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Corporate Headquarters:
510 Cottonwood Drive
Milpitas, California 95035
Tel: 408-432-1700
Fax: 408-432-4510
Research and Developm ent Center:
2452 Clover Basin Drive
Longmont, Colorado 80503
Tel: 303-651-6000
Fax: 303-678-2165
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Revision-A 2004052
All
Initial Release
March 5, 2002
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Thank you for your interest in Maxtor hard disk drives. This manual provides technical information for
OEM engineers and systems integrators regarding the installation and use of Maxtor hard drives. Drive
repair should be performed only at an authorized repair center. For repair information, contact the Maxtor
Customer Service Center at 800-2MAXTOR or 1-303-678-2015.
CAUTION: Maxtor hard drives are precision products. Failure to follow these precautions and guidelines
outlined here may lead to product failure, damage and invalidation of all warranties.
1
BEFORE unpacking or handling a drive, take all proper electro-static discharge (ESD) precau-
tions, including personnel and equipment grounding. Stand-alone drives are sensitive to ESD
damage.
2
3
4
BEFORE removing drives from their packing material, allow them to reach room temperature.
During handling, NEVER drop, jar, or bump a drive.
Once a drive is removed from the Maxtor shipping container, IMMEDIATELY secure the drive
through its mounting holes within a chassis. Otherwise, store the drive on a padded, grounded,
antistatic surface.
5
6
NEVER switch DC power onto the drive by plugging an electrically live DC source cable into
the drive's connector. NEVER connect a live bus to the drive's interface connector.
ELECTRICAL GROUNDING - For proper operation, the drive must be securely fastened to
a device bay that provides a suitable electrical ground to the drive baseplate.
Please do not remove or cover up Maxtor factory-installed drive labels. They contain information required
should the drive ever need repair.
Thank you for your interest in Maxtor hard disk drives. This manual provides technical information for
OEM engineers and systems integrators regarding the installation and use of Maxtor hard drives. Drive
repair should be performed only at an authorized repair center. For repair information, contact the Maxtor
Customer Service Center at 800-2MAXTOR or 1-303-678-2015.
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1.1 Maxtor Corporation .................................................................................................. 1-1
1.2 Manual Organization................................................................................................. 1-1
1.3 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................ 1-2
1.4 Conventions.............................................................................................................. 1-2
2.1 Product Description .................................................................................................. 2-1
2.2 Key Features.............................................................................................................. 2-1
2.3 Product Features........................................................................................................ 2-2
2.4 Cache Management................................................................................................... 2-4
2.5 Major HDA Components.......................................................................................... 2-4
2.6 Subsystem Configuration........................................................................................... 2-6
2.7 Cylinder Limitation Jumper Description .................................................................... 2-7
3.1 Models and Capacities ............................................................................................... 3-1
3.2 Drive Configuration .................................................................................................. 3-2
3.3 Performance Specifications ........................................................................................ 3-3
3.4 Physical Dimensions .................................................................................................. 3-3
3.5 Power Requirements................................................................................................. 3-5
3.6 Power Mode Definitions ........................................................................................... 3-5
3.7 EPA Energy Star Compliance.................................................................................... 3-5
3.8 Environmental Limits ................................................................................................ 3-6
3.9 Shock and Vibration.................................................................................................. 3-6
3.10 R eliability Specifications............................................................................................ 3-7
3.11 EMC/ EMI................................................................................................................ 3-8
3.12 Safety Regulatory Compliance .................................................................................. 3-8
Maxtor D540X-4G
v
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Table of Contents
4.1 Hard Drive Handling Precautions .............................................................................. 4-1
4.2 Electro-Static Discharge (ESD) .................................................................................. 4-1
4.3 Unpacking and Inspection ......................................................................................... 4-2
4.4 R epacking ................................................................................................................. 4-5
4.5 Physical Installation.................................................................................................... 4-5
5.1 INTR ODUCTION ................................................................................................. 6-1
5.2 MECHANICAL INTER FACE ................................................................................ 6-1
5.3 ELECTR ICAL INTER FACE................................................................................... 6-1
5.4 R EGISTER ADDRESS DECODING ..................................................................... 6-2
5.5 COMMAND INTER FACE..................................................................................... 6-2
6.1 Service Policy............................................................................................................ 6-1
A.1 Breaking the 137 Gigabyte Storage Barrier................................................................ A-1
vi
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Figure 2-1 PCBA Jumper Location and Configuration ................................................... 2-6
Figure 3-1 Outline and Mounting Dimensions .............................................................. 3-4
Figure 4-1 Multi-pack Shipping Container .................................................................... 4-3
Figure 4-2 Single Pack Shipping Container (Option A) ................................................. 4-4
Figure 4-3 Single Pack Shipping Container (Option B) .................................................. 4-5
vii
Maxtor D540X-4G
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Maxtor Corporation has been providing high-quality computer storage products since
1982. Along the way, we’ve seen many changes in data storage needs. Not long ago,
only a handful of specific users needed more than a couple hundred megabytes of
storage. Today, downloading from the Internet and CD-R OMs, multimedia,
networking and advanced office applications are driving storage needs even higher.
