4/17/2018

Magnetic Storage
• Exploits duality of magnetism and electricity

– Converts electrical signals into magnetic charges

– Captures magnetic charge on a storage medium

– Later regenerates electrical current from stored

magnetic charge

• Polarity of magnetic charge represents bit values

zero and one

MAGNETISM

Electrical current produces a magnetic field: "electromagnetism"

1
 4/17/2018

• All magnetic storage devices, such as floppy

disk drives and hard disk drives, read and
write data by using electromagnetism
• Random storage vs. serial storage. IBM
• Disks consist of magnetic material coated on
mylar, glass, or aluminum.

– Current flowing through a conductor

produces a magnetic field. During recording,
the head changes electrical impulses to
magnetic fields.
– “Moving a conductor through a magnetic
field” produces a current. During reading,
the head changes magnetic fields to
electrical impulses.

2
 4/17/2018

Data Encoding Schemes

• Are techniques for encoding data for magnetic
storage
• Examples are:
– FM - Frequency Modulation (no longer in use)
– MFM - Modified Frequency Modulation (used in
floppy disks)
– RLL - Run Length Limited (used in hard drives)

More on encoding

• The reading and writing processes require

perfect synchronization
• Because it is twice as efficient as FM
encoding, MFM encoding also has been
called Double Density recording
• Instead of encoding a single bit, RLL
normally encodes a group of data bits at a
time

3
 4/17/2018

FM recording technique

FM recording technique referred as single density recording

Data encoding scheme used to store data on magnetic recording

surface

FM Usually a clock is recorded at the beginning of each bit cell.

(Maximum one data bit can be recorded in a bit cell). The data is
written as a pulse in the middle of a bit cell. In case the data bit is 1,
a pulse is recorded otherwise no pulse is recorded on the media.

FM recording also referred as (0,1) RLL recording

A binary digit 1011 is stored as

Binary digit 1 store two pulses(PP)

Binary digit 0 store one pulse and no pulse(PN)

1 0 1 1
PP PN PP PP

FM recording technique
FM :Maximum one data bit can be recorded in a bit cell.
 In case the data bit is 1, a pulse is recorded otherwise no pulse is

recorded on the media.

Each bit cell is of 4micro sec duration for floppy disk and 110010110

Recording Format

4
 4/17/2018

MFM recording technique

MFM

In MFM recording method, no clock pulse is recorded at the beginning of a bit cell. When the
data bit is 1, only a single pulse is recorded in the center of a bit cell and no clock recorded. If a
data bit is 0 subsequent to a data bit 1 recorded in the previous cell, no clock/data pulse is
recorded in the particular cell.

If two or more 0s are to be recorded subsequently, only a single clock pulse has to be recorded
at the beginning of each bit cell (Remember data pulse is recorded in the center of a bit cell).

In MFM only one pulse is recorded in the center and clock pulse is omitted. From the above it is
understood that MFM method occupies only half of the disk space used by FM method and
increase the data recoding (storing) capacity by two. In other words doubles the density of the
disk.
Duration of bit cell is reduced to 2microsec and disk capacity are doubled in MFM

MFM recording technique

MFM

In MFM recording method,

1 stores no pulse and pulse NP

0 preceded by another 0 stored as pulse and no pulse PN
0 preceded by 1 stores as two no pulse NN

Eg 1 0 0 1
NP NN PN NP

5
 4/17/2018

MFM cntd..

RLL
Rather than simply translating each incoming data bit into transitions, the controller
divides and selects a group of bits at a time for encoding. For each group, a specially
chosen sequence of transitions and lack of transitions gets stored. In 2,7 RLL the
sequences of Ps and Ns must be chosen such that, no matter what the incoming data
bit stream, there will always be at least two and never more than seven Ns between
any two Ps.
Conversion of a data bit stream into magnetic transitions (Ps) and spaces between
them (Ns) by using 2,7 RLL encoding.

Bit stream Magnetic Transitions and spaces

Sequence
11 = PNNN
10 = NPNN
000 = NNNPNN
011 = NNPNNN
010 = PNNPNN
0011 = NNNNPNNN
0010 = NNPNNPNN
N-no pulse P-pulse

6
 4/17/2018

Perpendicular Encoding
 Perpendicular magnetic recording is a technology for data recording
on hard disk.
Virtually all hard drives record data using longitudinal recording

which stores magnetic bits horizontally across the surface of the media.
 perpendicular recording which aligns magnetic signals vertically on the

media
 surface has the potential to achieve higher data intensities because

vertically oriented magnetic bits use less space than longitudinally

stored bits.
Manufacturer decreases the size of the magnetic grains that comprise

data bits to increase storage capacity, but the size of magnetic grains are
so small that they could start interfering with one other causes them lose
their magnetic orientations resulting in data corruption this is known as
super paramagnetic effect(SPE)

