THE HARD DISK DRIVE

Hard Disk Drive

Volatile Memory – is
Non-Volatile Memory –
a type of storage
used to describe any
whose contents are
memory or storage that
erased when the
is saved regardless if the
system’s power is
power to the computer is
turned off or
on or off.
interrupted.

A hard disk drive (sometimes abbreviated as Hard

drive, HD, or HDD) is a non-volatile memory
hardware device that permanently stores and
retrieves data on a computer.
 History of Hard Drive

The first hard drive

was introduced to
the market by IBM
 on 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 The hard drive was built-in to the computer
and was not removable.
per megabyte).
 History of Hard Drive

In 1961 IBM
introduced the model
1311 disk drive,
which was about the
size of a washing
machine and stored
two million
characters.
History of Hard Drive
 History of Hard Drive

In 1983 marked the
introduction of the
first 3.5-inch size
hard drive,
developed by
Rodime. It had a
storage capacity of
10 MB.
 History of Hard Drive

In 2007 the Hitachi

GST became the
first hard drive with a
capacity that was
over 1 TB (terabyte).
 History of Hard Drive

In 2012 Seagate,
Western Digital, and
Toshiba started to
ship hard drives with
a capacity of 4-TB
 History of Hard Drive

In 2015 samsung
revealed a 16-TB
hard drive that is
only 2.5 inches.
 HDD being replace by SSD

What is SSD?

Short for Solid-State Drive, a storage

medium that uses non-volatile memory
as a means of holding and accessing
data. No moving parts which gives it
advantages such as faster access
time, noiseless operation, higher
reliability, and lower power
consumption.
 Hard Disk Drive Interfaces

Parallel Advance Technology

Attachment (PATA).
Small Computer System Interface
(SCSI). (pronounced “skuzzy”)
Serial Advance Technology Attachment
(SATA).
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS).
 Hard Disk Interfaces

Parallel Advance Technology

Attachment (PATA)

It has a 40 Pins Data Connector.

It has 4 Pins Power connector.
Data transfer rate is 133.3 MB/S.
If you have two devices connected to
one IDE controller, one must be set
master and the other must be set to
slave using jumpers and IDE cable.
Max of two drives per controller.
Developed by Western Digital under the
name Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE).
 Hard Disk Interfaces

Small Computer System

Interface (SCSI)

 SCSI are high performance storage

drives.
 SCSI drives are commonly found in
servers were real time performance or
24/7 operation is required.
 It has 40 Pins Data Connector and 4
Pins Power connector.
 Data transfer rate is 320 MB/S for SCSI-
3 Wide Ultra3.

 Max of 15/16 drives per controller .

 Hard Disk Interfaces

SATA Drive Interface

 It is the latest high speed type of

hard drive connectors.
 It has a 7 pin Data connector.
 It has 15 pin Power connector.
 Data transfer rate is
22.5 GB/S for SATA V4 at 2017
 Max of 15 with a port multiplier.
 Hard Disk Interfaces

The Serial Attached SCSI

(SAS)
 It has a 7 pin Data
connector.
 It has 15 pin Power
connector.
 Data transfer rate is 6
GB/S 
Max of 8 drives per
controller.
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 Basic components of a hard drive

Motor
Read/Write Head

Disk
 Hard Disk Platters

3 1/2 inch drives are the most

popular for desktop & some
portables.
Max number of platters in a 3
1/2 inch drive is 11.
Traditionally made from a
magnetic material, in the flat
disk part of the drive.
The data stored in the platter.
 Read/Write Heads
A hard disk has one read/write
head for each side of the
platter. 
The heads are connected on a
single movement mechanism.
They move in same manner
and direction.
The heads read and write the
information to the drive platter.
The head writes magnetic
information on the platter.
 Spindle motor

Motor that spins

the platters.
Connected directly
to the drive.
This motor rotates
at a speed of 3600
to 15,000 RPM.
All the platter
moves in the same
direction.
 Stepper motor

 Use stepper motors

for controlling
read/write head
position.
 Stepper motors
usually use +12V
power, but some new
low-power drives use
+5V power source.
 Later called as
“Actuator”.
 Logic Boards

 Mounted on the
hard drive.
 Contain
electronics that
control the
drive’s spindle,
head actuator
systems, and
present the data
to the controller.
 Actuator

An electronic device
controlled by a motor
that moves the hard
drive head arm. In
the past, the actuator
within a hard drive
was controlled by a
stepper motor.
However, today the
actuator is often
controlled by a servo
motor.
 Actuator Arm

The part of
a hard disk to
which the
read/write arms
 attaches.
 Cables & Connectors

Connectors for
interfacing to the
computer, receiving
power.
Data cables:
SATA cable.
SCSI cable.
IDE cable.
SAS cable.
 Disk structures of platters

A: Track
B: Sector
C: Cluster
D: Cylinder
D
 Disk structures

 Track : The HDD is

divided into number of
concentric circulars
called tracks.
 Disk structures

Geometrical Sector:
Data storage area in one
track multiple divided
into the multiple block.
Each sector can have
512 bytes of the data.
Sector three parts: the
sector header, the error-
correcting code (ECC),
and the area that
actually stores the data.
 Disk structures

 Cluster: Group of one

of one or more
contiguous sectors.