Even home PC applications need capacities measured in gigabytes, not megabytes.
Maxtor’s products meet the demanding data storage capacity requirements of today
and tomorrow. They are available in 5400- and 7200- RPM configurations with
capacity offerings from 10 to 80 GB and beyond.
The D540X-4G drive family is a 5400 R PM hard drive with capacities from 120 GB
to 160 GB.
No matter which capacity, all Maxtor hard drives are supported by our commitment
®
to total customer satisfaction and our No Quibble Service guarantee. One call – or a
visit to our home page on the Internet (www.maxtor.com) – puts you in touch with
either technical support or customer service. We’ll provide you the information you
need quickly, accurately and in the form you prefer – a fax, a downloaded file
or a conversation with a representative.
This hard disk drive reference manual is organized in the following method:
Chapter 1–Introduction
Chapter 2–Product Description
Chapter 3–Product Specifications
Chapter 4–Handling and Installation
Chapter 5–ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands
Chapter 6–Service and Support
Appendix A–Breaking the 137GB Storage Barrier
Glossary
Maxtor D540X-4G 1-1
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Introduction
ATA
bpi
CHS
db
AT attachm ent
bits per inch
MB
m egabyte
Mbits/sec
MB/sec
MHz
m s
m egabits per second
m egabytes per second
m egahertz
cylinder - head - sector
decibels
dBA
DMA
ECC
fci
decibels, A weighted
direct m em ory access
error correction code
flux changes per inch
acceleration
m illisecond
MSB
m V
m ost significant bit
m illivolts
ns
nanoseconds
G
PIO
program m edinput/output
revolutions per m inute
tracks per inch
GB
Hz
gigabyte
RPM
tpi
hertz
KB
kilobyte
UDMA
ultra direct m em ory
access
LBA
LSB
m A
logical block address(ing) µsec
m icrosecond
volts
least significant bit
m illiam peres
V
W
watts
If there is a conflict between text and tables, the table shall be accepted as being
correct.
The names of abbreviations, commands, fields and acronyms used as signal names are
in all uppercase type (e.g., IDENTIFY DR IVE). Fields containing only one bit are
usually referred to as the “name” bit instead of the “name” field.
Names of drive registers begin with a capital letter (e.g., Cylinder High register).
Numbers that are not followed by a lowercase “b” or “h” are decimal values.
Numbers that are followed by a lowercase “b” (e.g., 01b) are binary values. Numbers
that are followed by a lowercase “h” (e.g., 3Ah) are hexadecimal values.
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Introduction
Signal names are shown in all uppercase type.
All signals are either high active or low active signals. A dash character (-) at the end
of a signal name indicates that the signal is low active. A low active signal is true when
it is below ViL and is false when it is above ViH. A signal without a dash at the end
indicates that the signal is high active. A high active signal is true when it is above ViH
and is false when it is below ViL.
When a signal is asserted, it means the signal is driven by an active circuit to its true
state.
When a signal is negated, it means the signal is driven by an active circuit to its false
state.
When a signal is released, it means the signal is not actively driven to any state. Some
signals have bias circuitry that pull the signal to either a true or false state when no
signal driver is actively asserting or negating the signal. These instances are noted
under the description of the signal.
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Introduction
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Maxtor hard disk drives are 1-inch high, 3.5-inch diameter random access storage
devices which incorporate an on-board Ultra ATA/ 133 interface controller. High
capacity is achieved by a balanced combination of high areal recording density and
the latest data encoding and servo techniques.
Maxtor's latest advancements in electronic packaging and integration methods have
lowered the drive's power consumption and increased its reliability.
Exceptional data transfer rates, 5400 R PM spin speed and 12 ms access times make
these entry-class disk drives ideally-suited to desktop storage and consumer
electronics applications.
