In 1953, IBM recognized the immediate application for what it termed a "Random
Access File" having high capacity and rapid random access at a relatively low
cost. After considering technologies such as wire matrices, rod arrays,
drums, drum arrays, etc., the engineers at IBM's San Jose California laboratory
invented the hard disk drive. The disk drive created a new level in the
computer data hierarchy, then termed Random Access Storage but today known as
secondary storage, less expensive and slower than main memory but faster and
more expensive than tape drives. The commercial usage of hard disk drives
began in 1956, with the shipment of an IBM 305 RAMAC system including IBM Model
350 disk storage. US Patent 3,503,060 issued March 24, 1970, and arising from
the IBM RAMAC program is generally considered to be the fundamental patent
for disk drives. Each generation of disk drives replaced
larger, more sensitive and more cumbersome devices. The earliest drives
were usable only in the protected environment of a data center. Later
generations progressively reached factories, offices and homes, eventually
reaching ubiquity. Disk media diameter was nominally 8 or
14 inches and were typically mounted in standalone boxes or large equipment rack
enclosures. Individual drives often required high-current AC power due to
the large motors required to spin the large disks. Hard disk drives were not
commonly used with microcomputers until after 1980, when Seagate Technology
introduced the ST-506, the first 5.25 inches drive.
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 December 2014, desktop hard disk drives
typically had a capacity of 500 to 4000 gigabytes, while the largest-capacity
drives were 8 terabytes. 1950s–1970s
The IBM 350 Disk File, invented by Reynold Johnson, was introduced in 1956
with the IBM 305 RAMAC computer. This drive had fifty 24 inches platters, with
a total capacity of five million 6-bit characters. A single head assembly
having two heads was used for access to all the platters, yielding an average
access time of just under 1 second. The IBM 1301 Disk Storage Unit,
announced in 1961, introduced the usage of heads having self-acting air bearings
with one head per each surface of the disks.
Also in 1961, Bryant Computer Products introduced its 4000 series disk drives.
These massive units stood 52 inches tall, 70 inches wide, and had up to 26
platters, each 39 inches in diameter, rotating at up to 1,200 rpm. Access
times were from 50 to 205 milliseconds. The drive's total capacity, depending on
the number of platters installed, was up to 205,377,600 bytes.
The first disk drive to use removable media was the IBM 1311 drive. It was
introduced in 1962 using the IBM 1316 disk pack to store two million
characters. It was followed by the IBM 2311 5 megabyte and IBM 2314 29 megabyte
disk pack HDDs. Memorex in 1968 shipped the first HDD,
the Memorex 630, plug compatible to an IBM model 2311 marking the beginning of
independent competition for HDDs attached to IBM systems. It was followed
in 1969 by the Memorex 660, an IBM 2314 compatible, which was OEM'ed to DEC and
resold as the RP02. In 1973, IBM introduced the IBM 3340
"Winchester" disk drive, the first significant commercial use of low mass
and low load heads with lubricated platters. This technology and its
derivatives remained the standard through 2011. Project head Kenneth
Haughton named it after the Winchester 30-30 rifle because it was planned to
have two 30 MB spindles; however, the actual product shipped with two spindles
for data modules of either 35 MB or 70 MB. The name 'Winchester' and some
derivatives are still common in some non-English speaking countries to
generally refer to any hard disks. Also in 1973, Control Data Corporation
introduced the first of its series of SMD disk drives using conventional disk
pack technology. The SMD family became the predominant disk drive in the
minicomputer market into the 1980s. During the 1970s, captive production,
dominated by IBM's production for its own use, remained the largest revenue
channel for HDDs, though the relative importance of the OEM channel grew. Led
by Control Data, Diablo Systems, CalComp and Memorex, the OEM segment reached
$631 million in 1979, but still well below the $2.8 billion associated with
captive production. 1980s, the PC era
As the 1980s began, hard disk drives were a rare and very expensive optional
feature on personal computers; however by the late '80s, hard disk drives were
standard on all but the cheapest PC. Most hard disk drives in the early 1980s
were sold to PC end users by systems integrators such as the Corvus Disk
System or the systems manufacturer such as the Apple ProFile. The IBM PC XT in
1983, included an internal standard 10MB hard disk drive, and soon thereafter
internal hard disk drives proliferated on personal computers.
