Disk Formatting
All magnetic hard drives are formatted in the same way, or divided into different parts known as tracks, sectors and cylinders.
The formatting method sets up a method of allocating addresses with the different fields. Formatting also make up a region for maintaining the list of addresses. The only way to know what happened with the data inside the hard disk is thru formatting. Take it for example a library. Imagine a library where your pages were tearing off from the books and scattered everywhere in the room. Getting the together the pages back to the book is almost impossible thing. The concept of formatting is to allow you to use the space while still being able to find things.
How Much is Enough
The ability to connect a specific hard drive is generally limited but he architecture of the motherboard and bios as a matter of fact with most today limited to 500GB in capacity. Attach a larger drive and you may not be able to utilize the full capacity of the drive which you may find out in the detected drive displayed within the BIOS setup screen. Though most motherboards now use auto detect, detecting and getting the information about the hard drive from the internal electronics, there was actually a time when you had to know the parameters of the drive for one to mount it and use it properly. IDE today has become an older standard, replaced by SATA which has faster transfer rates and other speedy attributes. They also have a slimmer connector that lessens the restrictive effect the former 80-wire flat cable had on the overall computer system. Continue reading »
Hard Drive – Size does matter
Hard drives come in many forms and shapes, the most common are the 5 1/4″ and the 2 1/2″ the first appearing on desktops and the later on laptops. As of this year, the highest capacity hard drive has topped the 2TB capacity and is set to improve further as data storage technologies improve. The smallest hard drive ever made was a 0.85″ hard drive developed by Toshiba for use as if it were an SD/MMC card for data storage on a computer or mobile devices. The two forms of hard drives have stood the test of time due to the fact that flash memory has experienced such a boom prices have fallen making them a more viable storage solution for smaller needs. The speed at which these drives spin can range from 5,400 to 7,200 rpm the later of which was the long standing standard for server-type SCSI hard drives that were very expensive. Most mobile computers (laptops) come with a 5,400 rpm drive due to the sound considerations when using the device, the faster the device the louder the sound (the spinning sound or hum you hear). You can in theory use faster hard drives on mobile computers but they would reduce battery life and make it noisier defeating the overall design of the laptop. Continue reading »
S.M.A.R.T. – Saving your data before you know it!
SMART is a monitoring technology build into the electronics of hard drives as a way of the computer monitoring it’s performance and may give warning of pending failure. Though the system is generally one that works without a hitch, it cannot protect you from sudden hardware failure which leaves the drive non-operational. Sudden hardware failure is estimated to account for 60% of all drive failures, and is attributed to rough handling or drops and knocks say a laptop falling onto the floor from your desk. They are designed to withstand specific amount of impact force (measured in G’s) that means a hard drive may survive a fall from a 3-foot desk. Continue reading »
Two essential tips
1. Run Disk Degragmenter.
You can find it in Start > Program Files > Accessories > System Tools. Disk Defragmenter effectively sifts through your files and organizes them, thereby saving you hard disk space as well as speeding your system up. Since it takes a long time to get done, it is recommended that you run Disk Defragmenter just before you have a task or errand to do so you don’t have to endure the long wait.
2. Use a hard disk fan.
Electronic processes generate a lot of heat for the hardware, which is ironic, since heat is the major factor in the degradation of computer equipment over time. Especially for bigger and faster hard disks that spin at faster rates, you need a fan to help dissipate the heat and make your HD last longer.
The IDE Hardisk
Image source: www.flickr.com
Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) hard disks have been around for quite a few years. Prior to these drives, hard disks were interfaced to a PC motherboard via an extension board known as a hard disk controller. The drive did most of the mechanical stuff and performed essential electronic/servo functions; the controller told it in detail what to do. The development of the IDE hard moved most of the electronics and firmware (low-level software on a chip) from the controller to a printed circuit board on the drive itself. In the process, a buffer/cache’ memory was added to the electronics to speed-up the process of reading and writing hard disk drive data. The drive got “smarter.” Overall costs went down and performance went up.
A much simpler board, usually identified as an IDE Controller, interfaced the IDE hard disk to the motherboard bus. The term IDE Controller is a misnomer. It is really nothing more than a bus interface and an interface and connector for the IDE cable going to the drive. The actual controller is on the drive.
SyQuest Technology, Inc.
SyQuest Technology, Inc. abbreviated as SYQT Inc was known in making removable hard disk for personal computers. Syed Iftikar started the company back in 1982. It was name in some extent to him, short for Sy’s Quest. SYQT first product were 3.9” detachable hard disk. SyQuest products aim to give personal computer users non-stop storage for data-driven applications like desktop publishing, Internet information management, multimedia, audio, video, digital photography, fast backup, data exchange, and archiving. Nonetheless, they can not capture their target market
Between 1995 and 1997 their sales have been dropping down. It was for the reason that their products have quality issue. Later in 1998 the company filed for bankruptcy.
Quantum
Quantum was founded from designers and executives Shugart Associates, IBM and Memorex. They came up with the eight inch drive. The idea of the product was to achieve very good performance without costing much on full closed servo system.
The Q500 series was the most popular of Quantum. In 1982 it had a market share of 25%. Later on Quantum was also started to develop SCSI hard drive. The product was released in 1986, it was the Q280 drive. Further developing resulted to ProDrive. A combination of Q500 series and Q280 series technology were used in prototyping it. ProDrive supports the ATA interface.
JTS Corporation
JTS corporation, which is base on San Jose, California, was a producer of IDE hard drive for personal computers. In 1994 Jugi Tandon founded JTS Corporation. The company originally concentrated in making on a new 3″ form-factor drive for laptops. The three inches feature accepted a larger drive storage capacity for laptops with their technology.
Compaq Computers was qualified JTS’s drives and incorporate it with their laptops. They became the supplier of bargain basement priced with good-performance hard drives with 5400 RPM. They produced their product in the southern part suburb of Madras City. In this case reputations on products were noticeable. Upon merging with Atari on February 1996, and getting cash from it, JTS filed for Bankruptcy by December 1998.
Conner Peripherals
Conner Peripherals was known in developing hard drives for personal computers. It was founded in 1986. Finis Conner, John Squires, and Terry Johnson founded the company.
Their first milestone was in 1990 where they set a record of almost 1.337 billion in sales spanning in four years. They were recognized as the fastest growing manufacturing in the United States. Also, they were first of many companies to produce IDE specified hard drives. In 1990 Seagate buy them out. Conner peripherals also started to make tape drives during 1993. In 1998, the company shut down the operation when they can not meet the low-cost demand from the suppliers.