• ANSI ATA-5/ 6 compliant PIO Mode 4 interface (Enhanced IDE)
• Supports ATA-6 UltraDMA Mode 5 (100 MBytes/ sec) and Maxtor
Ultra ATA/ 133 MBytes/ second data transfer rates
• Supports 48-bit addressing
• 2 MB buffer with multi-adaptive cache manager
• 5400 RPM spin speed
• 12 ms seek time
• Zone density and ID-less recording
• Outstanding shock resistance at 300 Gs
• High durability with 50K contact start/ stop cycles
• Advanced multi-burst on-the-fly Error Correction Code (ECC)
• Extended data integrity with ECC protected data and fault tolerant servo
synchronization fields
• Supports EPA Energy Star Standards (Green PC Friendly) with ATA
powering savings commands
• Auto park and lock actuator mechanism
• Low power consumption
• SMART Capability
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Product Description
Note: Maxtor defines 1 Gigabyte (GB) as 109 or 1,000,000,000 bytes of data.
Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.
Maxtor hard drives contain all necessary mechanical and electronic parts to interpret
control signals and commands from an AT-compatible host computer. See Chapter 3
Product Specifications, for complete drive specifications.
The disk capacity is increased with bit density management – common with Zone
Density R ecording. Each disk surface is divided into 16 circumferential zones. All
tracks within a given zone contain a constant number of data sectors. The number
of data sectors per track varies in different zones; the outermost zone contains the
largest number of data sectors and the innermost contains the fewest.
This mode is implemented per ANSI ATA/ ATAPI-6 specification. Read/ Write
Multiple allows the host to transfer a set number of sectors without an interrupt
request between them, reducing transfer process overhead and improving host
performance.
Maxtor hard drives fully comply with the new ANSI Ultra DMA protocol, which
greatly improves overall AT interface performance by significantly improving burst
and sustained data throughput.
Supports multi-word Direct Memory Access (DMA) mode transfers.
All Maxtor hard drives feature a universal translate mode. In an AT/ EISA-class
system, the drive may be configured to any specified combination of cylinders,
heads and sectors (within the range of the drive's formatted capacity). Maxtor hard
drives power-up in a translate mode:
4G120J 6
4G160J 8
238,216
317,632
16
16
63
63
240,121,728
320,173,056
122.9GB
163.9GB
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Product Description
The Logical Block Address (LBA) mode can only be utilized in systems that support
this form of translation. The cylinder, head and sector geometry of the drive, as
presented to the host, differs from the actual physical geometry. The host AT
computer may access a drive of set parameters: number of cylinders, heads and
sectors per track, plus cylinder, head and sector addresses. However, the drive can’t
use these host parameters directly because of zoned recording techniques. The drive
translates the host parameters to a set of logical internal addresses for data access.
The host drive geometry parameters are mapped into an LBA based on this formula:
LBA
= (HSCA - 1) + HHDA x HSPT + HNHD x HSPT x HCYA
= (HSCA - 1) + HSPT x (HHDA + HNHD x HCYA)
HSCA = Host Sector Address, HHDA = Host Head Address
HCYA = Host Cylinder Address, HNHD = Host Number of Heads
HSPT = Host Sectors per Track
where
The LBA is checked for violating the drive capacity. If it does not, the LBA is
converted to physical drive cylinder, head and sector values. The physical address is
then used to access or store the data on the disk and for other drive related
operations.
Each drive model has a fixed number of spare sectors per drive, all of which are
located at the end of the drive. Upon detection of a bad sector that has been
reassigned, the next sequential sector is used.
For example, if sector 3 is flagged, data that would have been stored there is “pushed
down” and recorded in sector 4. Sector 4 then effectively becomes sector 3, as
sequential sectors are “pushed down” across the entire drive. The first spare sector
makes up for the loss of sector 3, and so maintains the sequential order of data. This
push down method assures maximum performance.
>14 symbols, single burst, guaranteed
24 symbols, single burst, guaranteed
Immediately following power down, dynamic braking of the spinning disks delays
momentarily allowing the read/ write heads to move to an inner mechanical stop. A
small fixed magnet holds the rotary actuator in place as the disk spins down. The
rotary actuator is released only when power is again applied.
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Product Description
The data buffer is organized into two segments: the data buffer and the micro
controller scratch pad. The data buffer is dynamically allocated for read and write
data depending on the commands received. A variable number of read and write
buffers may exist at the same time.
Normally, this mode is active. Following a read request, disk read-ahead begins on
the first sector and continues sequentially until the allocated buffer is full. If a read
request is received during the read-ahead operation, the buffer is examined to
determine if the request is in the cache. If a cache hit occurs, read-ahead mode
continues without interruption and the host transfer begins immediately.
