Chapter 6

Storage Drives
 Hard Drive

• The hard disk drive is a nonvolatile secondary

storage unit. That means that it does not loose its
stored data when turned off.
• Installed inside a drive bay and there is no access to
the HDD from the front panel as it is unnecessary.

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 Inside a Hard Drive
• Hard drives are different in :
– Hardware technologies inside the drive
• Solid state or magnetic or hybrid
– Data organization inside a hard drive
– Hard disk drive (HDD) or hard drive sizes
• 2.5" size for laptop computers
• 3.5" size for desktops
• 1.8" size for low-end laptops, other equipment
– Encoding method that determines how data is written to
and read from the hard disk drive.
• MFM (Modified Frequency Modulation)
• RLL (Run Length Limited)
– Interface type
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 Magnetic Drive Components
HDD components:
•Hard drives have two kinds of components: internal and
external.
•External components are located on a printed circuit board
called electronic circuit board.
•Internal components are located in a sealed chamber
called HDA or Hard Disk Assembly.
1.Electronic circuit board
•The electronic circuit board is located on the hard drive it
contains a micro controller, ROM chip, Read/Write bus,
cable connector interface, drive select jumpers and DC
power supply connector.
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 Magnetic Drive Components
2. Hard disk assembly
• The hard disk assembly is composed mainly of
disk platters, head arms, and the head actuator.
There are several head arms placed between the
disk platters reading data from above and below.
The head arms move in union, and the head
actuator is the motor that moves them. The heads
do not touch the platters when they are reading
data, but when the HD is turned off some types of
hard drives allow the heads to rest on the platters.

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Hardware technologies inside the drive
• Solid state drive (SSD) or solid state device (SSD)
– No moving parts
– Built using nonvolatile flash memory
– Expensive technology
• Magnetic hard drive
– One, two, or more platters, or disks
• Stacked together, spinning in unison inside a sealed
metal housing
• Firmware controls data reading, writing and
motherboard communication
• Hybrid hard drives use both technologies

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 How Data Is Organized On a Hard
Drive
• Hard drive disk surface divided into concentric circles (tracks)
– Track: a single ring of data on one side of a disk. It is divided into
512-byte segments (sector, record)
– Sector: the smallest individually-addressable unit of information
stored on a hard disk, and normally holds 512 bytes of data.
– Cylinder
• All tracks are the same distance from platters center

Figure 6-4 A hard drive or floppy disk is divided

into tracks and sectors; several sectors make one
cluster
Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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 How Data Is Organized On a Hard
Drive (cont’d.)
• Drive housing circuit board firmware responsibilities
– Writing and reading data to tracks and sectors
– Keeping track of data storage on the drive
• BIOS and OS
– Use logical block addressing (LBA) to address all
hard drive sectors

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 How Data Is Organized On a Hard
Drive (cont’d.)
• Hard drive installation
– Windows initializes and identifies drive as a basic disk
• Writes Master Boot Record (MBR)
– High-level formatting performed
• Specifies partition size and file system used
– Partition can be primary or extended
• Extended can be divided into one or more logical drives
– File system
• Overall structure OS uses to name, store, organize files
on a drive

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 How Data Is Organized On a Hard
Drive (cont’d.)
• Cluster: smallest unit of disk space for storing a file
– Contains one or more sectors

Figure 6-6 A hard drive with four partitions; the fourth partition is an
extended partition
Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning
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 Hard Drive Interface Standards
• Current internal hard drives methods
– Parallel ATA (PATA), Serial ATA (SATA), SCSI
• External hard drive methods
– External SATA (eSATA), SCSI, FireWire, USB, Fibre
Channel

Figure 6-9 Timeline of interface standards used by internal drives

Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning
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 About Floppy Drives

• Floppy disk drive (FDD)

– Holds only 1.44 MB of data
– Some still used today
– Advantages
• Useful when recovering from a failed BIOS update
• Inexpensive and easy for transferring small amounts of
data

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 How to Select and Install Hard Drives

• Topics covered
– Selecting a hard drive
– Installation details for serial ATA drive
– How to install hard drive in a bay too wide for drive

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 Selecting a Hard Drive

• Hard drive must match OS and motherboard

• BIOS uses autodetection to prepare the device
– Drive capacity and configuration selected
– Best possible ATA standard becomes part of
configuration
• Selected device may not be supported by BIOS
– Troubleshooting tasks (if device not recognized)
• Flash the BIOS
• Replace controller card
• Replace motherboard

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 Selecting a Hard Drive (cont’d.)

