How hard disks work

If you are to dismantle the hard disk drive by opening the top casing (after removing all the necessary screws), the first thing you'll see is a spindle holding one or a number of mirror-like hard rotating platters (commonly called data platter). The platters could be made to spin at an extremely high speed, technically between 5,400 to 10,000 revolutions per minute (RPM). An extremely thin magnetic coating is layered onto the surface of the platter that is polished to mirror-type smoothness.
Internal of a hard disk drive

The platter is usually made of glass or ceramic (modern platter may use titanium). Unlike a floppy disk, the platter cannot be bent or flipped and hence we coin it as "hard disk" or "hard drive". Commonly a hard disk contains 1 to 10 identical platters that are stacked in parallel to form a cylinder. There is usually one Read Write (RW) head designated per platter face, and each head is attached to a single actuator shaft which moves all heads in unison and performs a uniform synchronous motion during reading or writing of data.

Data on a hard disk is stored in microscopic areas called magnetic domains on the magnetic material. Each domain stores either a 1 or 0 value. Similar to a floppy disk, a hard disk records its data in concentric circles or tracks, which are numbered from the outermost edge to the innermost edge of the platter. These tracks are further subdivided into smaller units called sectors which typically store 512 bytes of data each. Zoning may be needed to further optimise the data storage as the outer circumference would normally pack more sector units than the inner circumference.

Read Write Head

The RW head is the key component that performs the reading and writing functions. It is placed on a slider which is in term connected to an actuator arm which allow the RW head to access various parts of the platter during data IO functions by sliding across the spinning platter.

The sliding motion is derived by passing a current through the coil which is part of the actuatorassembly. As the coil is placed between two magnets, the forward or backward sliding motion is hence derived by simple current reversal. This location of the platter (just like the landmark along the road) is identified and made possible by the embedded servo code written on the platter.

Flying Height
To write a piece of information to the disk, an electromagnetic flux is transmitted through the head which hovers very closely to the platter. The RW head suspends on a thin cushion of air which the spinning platter induces. This designed distance between the head and platter is called the flying height. It can literally measure to a few millionths of an inch. A good analogy is to try to imagine flying a Boeing 747 with about 6 inches above ground level.

It is therefore easy to understand that if the RW head happens to "knock" on the spinning platter out of design specification, a Read Write head crash occurs.

Read Write Function of Disk

As the head writes data onto the disk, it changes its magnetic polarization to induce either a one or zero value. During a read request, data is interpreted when the magnetic fields on the platter brings about an electrical change (as a result of change in electrical resistance of some special material property) in the read-head that passes over it. These electrical fields are then encoded and transmitted to the CPU to be processed and read by the system.

Parking of RW Head
When the computer is switched off, the head is usually pulled to a safe parking zone to prevent the head from scratching against the data zone on platter when the air bearing subsides. This process is called a parking and different techniques have been implemented in various hard disks to handle the take offs and landings. In a Ramp load/unload design, a lifting mechanism parks the head outside of the platter onto a "parking bay" prior to a shutdown. It then automatically unparks and relocates itself above the disk platter when the platter spins up to appropriate rotational speed.
The read/write head will move to the parking zone when the computer is switched off.

Hard Disk Controller PCB Board

A hard disk also contains a pcb controller circuit board that regulates data traffic. It ensures massive data to be streamed in and out of the disk smoothly. A logic board that sits under the drive controls

and connects the spindle, head actuator, and various disk functions of the disk. Embedded with a micro-controller, it executes self-diagnostics test and cleans up data working area in the memory and all internal chip bus in the hard drive when it powers up.

Hard Disk Parts Overview

Today's Disk and Data

Storage capacity is measured in terms of GB (Gigabyte). 1 Gb roughly equals to 1000 MB (Megabyte). A typical desktop machine purchased today carries a hard disk of at least 80 to 400 gigabyte. Computer data is stored onto the disk logically in the form of files or simply, a string of bytes. When a program requests for a file, the hard disk retrieves its bytes and sends them to the CPU to be processed.

