+

Magnetic Disk

 A disk is a circular platter constructed of nonmagnetic

material, called the substrate, coated with a magnetizable
material
 Traditionally the substrate has been an aluminium or aluminium
alloy material
 Recently glass substrates have been introduced

 Benefits of the glass substrate:

 Improvement in the uniformity of the magnetic film surface to
increase disk reliability
 A significant reduction in overall surface defects to help reduce
read-write errors
 Ability to support lower fly heights
 Better stiffness to reduce disk dynamics
 Greater ability to withstand shock and damage

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Data are recorded on and later
retrieved from the disk via a
conducting coil named the head The write mechanism exploits
• In many systems there are two heads, a the fact that electricity flowing
read head and a write head through a coil produces a
• During a read or write operation the head magnetic field
is stationary while the platter rotates
beneath it

Magnetic
Read
The write head itself is made of
Electric pulses are sent to the
write head and the resulting
easily magnetizable material and Write
and is in the shape of a
magnetic patterns are recorded
on the surface below, with
rectangular doughnut with a gap Mechanisms
along one side and a few turns
different patterns for positive
of conducting wire along the
and negative currents
opposite side

An electric current in the wire

Reversing the direction of the
induces a magnetic field across
current reverses the direction of
the gap, which in turn
the magnetization on the
magnetizes a small area of the
recording medium
recording medium

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 Head Motion Platters
Fixed head (one per track) Single platter
Movable head (one per surface) Multiple platter

Disk Portability Head Mechanism

Nonremovable disk Contact (floppy)
Removable disk Fixed gap
Aerodynamic gap (Winchester)
Sides
Single sided
Double sided

Table 6.1
Physical Characteristics of Disk Systems

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+ Characteristics
 Fixed-head disk  Removable disk
 One read-write head per  Can be removed and
track replaced with another disk
 Heads are mounted on a  Advantages:
fixed ridged arm that  Unlimited amounts of data are
extends across all tracks available with a limited
number of disk systems
 Movable-head disk  A disk may be moved from
one computer system to
 One read-write head another
 Head is mounted on an arm  Floppy disks and ZIP
 The arm can be extended cartridge disks are
or retracted examples of removable
disks
 Non-removable disk
 Permanently mounted in the  Double sided disk
disk drive  Magnetizable
 The hard disk in a personal coating is applied
computer is a non-removable
disk to both sides of the
platter

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+ Disk
The head mechanism provides
a classification of disks into
three types
Classification
 The head must generate or
sense an electromagnetic field Winchester Heads
of sufficient magnitude to write
and read properly
 Used in sealed drive assemblies that
are almost free of contaminants
 The narrower the head, the
closer it must be to the platter  Designed to operate closer to the
surface to function disk’s surface than conventional rigid
 A narrower head means disk heads, thus allowing greater
data density
narrower tracks and
therefore greater data
 Is actually an aerodynamic foil that
density rests lightly on the platter’s surface
when the disk is motionless
 The closer the head is to the  The air pressure generated by a
disk the greater the risk of spinning disk is enough to make
error from impurities or the foil rise above the surface
imperfections

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+ Disk Performance Parameters
 When the disk drive is operating the disk is rotating at constant speed

 To read or write the head must be positioned at the desired track and at the beginning
of the desired sector on the track
 Track selection involves moving the head in a movable-head system or electronically
selecting one head on a fixed-head system
 Once the track is selected, the disk controller waits until the appropriate sector rotates to
line up with the head

 Seek time
 On a movable–head system, the time it takes to position the head at the track

 Rotational delay (rotational latency)

 The time it takes for the beginning of the sector to reach the head

 Access time
 The sum of the seek time and the rotational delay
 The time it takes to get into position to read or write

 Transfer time
 Once the head is in position, the read or write operation is then performed
as the sector moves under the head
 This is the data transfer portion of the operation

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+  Consists of 7 levels

 Levels do not imply a hierarchical

relationship but designate different
RAID design architectures that share three
common characteristics:

1) Set of physical disk drives viewed

by the operating system as a single
logical drive

2) Data are distributed across the

Redundant Array of physical drives of an array in a
scheme known as striping
Independent Disks
3) Redundant disk capacity is used to
store parity information, which
guarantees data recoverability in
case of a disk failure