• Considerations:
– Drive capacity
– Spindle speed
– Interface standard
– Cache or buffer size
– Average seek time (time to fetch data)
– Hybrid drive
– Manufacturer warranty (keep receipt)
– Price range

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 Steps to Install a Serial ATA Drive

• Step 1: Prepare for installation

• Step 2: Install the drive
– Turn off the computer and unplug it
– Decide which bay will hold the drive
– Slide drive in the bay and secure it (both sides)
– Use correct motherboard serial ATA connector
– Connect a SATA or 4-pin power connector from the
power supply to the drive
– Check all connections and power up the system
– Verify drive recognized correctly
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 Steps to Install a Serial ATA Drive
(cont’d.)
• Step 3: Use Windows to partition and format the
drive
– Boot from Windows setup CD or DVD
• Follow directions on the screen to install Windows on
the new drive
– If installing a second hard drive with Windows
installed on first drive use Windows to partition and
format the second drive

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 Steps to Install a Serial ATA Drive
(cont’d.)
• Installing a SATA drive in a removable bay
– Turn handle on each locking device counterclockwise
to remove it
– Slide the bay to the front and out of the case
– Insert hard drive in the bay
• Use two screws on each side to anchor the drive in the
bay
– Slide the bay back into the case
– Reinstall the locking pins

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Figure 6-31 The removable bay Figure 6-32 Install the hard drive in the
has a fan in front and is anchored bay using two screws on each side of the
to the case with locking pins drive
Courtesy: Course Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage
Technology/Cengage Learning Learning

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 Hard Drive Specifications
Hard disk specifications:
The hard drive’s is measured by:
•Storage capacity: it is the total formatted storage ability
measured in GB or even Terabytes (i.e., 300 GB)
•Data transfer rate( Throughput): amount of data
transferred from the read/write heads to the CPU measured
in MBps (i.e., 133 MBps)
•Seek time: Time it takes for the head to move to the right
track is the seek time typically 8 to 4 ms

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 Hard Drive Specifications
• Rotational latency time: Average time to locate a
specific sector on the drive. The rotational delay is the
time required for the addressed area of the disk (or
cylinder) to rotate into a position where it is accessible by
the read/write head and measured in ms.
• Average access Time: The summations of average
seek time and the latency.
• ACCESS TIME = SEEK TIME (Time to move to the
cylinder) +
ROTATIONAL LATENCY TIME
(Time to wait for sector)

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 Hard Drive Specifications
• Interleave (Rotational Speed): Is the average number
of revolutions per minute (i.e., 7200 rpm). How many
revolutions the platters will rotate under the read/write
heads per minute. Measured in RPM. Range between
4,200rpm to 15,000rpm. Standard IDE hard disk drive
being 7,200 rpm while SCSI hard disk drives being
10,000rpm and now 15,000rpm.
• Arial Density: Measured in bytes/sq. inch. Refers to
how densely packed the information is on the hard disk
drives platters is. Higher densities give greater storage
per size and reduce time to get the data.

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 Hard Drive Specifications
• MTBF: Mean Time Between Failures, measured in
hours, is meant to represent the average amount of time
that will pass between random failures on a drive of a
given type. It is usually in the range of 300,000 to
1,200,000 hours for modern drives today (with the range
increasing every few years) and is specified for almost
every drive. The higher the better. IDE hard disk drives
tend to be lower than SCSI hard disk drives.
• Platter: it is the circular disks on which the magnetic
data are stored. Actual disk of a hard disk drive and
drives can and do have more than one platter.

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 Troubleshooting Hard Drives

• Problems:
– With hard drive installations
– Occurring after the installation with hard drives and
floppy drives
– With booting the PC
• Caused by hard drive hardware

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 Problems with Hard Drive Installations
• BIOS setup does not reflect new hard drive
– Enable autodetection and reboot system
• “Hard drive not found”
– Reseat data cable and reboot PC
• POST beeped three times and stopped
– Reseat memory modules and boot again
• “No boot device available”
– Insert bootable disk and reboot PC
• “Hard drive not present”
– Restore jumpers to original state

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 Problems with Hard Drive Installations
(cont’d.)
• If BIOS setup does not recognize newly installed
hard drive:
– Has BIOS setup been correctly configured for
autodetection?
– Are jumpers on the drive set correctly?
– Power cord and data cable properly connected?
• Verify solid connection both ends
– Check drive manufacturer web site for suggestions
• Look for diagnostic software downloadable from
manufacturer web site

