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Seagate ships 1 billionth drive
The Register (UK) ^ | Wednesday 23rd April 2008 20:06 GMT | Austin Modine

Posted on 04/27/2008 10:38:31 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

Orders party platter for platter party

Seagate is celebrating the shipment of its one billionth disk drive after 29 years in biz. The storage giant reckons it will reach its second billion in less than five-years' time.

Seagate said it's shipped the equivalent of 79 million terabytes of storage since the company made its first hard drive in 1979.

The ST506 hard drive

Its debut product, the ST506 hard drive, had a 5MB capacity, weighed about five pounds, and cost $1,500 (£757). Today, Seagate sells 1TB drives for under a third of that price.

The company figures its next 1,000,000,000 drives will go down easier based on the ever-increasing demand for storage. Gartner Group last year estimated more than 500 million drives were shipped worldwide, compared to about 30 million in 1990.

Seagate claimed that by the time its closest rival, Western Digital, reaches a billion drives shipped, Seagate will already be close to shipping its second billion. ®


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Music/Entertainment; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: dasd; hitech; seagate
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1 posted on 04/27/2008 10:38:32 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: ShadowAce

Historical note and ping!


2 posted on 04/27/2008 10:39:22 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (No Burkas for my Grandaughters!)
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To: All
Related thread:

300TB hard drive to arrive by 2010 ~ Seagate...

3 posted on 04/27/2008 10:42:28 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (No Burkas for my Grandaughters!)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
I've done my part. Can't say exactly how many but it is significant. Only had one over the years that gave me trouble. Took it to Seagate - then in Scotts Valley and Charlie himself got me a new one.
4 posted on 04/27/2008 10:42:54 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (Sleep with one eye open, Gripping your pillow tight , Exit light , Enter night.......)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Had a hard drive of about 80 megabyte capacity and eight inch disks. Stood in a cabinet by itself. One day a terrible screeching sound came through the office and the computer stopped dead. That was the sound of the read/write head plowing a furrow in the aluminum disk substrate. Never got fixed, it sat around for a few months and was eventually carted off to the dump.


5 posted on 04/27/2008 10:43:33 AM PDT by RightWhale (Repeal the Law of the Excluded Middle)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
I remember those.

Had a bunch of Seagate stuff back in ye olde cube, back in the day.

6 posted on 04/27/2008 10:47:44 AM PDT by Tanniker Smith (I didn't know she was a Liberal when I married her)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

The 20 Meg Seagate 225 and the 40 MB Seagate 251 were the “Model t”’s of mid-80’s computing. They were included in almost every white box setup and a lot of the name brand PCs. There used to be over a dozen hard drive players. Now there are four or five (Remember Priam, Rodime, Core, Quantum, Conner, CMI, Micropolis). I do NOT miss MFM drives and DOS debug.


7 posted on 04/27/2008 10:56:57 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana (Not a newbie, I just wanted a new screen name.)
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To: aft_lizard; Dead Corpse; Beelzebubba; dfwgator; Turbopilot; seacapn; reg45; ThePythonicCow; ...
I still remember the first IBM Winchester Drive.

It was not small.

Earlier thread ....:

300TB hard drive to arrive by 2010 ~ Seagate...

*****************************

Last weekend Fry's was running a sale on 1 Terabyte Seagate SATA Drives for $199....Had been built apparently for the Canadian market,...

8 posted on 04/27/2008 11:02:05 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (No Burkas for my Grandaughters!)
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To: Dr. Sivana

I remember those. I worked at a PC retailer in the early ‘90s and the ST251 was the drive of choice for the PCs we built. I had an ST251-1 in a NEC 386 that I purchased from my employer. The rest of the computer was crap, but the Seagate was bulletproof.

When my stimulus check comes in in the next couple of weeks, I’m ordering parts for two new computers for me and the wife. Both will include Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA drives.

