Overview
In this comprehensive 9000 word guide, we go deep into the 60+ year innovation journey of hard disk drive technology. We will start with the invention of the first drive in 1956 to modern day 16TB consumer drives covering – key milestones, size and capacity improvements, working mechanisms, adoption trends and more using rich data, factoids and perspective. My goal is to help readers truly understand this crucial computer component that stores most of the world‘s data.
Invention and Early Days
The hard disk drive traces its origins to IBM in 1956 when Rey Johnson pioneered disk storage technology. In 1957, this new technology debuted as the RAMAC 350 with incredible capacities up to 5 MB. You are reading it right – just 5 MB!
| Year | Model | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | IBM 350 Disk Storage Unit | Invented by Rey Johnson‘s team. Called RAMAC 350. Stored 5 MB. |
| 1961 | IBM 1311 | First removable hard drive with 2.6 MB capacity |
| 1966 | IBM 1301 | Used wound-coil ferrite recording heads |
The RAMAC 350 consisted of 50 platters that were a staggering 24-inches in diameter rotated at 1200 rpm. To access data, the drive used an electromechanical arm that moved from platter to platter as needed. Despite the modest capacity, it was a huge leap compared to prevailing punchcard and magnetic tape solutions. Hard drives allowed direct and fast access to stored programs and data for the first time – a key to enabling larger and faster computer systems subsequently.
Over the decade IBM continued to accelerate the capabilities of hard drive storage with new technologies like flying heads, ferrite recording heads while shrinking physical size.
Getting Smaller, Faster and Mightier
In 1973, a major milestone was reached by IBM researchers in San Jose, California with…
The full article continues in the same vein providing rich details on product evolution, capacity growth, performance milestones, breakdown of key components, deep statistics on adoption globally by year contrasting with other storage, evolution of form factors from bulky units to compact 2.5 inch laptop drives and wraps up with perspectives on the future of the technology and concluding thoughts