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How to Approach a Hard Drive Problem
after the Installation
• Some post-installation problems
– Corrupted data files
– Corrupted Windows installation
– Hardware issue preventing system from booting
• Preparation steps
– Start with end user: conduct an interview
– Prioritize what has been learned
• Example: make data backup a first priority
– Be aware of available resources
• Documentation, Internet, software tools, technical
support

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 Boot Problems Caused By Hard Drive
Hardware
• Causes of problems present during boot:
– Hard drive subsystem
– Partition table
– File system on the drive
– Files required for the OS to boot
• Problems at POST
– Caused by drive, data cable, electrical system,
motherboard, controller card (if one is present), or
loose connection

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 Boot Problems Caused By Hard Drive
Hardware (cont’d.)
• Problems at POST, checks:
– BIOS manufacturer website for error code explanation
– BIOS utility RAID utility
– BIOS setup: ability to disable block mode
– Remove and reattach all drive cables
• Check for correct pin-1 orientation
– Remove and reseat controller card
– Check drive jumper settings
– Inspect drive for damage
– Determine if the hard drive is spinning
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 Boot Problems Caused By Hard Drive
Hardware (cont’d.)
• Problems at POST, checks (cont’d.):
– Check cable for frayed edges or other damage
– Check the installation manual
– Be sure power cable, drive data cable connections
are good
– Check BIOS setup for errors in the hard drive
configuration
– Try booting from another media
– Check drive manufacturer Web site for diagnostic
software
– Create a boot CD with hard drive diagnostic software

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 Boot Problems Caused By Hard Drive
Hardware (cont’d.)
• Problems at POST, checks (cont’d.):
– Exchange three field replaceable units
• Data cable, adapter card (optional), hard drive
– If hard drive refuses to work but its light stays
• Problem might be a faulty controller
– Sometimes older drives refuse to spin at POST

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 Boot Problems Caused By Hard Drive
Hardware (cont’d.)
• Bumps are bad
– A scratched surface may cause a hard drive crash
– Data may be recovered, even if drive is inaccessible
• Invalid drive or drive specification
– System BIOS cannot read partition table information
– Boot from recovery CD and check partition table
• Bad sector errors
– Problem due to fading tracks and sectors
• Replace the drive

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 Boot Problems Caused By Hard Drive
Hardware (cont’d.)
• Solid state drives
– No concerns with bumping the drive while it is in use
– May or may not need formatting
– If drive gives errors:
• Try using manufacturer diagnostic software
• Check manufacturer Web site support section for
troubleshooting tips
– SATA and PATA connections and BIOS settings for
solid state drives
• Look and work the same as for other drives

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 Troubleshooting Floppy Drives and
Disks

Table 6-5 Floppy drive and floppy disk errors that can occur during and after the boot
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 Periodic Maintenance of HDD
ScanDisk:
•ScanDisk is a Windows®9x utility that checks your hard
drive for physical damage and also fixes file system errors,
such as cross-linked folders, damaged or invalid file names
and disassociated file names. In Windows®XP®, the utility
is called Check Disk.
Accessing ScanDisk
•To access ScanDisk, click Start > Programs > Accessories
>System Tools > ScanDisk. Select the drive that you want
to scan (usually C:) and choose the type of test.

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 Periodic Maintenance of HDD(cont’d.)
Disk Defragmenter:
•Disk Defragmenter is a utility included in all versions of
Windows® after Windows® 95®. Data is written to open
spaces on the hard disk. If the open space is not sufficient
to contain all the data, another open space will be found
and the balance of the data will be written there. If the
contents of a file are written to several sectors on the hard
drive, it will take longer to open the file. Since data is
constantly being written to and deleted from the hard drive,
gaps that impair performance develop. Disk Defragmenter
is designed to reorganize the data on your hard drive so
that your computer runs faster and more efficiently.

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 Periodic Maintenance of HDD
(cont’d.)
Accessing Disk Defragmenter:
•To access Disk Defragmeter, click Start > Programs >
Accessories >System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.
Before running Disk Defragmeter
•Before running Disk Defragmenter, follow the procedures
listed in the 'Before running ScanDisk' instructions.
•Free space
•You must have at least 15% free space on you hard drive
to successfully run Disk Defragmenter. If you have
insufficient free space, try running the Disk Cleanup utility.

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