}:-)4


9 posted on 04/27/2008 11:16:11 AM PDT by Moose4 (http://moosedroppings.wordpress.com -- Because 20 million self-important blogs just aren't enough.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
I have a drive similar to that one on my desk with the top plate off so you can see inside. I is the Panasonic 10meg drive out of my first IBM XT. Some of the kids working for me do not believe the steps it used to take to get an MFM or RLL drive formatted.
10 posted on 04/27/2008 11:21:17 AM PDT by SledgeCS (Build the fence. Deport the Illegals. Sell all their assets to cover the cost.)
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To: rdb3; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; GodGunsandGuts; CyberCowboy777; Salo; Bobsat; JosephW; ...

11 posted on 04/27/2008 11:52:51 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: SledgeCS
I replaced one of these...in a customers warehouse,...it takes a forklift to move it....:

IBM 1405 disk storage

*************************************

IBM 1405 Disk Storage

The IBM 1405 Disk Storage of 1960 used improved technology to double the tracks per inch and bits per inch of track -- to achieve a fourfold increase in capacity -- compared to the IBM RAMAC disk file of 1956.

Storage units were available in 25-disk and 50-disk models, for a storage capacity of 10 million and 20 million characters, respectively. Recording density was 220 bits per inch (40 tracks per inch) and the head-to-disk spacing was 650 microinches. The disks rotated at 1800 rpm. Data were read or written at a rate of 17.5K bytes a second.

The 1405 was used in conjunction with the IBM 1410 Data Processing System. Each 1410 was capable of controlling up to five of the 1405s, for a total of 100 million characters. In addition, a single 1405 of either model could be attached to an IBM 1401 Data Processing System. The 1405 was reported to have been used with the "Walnut" information retrieval system of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in the 1960s. According to published reports, Walnut was the first mechanized system that could store and search millions of pages of documents.

 

12 posted on 04/27/2008 12:06:31 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (No Burkas for my Grandaughters!)
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I believe the 1405 had a single arm that carried a read write head that was used on all platters,....had to move up dand down for each platter as well as in and out....


13 posted on 04/27/2008 12:09:29 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (No Burkas for my Grandaughters!)
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To: All
From the Achives at IBM:

20th century disk storage chronology

********************************EXCERPT**********************

1956
IBM introduces the 350 RAMAC, the first computer disk storage system. In less than a second, the 350 RAMAC's "random access" arm retrieves data stored on any of 50 spinning disks. Disk technology later becomes the industry's basic storage medium for online transaction processing.

1962
The IBM 1311 is the first storage unit with removable disks. Each "disk pack" holds more than two million characters of information. Users can easily switch files for different applications.

1965
Database and data communications applications requiring access to large amounts of information - such as airline reservations and online banking transactions - become economically feasible with the IBM 2314 Direct Access Storage Facility.

1970
With the IBM 3330, servo feedback technology makes it possible to record data on disks more densely than ever before. Error-correction coding increases the availability of data and the efficiency of the manufacturing process.

1971
IBM introduces the industry's first flexible magnetic disk, or diskette. The "floppy disk" greatly increases the convenience of data handling. It becomes widely used as a basic storage medium for small systems.

1974
The IBM 3340 disk drive introduces an advanced head and disk technology known as "Winchester." The 3340 features a small, lighter read/write head that rides closer to the disk surface - on an air film 18 millionths of an inch thick. The 3340 doubles the information density of IBM disks to nearly 1.7 million bits per square inch.

1980
IBM introduces "thin film" head technology, which enables the 3380 Direct Access Storage Device (DASD) to read and write data at three million characters per second. It is the first commercial unit to achieve such a rate. The thin-film read-write head of the IBM 3380 disk drive "flies" 12 millionths of an inch over the disk surface. This is comparable to a large plane flying 1/20th of an inch over a lake's surface without touching the water.

1981
High-performance "cache" memory is introduced with the 3880 Storage Control. The 3880 moves frequently used data from disk storage into semiconductor storage for high-speed access by the processor. Cache is an advanced, integrated system approach that uses both hardware and software.

1985
The IBM 3380 D/E DASD are introduced. The 3380E offers five gigabytes of storage capacity and is the largest capacity DASD of its time.

1987
Storage subsystem synergy acquires new meaning with the introduction of the triple-capacity 3380 DASD Models J and K and the 3990 Storage Control. The 3380 J/K DASD and the 3990 Models 2 and 3 deliver yet another DASD innovation: four-path data transfer. Extended control unit functions also include DASD fast-write and dual copy.