There're two popular ways to measure the performance of a hard disk:

Data Rate Data rate is also known as data transfer rate or throughput. It refers to the speed with which the data can be transmitted from one device to another. Data rates are commonly measured in megabytes (MB) per second. The data rates for a typically hard disk ranges between 5 to 40 megabytes per second.

Seek Rate Seek time refers to the total span of time between a file request by the CPU to the point when the first byte of the file is sent to the CPU. This is one of the several delays associated with reading or writing data on a computer's disk drive. In order to read or write data in a particular place on the disk, the read/write head needs to manoeuvre to the precise location of the disk platter. This process is known as "seeking", and the time it takes for the head to move to the right place is referred to the "seek time". A typical seek time for a hard disk is about 9 to 15.

S.M.A.R.T
Majority of all hard disk today support a technology known as S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) which helps to predict imminent disk failures so that users can be alerted to take preventive actions before the disk fails completely.

Hard Disk Crash

What is a head crash in a hard disk drive?

In a nutshell, a head crash is a physical damage of a hard disk when the faulty electronic or mechanism causes the readwrite head to land on the rotating platter instead of retracting to its safe zone, hence by damaging and grinding away the magnetic film on the disk surface.

What is a read-write head ?

A read-write head or simply the head, is a tiny electromagnet suspended by an armature that is precisely positioned above every disk platter.

The head acts as an interface between the physical storage media and the rest of the electronic components of the disk by transforming electrical signals into magnetic pulses to store data onto a disk.

In reverse, it reads the patterns of the magnetic flux and converts them into electrical signals which are further encoded into binary bits to be processed by the computer.

How does a head crash occur?

When the platter is rotating at rates between 5,400 to 15,000 revolutions per minute, a thin firm of air suspends the read/write head extremely closely above the disk surface.

This distance, called the head gap is typically measured in millionths of an inch. So, it is possible that heads can make contact with the media on the hard disk when there is faulty disk mechanism.

A. Bad Parking While the platter is idle, the head typically rests on the surface of the disk or on parking bay. When the disk powers up and the platter starts to spin, the head rubs along the surface of the platter briefly before a cushion of air is strong enough to hover the head above its surface.

During a power down, the process is reversed till the platter finally stalls. Damage can likely set in after a prolonged period of wear and tear. Hence, a landing zone or an empty track was developed to set aside for the head to take-off and land. This safety process is known as the parking technology.

Most modern disk that uses the voice-coil or giant magneto-resistive head, supports auto-parking. In an event of power loss to the disk, a retract mechanism moves and secures the head to its landing zone without the use of external power. It then automatically unparks itself when the disk powers up again.

Another similar technique is the load/unload technology which uses a ramp-like mechanism to lift the head from the disk surface and park it outside of the platter. Older drives that do not support auto-parking use software utilities that execute head parking procedures before the computer shuts down.

B. Dust Debris A hard disk is never 100% seal. If it is, then it is not possible to create the necessary air flow for the disk working mechanism. When dust enters and contaminates the hard disk, it can obstruct the movement of the head, resulting in a crash as the clearance between the the head and platter is by far smaller than the size of a smoke particle.

C. Mechanical Shock A shock applied to a disk while it is in active state may cause the head to bounce and slide against the platter henceforth scratching it.

D. Power Surge Another reason is the effect of using poor power supply which has the same problem as power surges and power cuts, resulting in unpredictable movement of read write head mechanism causing the crash.

E. Wear & Tear Hard disks are complex and extremely delicate electro-mechanical devices that subjected to wear and tear over time. They have a fairly predictable lifespan even within a controlled environment, just like other mechanical devices.

Protection Measures Against Hard Disk Crashes

With the advancement of technology, platters manufactured today are guarded with anti-vibration mechanism and head parking technology to prevent the head from making contact with the rotating platter when a drive is shocked or jostled.

Protective layers are also implemented on the magnetic surfaces of newer disks to withstand a certain amount of headcrash abuse before permanent damage sets in.

For instance, laptops computer hard disks are manufactured with better shock resistance capability as these machines are typically on the move. However it is always recommended to avoid moving your computer while the disk is still in operation.