Advanced Format

Advanced Format is a generic term pertaining to any disk sector format used to store data on magnetic disks in hard disk drives (HDDs) that exceeds 512 to 528 bytes per sector, such as the 4096-byte (4 KiB) sectors of the first-generation Advanced Format hard disk drives. Larger sectors use the storage surface area more efficiently for large files but less efficiently for smaller files, and enable the integration of stronger error correction algorithms to maintain data integrity at higher storage densities.

Advanced Format is also considered a milestone technology in the history of HDD storage, where data has been generally processed in 512-byte segments since at least the introduction of consumer-grade HDDs in the early 1980s, and in similar or smaller chunks in the professional field since the HDD's invention in 1956.

History

The need for long data sectors was first identified in 1998 when a technical paper issued by the National Storage Industry Consortium (NSIC) called attention to the conflict between continuing increases in areal density and the traditional 512-byte-per-sector format used in hard disk drives. Without revolutionary breakthroughs in magnetic recording system technologies, areal densities, and with them the storage capacities, hard disk drives were projected to stagnate.