Timeline 1956 – IBM 350, first commercial disk
drive, 5 million characters. 1961 – IBM 1301 Disk Storage Unit
introduced with one head per surface and aerodynamic flying heads, 28 million
characters per module. 1961 – Bryant Computer Products division
of Ex-Cell-O, 1 meter platters, 1200 RPM, up to 205MB.
1962 – IBM 1311 introduced removable disk packs containing 6 disks, storing 2
million characters per pack 1964 – IBM 2311 with 7.25 megabytes per
disk pack 1964 – IBM 2310 removable cartridge disk
drive with 1.02 MB on one disk 1965 – IBM 2314 with 11 disks and 29 MB
per disk pack 1968 – Memorex is first to ship an
IBM-plug-compatible disk drive 1970 – IBM 3330 Merlin, introduced error
correction, 100 MB per disk pack 1973 – IBM 3340 Winchester introduced
removable sealed disk packs that included head and arm assembly, 35 or 70
MB per pack 1973 – CDC SMD announced and shipped, 40
MB disk pack 1976 – 1976 IBM 3350 "Madrid" – 317.5
megabytes, eight 14" disks, re-introduction of disk drive with fixed
disk media 1979 – IBM 3370 introduced thin film
heads, 571 MB, non-removable 1979 – 1979 IBM 62PC "Piccolo" – 64.5
megabytes, six 8" disks, first 8-inch HDD
1980 – The IBM 3380 was the world's first gigabyte-capacity disk drive. Two
1.26 GB, head disk assemblies were packaged in a cabinet the size of a
refrigerator, weighed 249 kg, and had a price tag of 40,000 USD which is 114,879
USD in present day terms. 1980 – ST-506 first 51⁄4 inch drive
released with capacity of 5 megabytes, cost $1500 USD
1983 – RO351/RO352 first 31⁄2 inch drive released with capacity of 10 megabytes
1986 – Standardization of SCSI 1988 – PrairieTek 220 – 20 megabytes,
two 2.5" disks, first 2.5 inch HDD 1989 – Jimmy Zhu and H. Neal Bertram
from UCSD proposed exchange decoupled granular microstructure for thin film
disk storage media, still used today. 1990 – 1990 IBM 0681 "Redwing" – 857
megabytes, twelve 5.25" disks. First HDD with PRML Technology.
1991 – IBM 0663 "Corsair" – 1,004 megabytes, eight 3.5" disks; first HDD
using magnetoresistive heads 1991 – Integral Peripherals 1820
"Mustang" – 21.4 megabytes, one 1.8" disk, first 1.8-inch HDD
1992 – HP Kittyhawk – 20MB, first 1.3-inch hard-disk drive
1993 – IBM 3390 model 9, the last Single Large Expensive Disk drive announced by
IBM 1994 – IBM introduces Laser Textured
Landing Zones 1997 – IBM Deskstar 16GP "Titan" –
16,800 megabytes, five 3.5" disks; first heads
1997 – Seagate introduces the first hard drive with fluid bearings
1998 – UltraDMA/33 and ATAPI standardized
1999 – IBM releases the Microdrive in 170 MB and 340 MB capacities
2002 – 137 GB addressing space barrier broken
2003 – Serial ATA introduced 2003 – IBM sells disk drive division to
Hitachi 2004 – MK2001MTN first 0.85-inch drive
released by Toshiba with capacity of 2 gigabytes
2005 – First 500 GB hard drive shipping 2005 – Serial ATA 3 Gbit/s standardized
2005 – Seagate introduces Tunnel MagnetoResistive Read Sensor and Thermal
Spacing Control 2005 – Introduction of faster SAS
2005 – First perpendicular magnetic recording HDD shipped: Toshiba 1.8-inch
40/80 GB 2006 – First 750 GB hard drive
2006 – First 200 GB 2.5" hard drive utilizing perpendicular recording
2006 – Fujitsu develops heat-assisted magnetic recording that could one day
achieve one terabit per square inch densities
2007 – First 1 terabyte hard drive 2008 – First 1.5 terabyte hard drive
2009 – First 2.0 terabyte hard drive 2010 – First 3.0 terabyte hard drive
2010 – First hard drive manufactured by using the Advanced Format of 4,096 bytes
a block instead of 512 bytes a block 2011 – First 4.0 terabyte hard drive
2011 – Floods hit many hard drive factories. Predictions of a worldwide
shortage of hard disk drives cause prices to double.