This feature is part of the write cache and reduces the risk of data loss during
deferred write operations. If a disk error occurs during the disk write process, the
disk task stops and the suspect sector is reallocated to a pool of alternate sectors
located at the end of the drive. Following reallocation, the disk write task continues
until it is complete.
Normally, this mode is active. Write cache mode accepts the host write data into
the buffer until the buffer is full or the host transfer is complete. A command
complete interrupt is generated at the end of the transfer.
A disk write task begins to store the host data to disk. Host write commands
continue to be accepted and data transferred to the buffer until either the write
command stack is full or the data buffer is full. The drive may reorder write
commands to optimize drive throughput.
A brushless DC direct drive motor rotates the spindle at 5400 R PM (±0.1%). The
dynamically balanced motor/ spindle assembly ensures minimal mechanical run-out
to the disks. A dynamic brake provides a fast stop to the spindle motor upon power
removal. The speed tolerance includes motor performance and motor circuit
tolerances.
All Maxtor hard drives employ a rotary voice coil actuator which consists of a
moving coil, an actuator arm assembly and stationary magnets. The actuator moves
on a low-mass, low-friction center shaft. The low friction contributes to fast access
times and low power consumption.
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Product Description
An integrated circuit mounted within the sealed head disk assembly (near the read/
write heads) provides up to eight head selection depending on the model. It also
provides read pre-amplification and write drive circuitry.
Low mass, low force giant magneto-resistive read/ write heads record data on 3.5-
inch diameter disks. Maxtor uses a sputtered thin film medium on all disks for
Maxtor hard drives.
All Maxtor hard drives are assembled in a Class 100 controlled environment. Over
the life of the drive, a 0.1 micron filter and breather filter located within the sealed
head disk assembly (HDA) maintain a clean environment to the heads and disks.
Maxtor drives are designed to operate in a typical office environment with
minimum environmental control.
The microprocessor controls the following functions for the drive electronics:
• Command execution
• Cache management
• Data correction and error recovery
• Diagnostic execution
• Data sequencing
• Head positioning (including error recovery)
• Host interface
• Index detection
• Spin speed control
• Seeks
• Servo
• SMART
• 48-bit addressing
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Product Description
Two drives may be accessed via a common interface cable, using the same range of
I/ O addresses. The drives have a jumper configuration as device 0 or 1 (Master/
Slave), and are selected by the drive select bit in the Device/ Head register of the
task file.
All Task File registers are written in parallel to both drives. The interface processor
on each drive decides whether a command written to it should be executed; this
depends on the type of command and which drive is selected. Only the drive
selected executes the command and activates the data bus in response to host I/ O
reads; the drive not selected remains inactive.
A master/ slave relationship exists between the two drives: device 0 is the master and
device 1 the slave. When the Master is closed (factory default, figure 2-1), the drive
assumes the role of master; when open, the drive acts as a slave. In single drive
configurations, the Master jumper must be closed.
CSEL (cable select) is an optional feature per ANSI ATA specification. Drives
configured in a multiple drive system are identified by CSEL’s value:
– If CSEL is grounded, then the drive address is 0.
– If CSEL is open, then the drive address is 1.
Figure 2-1 PCBA Jumper Location and Configuration
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Product Description
Master/Slave
Only drive in single drive system *
Master drive in dual drive system *
Slave drive in dual drive system
C
C
O
Cable Select
Disabled*
Enabled
O
C
Cylinder Lim itation
Disabled*
Enabled
O
C
Factory Reserved
O
O
Key * = Default C = Closed (jum per installed) O = Open (no jum per installed)
On some older BIOS', primarily those that auto-configure the disk drive, a hang
may occur. The Cylinder Limitation jumper reduces the capacity in the Identify
Drive allowing large capacity drives to work with older BIOS. The capacity
reported when J45:J46 is closed will be as follows: drives less than or equal to 32GB
will report 2.1GB. Drives greater than 32GB will report 32GB.
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Product Description
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Form atted Capacity (GB LBA Mode)
GB m eans 1 billion bytes.
122.9GB
163.9GB
Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environm ent.
The D540X-4G at 160GB capacity (4G160J8) exceeds the 137GB capacity barrier
imposed by the 28 bit addressing schemes common to many current BIOS and
drivers. If your system has 28 bit addressing logic your drive will appear to only have
137GB of capacity. You can upgrade your system to break this barrier by installing
a Maxtor PCI card kit (Maxtor p/ n K01PCAT133). You may also be able to
upgrade your system by downloading new BIOS and/ or Drivers. Please visit our
and upgrade software.
