.

SCSI Configuration

Installing SCSI hard Disk

Set the jumpers
Set the SCSI ID Configure Termination Set up the terminator power Attach cables and mount the drive

Partition and format the drive