2012 – Western Digital announces the first 2.5-inch, 5 mm thick drive, and
the first 2.5-inch, 7 mm thick drive with two platters
2012 – HGST announces helium-filled hard disk drives, promising cooler operation
and the ability to increase the maximum number of platters from five to seven in
the 3.5" form factor 2012 – TDK demonstrates 2 TB on a single
3.5-inch platter 2012 – Toshiba re-enters the 3.5"
desktop hard disk drive market with capacities up to 3 TB. This is made
possible by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission demanding that Western
Digital and Hitachi GST give assets and intellectual property rights to Toshiba.
Prior to this, Toshiba had only manufactured 2.5" laptop HDDs for many
years. 2013 – Seagate announces that it will
ship hard disk drives with capacities up to 5 TB using shingled magnetic
recording, a method where tracks are written to partially overlap each other.
The read head, being smaller, can still read the overlapped tracks.
2013 – HGST announces a helium-filled 6 TB hard disk drive for enterprise
applications 2013 – Western Digital demonstrates heat
assisted magnetic recording technology 2014 – Seagate introduces 6 TB hard
drives that do not use helium, in turn increasing their power consumption and
lowering their overall cost 2014 – Seagate ships worlds first 8 TB
hard drives 2015 - In June HGST ships Ultrastar
Archive Ha10 SMR HDD, the world's first 10TB HDD followed in December by a
conventional PMR HDD Manufacturing history
See also List of defunct hard disk manufacturers
As of December 2011, virtually all of the world's HDDs were manufactured by
three large companies: Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba. Hitachi was
acquired by Western Digital in 2012. The market has continued to consolidate
since the 1980s as dozens of manufacturers exited or were acquired.
The first notable casualty in the PC era was Computer Memories Inc. or CMI; after
an incident with faulty 20MB AT disks in 1985, CMI's reputation never recovered,
and they exited the HDD business in 1987. Another notable failure was
MiniScribe, which went bankrupt in 1990 after it was found that they had engaged
in accounting fraud and inflated sales numbers for several years. Many other
companies also did not survive the shakeout, and had disappeared by 1993;
Micropolis was able to hold on until 1997, and JTS, a relative latecomer,
lasted only a few years and was gone by 1999, after attempting to manufacture in
India. JTS originated a 3″ form factor for use in laptop computers. Quantum and
Integral also invested in the 3″ form factor; but the form factor failed to
catch on. Rodime was an important manufacturer during the 1980s, but
stopped making disks in the early 1990s to concentrate on technology licensing;
they hold a number of patents related to 3.5-inch form factor HDDs.
The following is the genealogy of the remaining participants:
1967: Hitachi enters the HDD business 1967: Toshiba enters the HDD business
1979: Seagate Technology founded 1988: Western Digital, then a well-known
controller designer, enters the HDD business by acquiring Tandon
Corporation's disk manufacturing division
1988: Samsung enters the worldwide HDD market, previously having manufactured
Comport disk drives for the Korean market
1989: Seagate purchases Control Data's HDD business
1990: Maxtor purchases MiniScribe out of bankruptcy, making it the core of its
low-end HDDs 1994: Quantum purchases DEC's storage
division, giving it a high-end disk range to go with its more
consumer-oriented ProDrive range 1996: Seagate acquires Conner
Peripherals in a merger 2000: Maxtor acquires Quantum's HDD
business; Quantum remains in the tape business
2003: Hitachi acquires the majority of IBM's disk division, renaming it Hitachi
Global Storage Technologies 2006: Seagate acquires Maxtor
2009: Toshiba acquires Fujitsu's HDD division
2011: Western Digital proposes acquiring Hitachi's HDD division
2011: Seagate acquires Samsung's HDD division
2012: Western Digital acquires Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
2012: Seagate acquires Lacie In 2011, based on market research firm
IDC, the biggest hard drive makers were Seagate Technology and Western Digital
Corp., but the largest national producer was China, followed by Thailand which
makes about a quarter of the world's hard drives. The concentration of hard
disk drive producers in only a few countries made the supply vulnerable to
disruptions like the 2011 Thailand floods.
See also List of defunct hard disk manufacturers
History of floppy disks History of IBM magnetic disk drives
References External links
A brief history of hard drives, retrieved 2014 Jan 11
Timeline, 50 years of hard drives retrieved 2010 Nov 25
HDD Price History.