For more information on breaking the 137GB capacity barrier please refer to
Appendix A.
Maxtor D540X-4G
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Product Specifications
Data Surfaces/Num ber of Heads
Num ber of Disks
6
8
3
4
Sectors per Drive (m ax LBA)
Integrated Interface
240,121,728
320,173,056
Maxtor Ultra ATA/133 (ATA-5/ATA-6)
Recording Method
PRML
Em bedded
224
Servo Type
Num ber of Servo Sectors
Data Zones per Surface
Data Sectors per Track (ID/OD)
16
448/896
27.7/25.2
506/461
486/442
57
2
Areal Density (Gbits/in m ax, ID/OD)
Flux Density (kfci, ID/OD)
Recording Density (kbpi, ID/OD)
Track Density (ktpi)
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Product Specifications
Seek Tim es (typical read, m s)
Track-to-Track
1
11
Average (norm al seek)
Full Stroke (norm al seek)
Average Latency (m s)
20
5.5
<0.3
5400
Controller Overhead (m s)
Rotation Speed (RPM ±0.1%)
Data Transfer Speed (MByte/sec m ax)
To/From Interface
(Maxtor Ultra ATA/133, up to)
133
To/From Media (ID/OD up to nn.n, where
nn.n is the m axim um transfer rate possible)
21.9/43.4
Sustained (ID/OD up to nn.n, where nn.n is
the m axim um transfer rate possible)
17.8/35.9
Data Buffer Size (MB)/Type
2/SDRAM
7.5
Drive Ready Tim e (typical sec)
Height (m axim um in m m )
Width (typical m m )
26.1
101.6
147.0
0.580
Length (m axim um in m m )
Weight (m axim um in kg)
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Product Specifications
Spin-up (peak)
Seek
2100
881
649
424
40
550
567
561
566
307
285
31.4<0.5 sec.
13.4
10.6
7.9
Read/Write
Idle
Standby
Sleep
2.0
40
1.9
The drive is spinning up following initial application of power and has not yet
reached full speed.
A random access operation by the drive.
Data is being read from or written to the drive.
The drive is spinning, the actuator is parked and powered off and all other circuitry
is powered on.
The drive is capable of responding to read commands within 40 ms.
The motor is not spinning. The drive will leave this mode upon receipt of a
command that requires disk access. The time-out value for this mode is
programmable. The buffer is active to accept write data.
This is the lowest power state – with the interface set to inactive. A software or
hardware reset is required to return the drive to the Standby state.
Maxtor Corporation supports the goals of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency’s Energy Star program to reduce the electrical power consumption of
computer equipment.
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Product Specifications
Tem perature
0° C to 60° C
low tem perature (-40° C)
high tem perature (65° C)
per MIL-STD-810E, m ethod
501.3, clim atic category;
hot-induced conditions.
Therm al Gradient
Relative Hum idity
Wet Bulb
30° C per hour (m axim um )
5% to 95% (non-condensing)
30° C (m axim um )
Altitude (relative to sea level)
-650 to 10,000 feet
-650 to 40,000 feet
Acoustic Noise - sound power
(per ISO 7779, 10 m icrophone, at
sea level)
Idle Mode
(track following at speed)
3.2 bel average
3.6 bel m axim um
Norm al Seek Mode
3.8 bel average
4.1 bel m axim um
Mechanical Shock
Rotational Shock
R>=0.988/shock at 60 Gs;
r>0.999/shock at 30 Gs
R=0.90@>= 250G 3&4 disk
R=0.95@>= 225G, 3&4 disk
R=0.99@>= 175G, 3&4 disk
R>-0.988 @ 2000r/s^2
R>- 0.95 @ 20K rad/sec^2,
0.5m s to 1m s input
R>- 0.99 @ 15K rad/sec^2,
0.5m s to 1m s input
2
Random Vibration
10 to 45 Hz at 0.004 G /Hz
PSD:
10 Hz at 0.05 G /Hz
20 Hz at 0.055 G /Hz
300 Hz at 0.05 G /Hz
301 Hz at 0.0014 G /Hz
500-760 Hz at 0.001 G /Hz
877 Hz at 0.003 G /Hz
1000-1570 Hz at 0.001 G /Hz
2
2
48 to 62 Hz at 0.008 G /Hz
2
2
65 to 300 Hz at 0.004 G /Hz
301 to 500 Hz at 0.00005 G /Hz
no errors
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2000 Hz at 0.0001 G /Hz
no dam age
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Product Specifications
Swept Sine Vibration
10 to 300 Hz
1 G (0 to peak) am plitude,
.25 octave per m inute
<1.0%
Annualized Return R ate (AR R ) indicates the average against
products shipped.