1989
The IBM 3390 Model 2 increases the capacity of a single DASD box to 22.7 gigabytes (22.7 billion bytes) and the throughput to 40 percent over the IBM 3380K.

1991
The 3390 DASD Model 3 increases the capacity of a single DASD unit to 34 gigabytes and offers up to 180 gigabytes in a 3990/3390 Storage Subsystem.

The new family of rack-mounted, CKD 9340 DASD Subsystems addresses the requirements of intermediate computing environments. The entry-level 9341/9345 connects to a 9221 processor and stores 2-24 gigabytes of information while the 9343/9345 stores 4-48 gigabytes and can take advantage of ESCON.

1992
IBM introduces one of the first 3.5-inch disk drives on the market to offer up to 1.2 billion bytes of storage - enough capacity to store more than a half million pages of typewritten information; the first 2-gigabyte 3.5-inch disk drive and the first 4-gigabyte 5.25-inch disk drive for the original equipment manufacturers market. IBM ships more than 250,000 1-gigabyte 3.5-inch hard drives in 1992.

1993
IBM announces and begins delivering a host of new products, ranging from lower cost storage options to new subsystems capable of storing three times the amount of data as previous models. These product introductions include: new disk storage systems for use with the AS/400; five additions to its line of disk drives and storage subsystems for the original equipment manufacturer marketplace; new 200 Series models of the 9337 Disk Array Subsystem; a selection of disk storage products for users of RISC System/6000 POWERservers and POWERstations; and introduction of the industry's first high-capacity drives for the portable computing market using new magneto-resistive head technology.

In addition, IBM announces that it has increased the throughput of the 3990/3390 Storage Subsystem up to 100 percent in selected environments and tripled the capacity of the 3390 Direct Access Devices by adding a new member to the storage hierarchy.

IBM announces scientific results that may allow a 30-fold increase in the amount of data stored in a given area of magnetic disk surface within the next decade.

14 posted on 04/27/2008 12:14:23 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (No Burkas for my Grandaughters!)
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To: Dr. Sivana
Now there are four or five (Remember Priam, Rodime, Core, Quantum, Conner, CMI, Micropolis). I do NOT miss MFM drives and DOS debug.

I've actually still got a Priam 130MB ESDI drive somewhere in my basement. It used to be in an Everex Step 20-386. When it would power up, it sounded like a jet engine spinning up! I also remember when Seagate bought Conner and CDC, and now that I think about it, I still have a Micropolis 1GB hard drive in a Compaq computer. It was the first generation ATA drive, but no computer BIOS would support it. There was a jumper on it to make the drive "look" like a pair of 500MB drives!

You're right about there being fewer and fewer manufacturers out there...

There's Seagate (which also owns Maxtor now), Hitachi (which bought IBMs drive plants years ago), Samsung, WD, and Toshiba. I think that's about it.

Mark

15 posted on 04/27/2008 2:40:27 PM PDT by MarkL
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
We had one of these hooked up to Illiac II, a computer designed and built by our EE and CS departments. It took, IIRC, two racks of handwired logic to do it.

Of course, the disk drive and interface racks were dwarfed by the computer itself.

16 posted on 04/27/2008 2:47:40 PM PDT by Erasmus (If you want to fool millions, start with yourself.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Yes, like a giant demonic Seeburg. The actuators were hydraulic, and put considerable dynamic loads on the computer flooring. You could feel the bumps through your feet anywhere nearby.


17 posted on 04/27/2008 2:49:22 PM PDT by Erasmus (If you want to fool millions, start with yourself.)
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To: Erasmus

You may go back further than I do.


18 posted on 04/27/2008 3:12:09 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (No Burkas for my Grandaughters!)
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To: MarkL

I think Fujitsu is still in the game.


19 posted on 04/27/2008 3:15:09 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (Not a newbie, I just wanted a new screen name.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

:’) Of course, the total storage capacity of the Seagate drives sold in the past year probably exceeds the capacity of the first 500 million drives. :’) Thanks E. One of those “AT ROM” type topics... ;’)


20 posted on 04/27/2008 3:51:05 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
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