ABSTRACT

Hard drive technology is at a critical point in its history. While hard drive capacity will continue to increase, there are many other factors that will affect the overall performance of hard drive in a system. HDDs (hard-disk drives) are like the bread of a sandwich - sort of an unexciting piece of hardware necessary to hold the software. However, it will not be a complete sandwich without the bread, and the quality of the sandwich is also determined by the quality of its bread. This paper aims to provide information on the evolution of computer hard drives, its history, and different type of hard disk drive. Also, this paper will outline different options when it comes to choosing the type of hard disk type base on different situations and circumstances.

CONTENTS
I. II. III. INTRODUCTION HISTORY OF HARD DISK DRIVE TYPE OF HARD DISK DRIVE Traditional Hard disk drive Solid State Hard disk drive Hybrid Hard disk drive IV. RECOMMENDATION FOR CHOOSING HARD DISK DRIVE

1. INTRODUCTION
A hard disk drive (HDD) is a data storage device used for storing and retrieving digital information using rapidly rotating discs coated with magnetic material. An HDD retains its data even when powered off. Data is read in a random-access manner, meaning individual blocks of data can be stored or retrieved in any order rather than just sequentially. An HDD consists of one or more rigid ("hard") rapidly rotating discs (platters) with magnetic heads arranged on a moving actuator arm to read and write data to the surfaces. HDD is considered by many to be the bottom neck of a computer system. How fast a computer system can perform is mostly determine by its slowest component, and HDD is one of the slowest component of a system.

2. BRIEF HISTORY AND TIME LINE

1953 IBM recognized the application of more permanent (non-volatile) system of storage that would increase usefulness of its computer system. 1956 IBM ships the first hard drive in its RAMAC 305 system. The disk hold 5MB of data at the price of $10,000 per megabyte (1 million bytes or the size of one picture in today standard). 1963 IBM comes up with the first removable HDD. The previous HDD before this time is permanently fixed to a system. 1970 General Digital Corporation (renamed Western Digital) is founded and will later be the major player in HDD industry. 1978 First RAID (Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks) technology patent is filed. 1983 The world first 3.5 inch HDD to hit 10MB of data storage is introduced.

1985 IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) standard was developed by a collaboration of Control Data, Compaq Computer, and Western Digital.

1986 Apple computer first use SCSI interface in its Mac computer. 1990 Laptop starts to gain popularity, and 2.5 inch hard drive start to be mass produced. 2007 Hitachi GST ships first HDD to break the TB capacity mark.

The capacity of hard drives has grown exponentially over time. When hard drives became available for personal computers, they offered 5-megabyte capacity. During the mid-1990s the typical hard disk drive for a PC had a capacity of about 1 gigabyte. As of today, desktop hard disk drives typically had a capacity of 500 to 2000 gigabytes, while the largest-capacity drives are about 4 terabytes.

3. TYPE OF HARD DISK DRIVE

Traditional hard disk drive Solid State hard disk drive Hybrid hard disk drive

Traditional hard disk drive

Most computer hard drives are in an internal drive bay at the front of the computer and connect to the Motherboard using data cable and power cable. The operation of this type of hard drive can be summarized as follow: Operating system examines the File Allocation Table (FAT) to determine the file location.

Data sent to HDD controller. Controller interprets the data. Controller tell the hard drive where and how to write the data. The hard drive actuator spin the series of platter of disks to the desire location. The read/write head align with the platter and read/write the data.

Because files are often scattered throughout the platter, the head will often need to move to several different locations to access all information. All information stored on a traditional hard drive, like the above example, is done magnetically.

Solid State hard disk drive

A solid-state drive (SSD) is a data storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data persistently. SSDs do not employ any moving mechanical components, which distinguishes them from traditional magnetic disks such as hard disk drives (HDDs) or floppy disks, which are electromechanical devices containing spinning disks and movable read/write heads. Compared with electromechanical disks, SSDs are typically less susceptible to physical shock, are much quieter, and have lower access time and latency. However, while the price of SSDs has continued to decline in 2012, SSDs are still about 10 times more expensive per unit of storage than HDDs. The operation of Solid State hard disk drive: Operating system passes all the file operation to SSD controller. The controller will determine the course of action for all file operation. The controller selects which operation to carry on (read/write).

Data is electronically store in the blank cell that can be either 0 or 1 state. Location of the cell is then pair with the data. Location of paired data/cell is written in a file table for retrieval later.

Hybrid hard disk drive

Hybrid hard disk drive consist of platter just the same as traditional hard disk drive; however with the additional of a small capacity solid state drive connected to it. Unlike standard hard drives, the hybrid drive in its normal state has its platters at rest, with the motor not consuming power or generating heat. Any data written to the hybrid drive is written to the solid state section of hard drive first. When reading data from the platters extra data is read and stored in the solid state drive in the hope of anticipating future requirements as in any disk cache. The operation of Hybrid hard disk drive: Write: Read: Operating system looks up File Allocation Table for the requested data. Location of the data is sent to controller. Operating system read the File Allocation Table (FAT). Data is sent to the controller. Controller writes to Solid state drive. If the solid state drive is full, then write all the contents to the traditional hard drive.

Controller looks in the solid state drive first. If the data is not in the solid state drive, then read the data from the traditional hard drive. Write the data in solid state drive for future use. Send the data to Operating system.

4. RECOMMENDATION FOR CHOOSING HDD

The best hard drive for your money is going to depend on your needs. Essentially there are four options, and which one will depend on how much youre willing to spend, how much storage space you need, and how much you value performance. Option 1: Cost is irrelevant, small storage needs, and performance is important. If money doesnt matter and your storage needs arent important, an SSD is the best option. The SSD in the system can arguably be the best upgrade anyone can make in term of boosting the performance of a system. Option 2: Cost is irrelevant, large storage need, and performance is important. If the need for large storage is important, the cost is not an issue, and requirement of the speed is high, then combining 1 SSD for operating system files and 1 traditional HDD for data files is a good way to achieve the objective. Option 3: Cost is important, large storage needs, and performance is irrelevant. If the need for a lot of storage capacity is important but the amount of money that can be spent on the system is low, then traditional hard drive is the only option.

Option 4: Cost is important, large storage need, and performance is important. In this case, the hybrid HDD is the best solution. Hybrid HDD used small size SSD to store frequently used files plus a large standard hard drive that provides the actual storage. These drives do come at a premium over traditional drives, but they're far cheaper than most SSDs. The disk space you'll gain over an SSD for the same money is also enormous.

Sources
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