Magnetic storage

  (Redirected from Magnetic disk)

Magnetic storage and magnetic recording are terms from engineering referring to the storage of data on

a magnetized medium. Magnetic storage uses different patterns of magnetization in a magnetizable material to
store data and is a form of non-volatile memory. The information is accessed using one or more read/write
heads. As of 2009, magnetic storage media, primarily hard disks, are widely used to storecomputer data as
well as audio and video signals. In the field of computing, the term magnetic storage is preferred and in the
field of audio and video production, the term magnetic recording is more commonly used. The distinction is less
technical and more a matter of preference. Other examples of magnetic storage media include floppy disks,
magnetic recording tape, and magnetic stripes on credit cards.

Contents
 [hide]

1 History

2 Magnetic recording classes

o 2.1 Analog recording

o 2.2 Digital recording

o 2.3 Magneto-optical

recording

o 2.4 Domain

propagation memory

3 Technical details

o 3.1 Access method

4 Current usage

5 Future

6 See also

7 References

8 External links

[edit]History

Magnetic storage in the form of audio recording on a wire was publicized by Oberlin Smith in 1888. He filed a
patent in September, 1878 but did not pursue the idea as his business was machine tools. The first publicly
demonstrated (Paris Exposition of 1900) magnetic recorder was invented by Valdemar Poulsen in 1898.
Poulsen's device recorded a signal on a wire wrapped around a drum. In 1928, Fritz Pfleumerdeveloped the
first magnetic tape recorder. Early magnetic storage devices were designed to record analog audio signals.
Computer and now most audio and video magnetic storage devices record digital data.

In old computers, magnetic storage was also used for primary storage in a form of magnetic drum, or core
memory, core rope memory, thin film memory, twistor memory or bubble memory. Unlike modern computers,
magnetic tape was also often used for secondary storage.

[edit]Magnetic recording classes

[edit]Analog recording
Main article:  Magnetic tape sound recording

Analog recording is based on the fact that remnant magnetization of a given material depends on the
magnitude of the applied field. The magnetic material is normally in the form of tape, with the tape in its blank
form being initially demagnetized. When recording, the tape runs at a constant speed. The writing head
magnetizes the tape with current proportional to the signal. A magnetization distribution is achieved along the
magnetic tape. Finally, the distribution of the magnetization can be read out, reproducing the original signal.
The magnetic tape is typically made by embedding magnetic particles in a plastic binder on polyester film tape.
The commonly used magnetic particles are Iron oxide particles or Chromium oxide and metal particles with size
of 0.5 micrometers[1]. Analog recording was very popular in audio and video recording. In the past 20 years,
however, tape recording has been gradually replaced by digital recording [2].

[edit]Digital recording
Instead of creating a magnetization distribution in analog recording, digital recording only need two stable
magnetic states, which are the +Ms and -Ms on the hysteresis loop. Examples of digital recording are floppy
disks and HDDs. Since digital recording is the main process nowadays and probably in the coming future, the
details of magnetic recording will be discussed in the rest of the project using the HDD as an example.

[edit]Magneto-optical recording
Magneto-optical recording writes/reads optically. When writing, the magnetic medium is heated locally by
a laser, which induces a rapid decrease of coercive field. Then, a small magnetic field can be used to switch
the magnetization. The reading process is based on magneto-optical Kerr effect. The magnetic medium are
typically amorphous R-FeCo thin film (R being a rare earth element). Magneto-optical recording is not very
popular. One famous example is Minidisc developed by Sony.

[edit]Domain propagation memory

Domain propagation memory is also called bubble memory. The basic idea is to control domain wall motion in a
magnetic medium that free of microstructure. Bubble refers to stable cylindrical domain. The information is then
recorded by the presence/absence of bubble domain. Domain propagation memory has high insensitivity to
shock and vibration, so its application are usually in space and aeronautics.

[edit]Technical details
[edit]Access method
Magnetic storage media can be classified as either sequential access memory or random access
memory although in some cases the distinction is not perfectly clear. In the case of magnetic wire, the
read/write head only covers a very small part of the recording surface at any given time. Accessing different
parts of the wire involves winding the wire forward or backward until the point of interest is found. The time to
access this point depends on how far away it is from the starting point. The case of ferrite-core memory is the
opposite. Every core location is immediately accessible at any given time.

Hard disks and modern linear serpentine tape drives do not precisely fit into either category. Both have many
parallel tracks across the width of the media and the read/write heads take time to switch between tracks and
to scan within tracks. Different spots on the storage media take different amounts of time to access. For a hard
disk this time is typically less than 10 ms, but tapes might take as much as 100 s.

[edit]Current usage

As of 2008, common uses of magnetic storage media are for computer data mass storage on hard disks and
the recording of analog audio and video works on analog tape. Since much of audio and video production is
moving to digital systems, the usage of hard disks is expected to increase at the expense of analog
tape. Digital tape and tape libraries are popular for the high capacity data storage of archives and
backups. Floppy disks see some marginal usage, particularly in dealing with older computer systems and
software. Magnetic storage is also widely used in some specific applications, such as bank cheques (MICR)
and credit/debit cards (mag stripes).

[edit]Future

A new type of magnetic storage, called Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory or MRAM, is being
produced that stores data in magnetic bits based on the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect. Its advantage
is non-volatility, low power usage, and good shock robustness. The 1st generation that was developed was
produced by Everspin Technologies, and utilized field induced writing[3]. The 2nd generation is being develped
through two approaches: Thermal Assisted Switching (TAS)[4] which is currently being developed by Crocus
Technology, and Spin Torque Transfer (STT) on which Crocus, Hynix, IBM, and several other companies are
working[5]. However, with storage density and capacity orders of magnitude smaller than an HDD, MRAM is
useful in applications where moderate amounts of storage with a need for very frequent updates are required,
which flash memory cannot support due to its limited write endurance.[citation needed]