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 Table 6.3
RAID Levels
Disks Large I/O Data Small I/O Request
Category Level Description Data Availability Transfer
Required Rate
Capacity
Lower than single Very high for both
Striping 0 Nonredundant N Very high
disk read and write
Higher than single Up to twice that of a
Higher than RAID
disk for read; single disk for read;
Mirroring 1 Mirrored 2N 2, 3, 4, or 5; lower
similar to single similar to single disk
than RAID 6
disk for write for write
Much higher than
Redundant via Hamming single disk; Highest of all Approximately twice
2 N+m
code comparable to listed alternatives that of a single disk
RAID 3, 4, or 5
Parallel access
Much higher than
single disk; Highest of all Approximately twice
3 Bit-interleaved parity N+1
comparable to listed alternatives that of a single disk
RAID 2, 4, or 5
Similar to RAID 0
Much higher than Similar to RAID 0 for
for read;
4 Block-interleaved parity N+1 single disk; read; significantly
significantly
comparable to lower than single disk
lower than single
RAID 2, 3, or 5 for write
disk for write
Much higher than Similar to RAID 0 Similar to RAID 0 for
Independent
Block-interleaved single disk; for read; lower read; generally lower
access 5 N+1
distributed parity comparable to than single disk than single disk for
RAID 2, 3, or 4 for write write
Similar to RAID 0 Similar to RAID 0 for
Block-interleaved dual Highest of all for read; lower read; significantly
6 N+2
distributed parity listed alternatives than RAID 5 for lower than RAID 5 for
write write
N = number of data disks; m proportional to log N

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+ RAID
 Addresses the issues of request patterns of
the host system and layout of the data
R d
a
Level 0  Impact of redundancy does not interfere
with analysis i 0

RAID 0 for High Data Transfer

Capacity
RAID 0 for High I/O Request Rate
 For applications to experience
a high transfer rate two
 For an individual I/O request for a
requirements must be met:
small amount of data the I/O time
1. A high transfer capacity must
is dominated by the seek time and
exist along the entire path rotational latency
between host memory and the
individual disk drives  A disk array can provide high I/O
execution rates by balancing the
2. The application must make I/O I/O load across multiple disks
requests that drive the disk
array efficiently  If the strip size is relatively large
multiple waiting I/O requests can
be handled in parallel, reducing
the queuing time for each request
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+ R
RAID a
Level 1 i
d
Characteristics Positive Aspects

 Differs from RAID levels 2 through 6  A read request can be serviced by

in the way in which redundancy is either of the two disks that contains 1
achieved the requested data

 Redundancy is achieved by the  There is no “write penalty”

simple expedient of duplicating all
the data  Recovery from a failure is simple,
when a drive fails the data can be
 Data striping is used but each logical accessed from the second drive
strip is mapped to two separate
physical disks so that every disk in  Provides real-time copy of all data
the array has a mirror disk that
contains the same data
 Can achieve high I/O request rates if
the bulk of the requests are reads
 RAID 1 can also be implemented
without data striping, although this is
 Principal disadvantage is the cost
less common

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+ R 2
RAID a

Level 2 i
d
Characteristics Performance
 An error-correcting code is
 Makes use of a parallel access calculated across corresponding
technique bits on each data disk and the bits
of the code are stored in the
corresponding bit positions on
 In a parallel access array all multiple parity disks
member disks participate in the
execution of every I/O request  Typically a Hamming code is used,
which is able to correct single-bit
 Spindles of the individual drives errors and detect double-bit
are synchronized so that each errors
disk head is in the same position
on each disk at any given time  The number of redundant disks is
proportional to the log of the
number of data disks
 Data striping is used
 Strips are very small, often as  Would only be an effective choice
small as a single byte or word in an environment in which many
disk errors occur
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+ R
RAID a
Level 3 i
d

Redundancy Performance
 Requires only a single  In the event of a drive failure, the
redundant disk, no matter how parity drive is accessed and data is 3
reconstructed from the remaining
large the disk array devices

 Employs parallel access, with  Once the failed drive is replaced, the
data distributed in small strips missing data can be restored on the
new drive and operation resumed
 Instead of an error correcting  In the event of a disk failure, all of the
code, a simple parity bit is data are still available in what is
computed for the set of referred to as reduced mode
individual bits in the same
position on all of the data disks  Return to full operation requires that
the failed disk be replaced and the
entire contents of the failed disk be
 Can achieve very high data regenerated on the new disk
transfer rates
 In a transaction-oriented environment
performance suffers
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+ RAID R
a
Level 4 i
d
Characteristics
Performance
 Makes use of an independent
access technique  Involves a write penalty when 4
 In an independent access array, an I/O write request of small
each member disk operates size is performed
independently so that separate
I/O requests can be satisfied in
parallel
 Each time a write occurs the
array management software
 Data striping is used must update not only the user
 Strips are relatively large data but also the corresponding
parity bits
 To calculate the new parity the
array management software  Thus each strip write involves
must read the old user strip two reads and two writes
and the old parity strip

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+ RAID RAID
R
a
Level 5 Level 6 i
d
Characteristics Characteristics
 Organized in a similar fashion  Two different parity calculations 5
to RAID 4 are carried out and stored in 6
separate blocks on different
disks
 Difference is distribution of
the parity strips across all  Advantage is that it provides
disks extremely high data availability

 A typical allocation is a round-  Three disks would have to fail

robin scheme within the mean time to repair
(MTTR) interval to cause data to
be lost
 The distribution of parity
strips across all drives avoids  Incurs a substantial write
the potential I/O bottleneck penalty because each write
found in RAID 4 affects two parity blocks