Perpendicular Encoding
 In longitudinal recording they are placed end to end repel one another

7
 4/17/2018

Perpendicular Encoding
Perpendicular magnetic recording technique in which adjcent bit attract instead of
repel as they are placed side by side.
SUL(soft under layer) allow a larger effective write field
In PMR it provide an increase signal for the read heads

Principles of Magnetic Storage

8
 4/17/2018

“Writing” data to a ferromagnet

Current

S
‘0’
?
N
Ferromagnet with unknown
magnetic state
Current

N
‘1’
S

Magnetic Data Storage

A computer hard drive stores your data magnetically

“Head
Read” “Head
Write”

Signal
current

S N

Disk

N S
0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 _ _

“ Bits” of
information
direction of disk motion

9
 4/17/2018

Data Loss in Magnetic Storage

Areal Density

10
 4/17/2018

Magnetic Tape
• Ribbon of plastic with a coercible (usually metallic
oxide) surface coating

• Mounts in a tape drive for reading and writing

• Relatively slow serial access

• Compounds magnetic leakage; wraps upon itself

• Susceptible to stretching, friction, temperature

variations

Cassette or Cartridge
Magnetic Tape

11
 4/17/2018

Magnetic Tape
• Two approaches to recording data
– Linear recording
– Helical scanning

• Several formats and standards

– DDS [DAT]
– AIT
– Mammoth
– DLT
– LTO
– etc.

Parallel Tracks
vs. Helical Scanning

12
 4/17/2018

Technology Focus
Quarter Inch Committee (QIC)
Cartridge Recording
Format Capacity
Year Size Tracks Density
(GB)
(Inches) (bpi)
QIC-80 1988 4 x 6 .08 28 14,700

QIC-120 1991 4 x 6 0.125 15 10,000

QIC-525 1992 4 x 6 0.525 26 20,000

QIC-2100 1993 4 x 6 2.1 30 50,800

QIC-3095 1995 3.25 x 2.5 4 72 67,733

QIC-3220 1997 3.25 x 2.5 10 108 106,400

Magnetic Disk
• Flat, circular platter with metallic coating that is
rotated beneath read/write heads

• Random access device; read/write head can be

moved to any location on the platter

• Hard disks and floppy disks

• Cost performance leader for general-purpose

on-line secondary storage

13
 4/17/2018

Components of a
Magnetic Disk Drive

Track and Sector Organization

on a Disk Platter Surface

14
 4/17/2018

Track Zones

HARD DISK Drives

 Disk platters: The platters stores information. It comes in varying sizes
like 5.12”, 3.14”,0.85” etc.The physical size of a drive is expressed as the
size of the platters
Most hard disk have two or more platters

Platters were originally made from an aluminium/magnesium alloy

which provides both strength and light weight

All modern drives use glass or glass ceramic plates.

advantage of a hard drive is speed, platters are rotated from about

7600 RPM to as much as 10,000 RPM (compared to older hard drives,

which ran at 3600 to 5200 RPM). A hard drive commonly uses two or
more platters,
Two types of recording media

Iron oxide media: HDD platter surface coated with iron oxide
,recording density is less .
Thin film media very thin coating compared to iron oxide coating

15
 4/17/2018

HARD DISK Drives

Disk platters:


Thin film media due to thin coating allows hard disk head to be very
close to the disk surface which give very high density recording.
Thin film media provides a very hard and perfectly formed media

coating
Once film media spread evenly across platter surface , surface is

cured and polished and it is coated with lubricant material which

protect surface from crashes.
Media is created 1).plating process . 2). sputtering process

1)Coated with 2 to 3 micro inch thick cobalt alloy coating.

2) thin coating, sputtering provide thinnest ,hardest, finest media

surface. High cost.

HARD DISK Drives

Read/write head:
 A hard disk drive usually has one read/write head for each platter
surface(meaning that each platter has two sets of read/write
heads- one for top side and one for bottom side
 These heads are connected on a single movement mechanism so

heads across the platters in uniform.

The HDD uses various types of heads for read/write purpose.

Ferrite head

Metal-In-Gap Head, Thin Film Head

Magneto Resistive Head

Giant Magneto Resistive Head:smaller,

16
 4/17/2018

HARD DISK Drives

Head arm/head slider:
The arm on which read/write head of hard disk is located

Head Actuator Mechanism:

This mechanism moves the heads across the disk and positions them

accurately above the desired cylinder.

Two basic Categories are used

Stepper Motor Mechanism

Voice Coil Actuator

Stepper Motor actuators were commonly used on hard drives made

during the 1980s and early 1990s with capacities of 100MB or less
Floppy disk drives position their head by using a stepper motor

actuator
All hard disk drives being manufactures today use voice coil actuator.

17