Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dhamatrix" data-source="post: 7351208" data-attributes="member: 145926"><img src="http://www.elakiri.com/forum/images/icons/sq/14.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The evolution of hard disk drives It took 51 years before hard disk drives reached the size of 1 TB   (terabyte, i.e. 1,000 GB). This happened in 2007. In 2009, the first   hard drive with 2 TB of storage arrived. So while it took 51 years to   reach the first terabyte, it took just twoSize,   storage space, and price. years to reach the   second. This article looks back at how hard disk drives have evolved  since  they first burst onto the scene in 1956. We’ll examine the  radical  changes over time for three different aspects of HDDs:   Changes  in physical size over time The first hard disk drive, like so  many innovations in computing,  came from IBM. It was called the IBM  Model 350 Disk File and was a huge  device. It had 50 24-inch  disks contained inside a  cabinet that was as large as a  cupboard and anything but lightweight.  This hulk of a storage unit  could store a whopping 5 MB of data. <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4368314810_b4d271a00b_o.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />  Above:  An IBM Model 350 Disk File being delivered.  Yes, that’s ONE hard disk  drive unit. Although hard disk drives kept improving,  state-of-the art disks were  built according to the concept “bigger is  better” well into the ‘80s.  Hard disk drives were normally used  together with big mainframe  computers, so this was not such a big deal.  Entire rooms were already  set aside for the computers. Case in  point, here below is a 250 MB hard disk drive from 1979. <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2743/4368314776_c8223ea75e_o.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />  Above:  State-of-the-art hard disk drive from the  ‘70s. IBM  introduced the first hard disk drive to break the 1 GB barrier in  1980.  It was called the IBM 3380 and could store 2.52 GB (500 times  more  than the consumer options at the time). Its cabinet was about the size   of a refrigerator and the whole thing weighed in at 550   pounds (250 kg). <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4367590691_4066de4695_o.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />  Above:  The disk drive module of the IBM 3380. Early in the ‘80s,  smaller “consumer” hard disk drives designed to be  used with the  increasingly popular microcomputers (now known as PCs)  started to  appear. The first ones were 5 MB in size and had a form  factor of 5.25  inches. For a visual on how hard disk drive sizes have changed  since the ‘80s  until today, have a look at the below image with an old  8-inch drive  all the way down to today’s 3.5-inch, 2.5-inch and  1.8-inch drives. <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/4368314700_1d82a5198b_o.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />  Above:  Three decades of shrinkage. Changes in storage space over  time  The first hard disk drive back in 1956 could store 5  MB  of data, which was a huge amount at the time. This is  coincidentally  also the size of the first “small” 5.25-inch hard disk  drive that  arrived in 1980. We went from having to have a special room  for the hard  disk drive and its computer, to having one we could put  inside a  desktop computer. Ten years later, in 1990, a normal  hard drive held about 40  MB, with more expensive  options able to store more than 100 MB. Fast forward to present  day, and you can buy a 3.5-inch hard disk  drive with 2 TB   To illustrate the tremendous increase in  storage space that we have  seen in the last 30 years (essentially since  the birth of personal  computing), we have made a 1980 vs. 2010  side-by-side comparison chart  here below. Note that we have used  a logarithmic scale in this  chart. Each step on the Y  axis is 10 times larger than the one below it.  If we had used a  regular, linear scale, the columns for 1980  would have been less than a  pixel high.   of storage space. <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=oqjmzx2yjym&thumb=4" target="_blank"><img src="http://www2.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/5e61a3cae92c9177d2b7231b796dcf736g.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a>   As you can see, the gap between a normal versus a top-of-the line   hard disk drive in terms of storage space has become much, much smaller   than in the past. And as an added bonus, they also have the same   physical size these days, which they most definitely did not have back   in 1980. No one is making those fridge-sized hard disk drives anymore.      Of course, nowadays we have special storage devices with a gazillion   regular hard disk drives crammed inside that have taken over the   “ridiculously expensive” crown. And speaking of price… Changes  in price over time  As with any rare commodity, early hard  drives were extremely  expensive and were used with equally huge and  expensive mainframe  computers. The first hard disk drive, the  IBM Model 350 Disk File we mentioned  above, wasn’t something you got as  a stand-alone unit. It wasn’t even  something you bought. Instead you  could lease the IBM 305 RAMAC computer  that came with the 350 Disk File  for $3,200 per month.  Needless to say, back in ‘50s  this was a lot more money than it is now. The biggest and best  hard disk drives kept being an expensive  proposition. When it finally  started selling in 1981 after some initial  delivery hickups, the price  for the 2.52 GB refrigerator-sized IBM 3380  started at $81,000.  And then you of course needed a  computer to use it with… The  first 5.25-inch 5 MB hard disk drives (i.e. the consumer option)  in the  ‘80s cost well over $3,000. Similar prices  remained  for the 10 MB drives that soon replaced them. This probably  explains  why most PCs were initially sold without a hard disk drive,  instead  relying on floppy disk drives. As storage space has increased, it  has also become infinitely more  affordable. The average cost  per GB has over the last 30 years  gone from way over $100,000 <a href="http://www.mkomo.com/cost-per-gigabyte" target="_blank">to just a few cents</a>.   Now that’s inflation… Factoid: A 5 MB hard disk drive  from Apple cost $3,500 in  1981. That’s $700,000 per GB. And  of course, 30 years ago most people couldn’t get their hands on 1  GB  of storage even if they tried. A promotion video of the first  hard drive  To round off this retrospective, here is some vintage  promotion  material about the 1956 IBM 305 RAMAC computer and its  amazing new  innovation, the IBM 350 Disk File. This is tech geek gold.  If you can  watch this without getting a smile on your face, please get  some help. <img src="/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/default/P.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":P" title=":P    :P" data-shortname=":P" /> [YOUTUBE]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zOD1umMX2s8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zOD1umMX2s8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE] Another  30 years into the future   Considering that we now have tiny,  cheap USB sticks that can hold up  to 64 GB of data, which is about 1,600  times more than a  normal hard disk drive in 1990 (40 MB), and  12,800 times  more than the first consumer hard disk  drive in 1980, things have  certainly moved forward. And just  like we are now looking back and shaking our heads at the  amazing  difference between now and a few decades ago, we will, thirty or  so  years from now, look back at 2010 and shake our heads with similar   amazement. “Was storage really that primitive back then?” Picture  Sources: <a href="http://ed-thelen.org/RAMAC/index.html" target="_blank">The  IBM 350 Disk File  from IBM via ed-thelen.org</a>. <a href="http://gizmodo.com/archives/would-that-be-internal-or-external-technically-018574.php" target="_blank">250   MB hard disk drive from 1979</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SixHardDriveFormFactors.jpg" target="_blank">Hard   disk drives of multiple sizes by Paul R. Potts</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IBM3380DiskDriveModule.agr.jpg" target="_blank">IBM   3380 disk drive module by ArnoldReinhold (Wikimedia Commons)</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hdhead.jpg" target="_blank">Closeup of HDD head   by Alexdi (Wikimedia Commons)</a>.  </blockquote>

Verification: Awruddata maasa keeyada?

Top Bottom