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 Table 6.4
RAID
Comparison
(page 1 of 2)

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 Table 6.4
RAID
Comparison
(page 2 of 2)

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+
SSD Compared to HDD

 SSDs have the following advantages over HDDs:

 High-performance input/output operations per second

(IOPS)

 Durability

 Longer lifespan

 Lower power consumption

 Quieter and cooler running capabilities

 Lower access times and latency rates

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+ Practical Issues
There are two practical issues peculiar to SSDs
that are not faced by HDDs:
 Flash memory becomes
 SDD performance has a unusable after a certain
tendency to slow down as the number of writes
device is used  Techniques for prolonging
life:
 The entire block must be
 Front-ending the flash with a
read from the flash memory cache to delay and group
and placed in a RAM buffer write operations
 Using wear-leveling
 Before the block can be algorithms that evenly
written back to flash distribute writes across block
memory, the entire block of of cells
flash memory must be  Bad-block management
techniques
erased
 Most flash devices estimate
 The entire block from the their own remaining lifetimes
buffer is now written back to so systems can anticipate
the flash memory failure and take preemptive
action
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 CD
Compact Disk. A nonerasable disk that stores digitized audio information. The standard
system uses 12-cm disks and can record more than 60 minutes of uninterrupted playing time.

CD-ROM
Compact Disk Read-Only Memory. A nonerasable disk used for storing computer data.
The standard system uses 12-cm disks and can hold more than 650 Mbytes.

CD-R
CD Recordable. Similar to a CD-ROM. The user can write to the disk only once.
Table 6. 6
CD-RW
CD Rewritable. Similar to a CD-ROM. The user can erase and rewrite to the disk
multiple times. Optical
DVD
Digital Versatile Disk. A technology for producing digitized, compressed representation
Disk
of video information, as well as large volumes of other digital data. Both 8 and 12 cm diameters
are used, with a double-sided capacity of up to 17 Gbytes. The basic DVD is read-only (DVD- Products
ROM).

DVD-R
DVD Recordable. Similar to a DVD-ROM. The user can write to the disk only once.
Only one-sided disks can be used.

DVD-RW
DVD Rewritable. Similar to a DVD-ROM. The user can erase and rewrite to the disk
multiple times. Only one-sided disks can be used.

Blu-Ray DVD
High definition video disk. Provides considerably greater data storage density than DVD,
using a 405-nm (blue-violet) laser. A single layer on a single side can store 25 Gbytes.
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+
Compact Disk Read-Only Memory
(CD-ROM)
 Audio CD and the CD-ROM share a similar technology
 The main difference is that CD-ROM players are more rugged and
have error correction devices to ensure that data are properly transferred

 Production:
 The disk is formed from a resin such as polycarbonate
 Digitally recorded information is imprinted as a series of microscopic pits on
the surface of the polycarbonate
 This is done with a finely focused, high intensity laser to create a master disk
 The master is used, in turn, to make a die to stamp out copies onto
polycarbonate
 The pitted surface is then coated with a highly reflective surface, usually
aluminum or gold
 This shiny surface is protected against dust and scratches by a top
coat of clear acrylic
 Finally a label can be silkscreened onto the acrylic

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 +
 CD-ROM is appropriate for the distribution of large CD-ROM
amounts of data to a large number of users

 Because the expense of the initial writing process it

is not appropriate for individualized applications
 The CD-ROM has two advantages:

 The optical disk together with the information stored

on it can be mass replicated inexpensively

 The optical disk is removable, allowing the disk itself

to be used for archival storage

 The CD-ROM disadvantages:

 It is read-only and cannot be updated

 It has an access time much longer than that of a

magnetic disk drive

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+
CD Recordable CD Rewritable
(CD-R) (CD-RW)
 Write-once read-many  Can be repeatedly written and
overwritten
 Accommodates applications in  Phase change disk uses a material that
which only one or a small has two significantly different
number of copies of a set of data reflectivities in two different phase states
is needed  Amorphous state

 Disk is prepared in such a way  Molecules exhibit a random

that it can be subsequently orientation that reflects light poorly
written once with a laser beam  Crystalline state
of modest-intensity  Has a smooth surface that reflects light
well
 Medium includes a dye layer
which is used to change  A beam of laser light can change the
reflectivity and is activated by a material from one phase to the other
high-intensity laser  Disadvantage is that the material
eventually and permanently loses its
 Provides a permanent record of desirable properties
large volumes of user data  Advantage is that it can be rewritten

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+ Magnetic Tape
 Tape systems use the same reading and recording techniques
as disk systems

 Medium is flexible polyester tape coated with magnetizable

material

 Coating may consist of particles of pure metal in special

binders or vapor-plated metal films

 Data on the tape are structured as a number of parallel tracks

running lengthwise

 Serial recording
 Data are laid out as a sequence of bits along each track

 Data are read and written in contiguous blocks called physical

records

 Blocks on the tape are separated by gaps referred

to as inter-record gaps

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