Figure C
 Disk structures

 Cylinder: A set
corresponding tracks in all
sides of a hard disk.
 How Hard Disk Drive Works?
Data sent to and read from the hard drive is
interpreted by the disk controller, which tells
the hard drive what to do and how to move
the components in the drive.
When the operating needs to read or write
information, it examines the hard drive’s File
Allocation Table(FAT) to determine the file
location and available write areas.
Once they have been determined, the disk
controller instructs the actuator to move the
read/write arm and align the read/write head.
 How Hard Disk Drive Works?
Because files are often scattered throughout
the platter, the head needs to move to
different locations to access all information.
 Hard Disk Drive Partition

What is Hard Disk Partitioning?

Disk partitioning or disk slicing is the

creation of one or more regions on a hard
disk or other secondary storage, so that
an operating system can manage information
in each region separately.[
 Types of Partition

1.Primary Partition:
Windows operating systems must be
located in a primary partition.
 Only primary partitions can be used to boot
the operating system.
 Partitions
Primary Partition
Extended Partition

Primary Partition Logical

Drive 1
Drive Letter = c: Drive Letter = d:

Set to “Active”

Stores O.S. Logical

Drive 2
Drive Letter = e:
Hard Disk
 Types of Partition

 2.Extended Partition:
A hard disk may contain only one
extended partition.
the extended partition can be subdivided
into multiple logical partitions (Other than
OS is a Extended Partition).
 Partitions
Primary Partition
Extended Partition

Primary Partition Logical

Drive 1
Drive Letter = c: Drive Letter = d:

Set to “Active”

Stores O.S. Logical

Drive 2
Drive Letter = e:
Hard Disk
 Types of Partition

 3.Logical Drive:
Is the hard disk partition created in extended
partition.
Like primary partition, a logical partition can be
used to install Windows and any other types of
files, but we are unable to set it active. 
 Partitions
Primary Partition
Extended Partition

Primary Partition Logical

Drive 1
Drive Letter = c: Drive Letter = d:

Set to “Active”

Stores O.S. Logical

Drive 2
Drive Letter = e:
Hard Disk
 Types of Partition

 4. Active Partition:
An active partition is a partition on a hard
drive set as the bootable partition that contains
the operating system.
Only one partition on each hard drive can be set
as an active partition or bootable partition.
For example, if you are using Microsoft Windows
the partition that contains Windows is the active
partition.
 Hard Disk Drive File System

What is a File System?

Alternatively referred to as file management and

sometimes abbreviated as FS, a file system is a method
of organizing and retrieving files from a storage medium,
such as a hard drive.

File systems usually consist of files separated into groups

called directories. Directories can contain files or additional
directories. Today, the most commonly used file system
with Windows is NTFS.
 Examples of File System

 1. FAT (File Allocation Table) – old

windows file system
 2. NTFS(New Technology File System)
– new windows file system
 3. GFS(Global File System) –
maintained by RedHat
 4. HFS(Hierarchical File System) – used
to store files on FDD, CD-ROM Discs.
 HDD Capacity & Size Information

What is a File System?

Alternatively referred to as file management and

sometimes abbreviated as FS, a file system is a method
of organizing and retrieving files from a storage medium,
such as a hard drive.

File systems usually consist of files separated into groups

called directories. Directories can contain files or additional
directories. Today, the most commonly used file system
with Windows is NTFS.
 HDD being replace by SSD

What is SSD?

Short for Solid-State Drive, a storage

medium that uses non-volatile memory
as a means of holding and accessing
data. No moving parts which gives it
advantages such as faster access
time, noiseless operation, higher
reliability, and lower power
consumption.
 HDD Capacity and Size Information
When pure chasing a hard disk drive, the term megabytes,
gigabytes or terabytes may be confusing terms.
Term Equal to
Bit 0 or 1

Nibble 4 bits

8 bits (approximately one character in a Word

Byte
document)

KB(Kilobyte) 1,024 bytes

MB(Megabyte) 1,024 Kilobytes or 1,048,576 Bytes
GB(Gigabyte) 1,024 Megabytes or 1,073,741, 824 Bytes
TB(Terabyte) 1,024 Gigabytes or 1,099,511,627,776 Bytes

1,024 Terabytes or about 1,000,000,000,000,000

PB(Petabyte)
Bytes
1,024 Petabytes or about
EB(Exabyte)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 Bytes
1,024 Exabytes or about
ZB(Zetabyte)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Bytes
1,024 Zetabytes or about
YB(Yottabyte)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Bytes

Note: Example: 1 GB = 1,024 MB but for easy calculations,

normally we just say 1 GB = 1,000 MB by ignoring 24 MB size.
Also, 1 MB = 1,000 KB, etc.
 Question no. 1

How many 4MB MP3 files can be store

in 1 Gigabyte flash drive?
 Question no. 2

How many 1MB pictures can be stored

in a 700MB CD?
 Question no. 3

How many bits in a byte?

 Question no. 4

How many bits in a byte?

 Question no. 5

How many bytes are there in a word

“Computer”?
 Question no. 6

How many 650MB CD’s can be store in

1 Terabyte?
Company Logo
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 Other Brands
Seagate Quantum
Fujitsu Strontium
Hitachi G-Technology
SanDisk EMC Corporation
Sony Buffalo
Kingston
Transcend
Hp
Apple