<750 DPPM
The quality acceptance rate indicates the percentage of Maxtor
products successfully installed by our customers, and/ or the number
of defective parts per million (DPPM) encountered during the entire
installation process.
>50,000
This indicates the average minimum cycles for reliable start/ stop
function.
R =0.9998@ >4500, R =0.9995 @ >7500, R =0.5 @ >= 50000
<1 per 10e15 bits read
Data errors (non-recoverable). Average data error rate allowed with
all error recovery features activated.
5 years (minimum)
Component design life is defined as a.) the time period before
identified wear-out mechanisms impact the failure rate, or b.) the
time period up to the wear-out point when useful component life
expires.
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Product Specifications
The hard disk drive mechanism is designed as a subassembly for installation into a
suitable enclosure and is therefore not subject to Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC R ules
(47CFR15) or the Canadian Department of Communications R adio Interference
R egulations. Although not required, the disk mechanism has been tested within a
suitable end-use product and found to comply with Class B limits of the FCC R ules
and R egulations of the Canadian Department of Communications.
The CE Marking indicates conformity with the European Union Low Voltage
Directive (73/ 23/ EEC) when the disk mechanism is installed in a typical personal
computer. Maxtor recommends that testing and analysis for EMC compliance be
performed with the disk mechanism installed within the user's end-use application.
This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions
from digital apparatus as set out in the radio interference regulations of the Canadian
department of communications.
Le present appareil numerique n'emet pas de bruit radioelectriques depassant les
limites applicables aux appareils numeriques de Class B prescrites dans le reglement
sur le brouillage radioelectrique edicte pa le ministere des communications du
Canada.
All Maxtor hard drives comply with relevant product safety standards such as CE,
CUL, TUV and UL rules and regulations. As delivered, Maxtor hard drives are
designed for system integration before they are used.
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• If the handling precautions are not followed, damage to the hard
drive may result whichmay void the warranty.
• During handling, NEVER drop, jar, or bump a drive. Handle the
drive by its sides and avoid touching the printed circuit board
assembly (PCBA).
• Hard drives are sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage. Use
proper ESD practices by grounding yourself and the computer system
the hard drive will be installed in.
• Allow the hard drive to reach room temperature BEFORE installing
it in your computer system.
• NEVER switch DC power onto the drive by plugging an electrically
live DC source cable into the drive's connector. NEVER connect a
live connector to the hard drive's IDE interface connector.
• ELECTRICAL GROUNDING - For proper operation, the drive
must be securely fastened to a device bay that provides a suitable
electrical ground to the drive baseplate.
To better avoid problems associated with ESD, Maxtor advises that anyone handling
a disk drive use a wrist strap with an attached wire connected to an earth ground.
Failure to observe these precautions voids the product warranty.
To reduce the incidence of ESD-related problems, Maxtor recommends that any
electronics manufacturing plans include a comprehensive ESD program, the basic
elements and functions of which are outlined here:
ESD Program Element
Management
ESD Program Function
Institute and maintain
Organize and enforce
Chief coordinator
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Handling and Installation
Multi-department committee
Employee training
Evaluate and improve
Educate and inform
ESD program supplies typically include: wrist- and foot-worn grounding straps;
counter-top and floor antistatic matting; wrist strap testers; ESD video and training
materials. Sources for such supplies include:
Static Control Systems – 3M
225-4S, 3M Center
St. Paul, MN 55144
Desco-Charleswater
3651 Walnut Avenue
Chino, CA 91710
Phone: (909) 627-8178
Fax: (909) 627-7449
Maxtor also offers a complete video training package, “Care and Handling of Maxtor
Disk Drives.” Contact your Maxtor representative for details.
R etain any packing material for reuse. Inspect the shipping container for evidence of
damage in transit. Notify the carrier immediately in case of damage to the shipping
container.
As they are removed, inspect drives for evidence of shipping damage or loose
hardware. If a drive is damaged (and no container damage is evident), notify Maxtor
immediately for drive disposition.
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Handling and Installation
Single Pack Shipping Container (Option B)
If a Maxtor drive requires return, repack it using Maxtor packing materials, including
the antistatic bag.
The detailed installation instructions for Maxtor hard drives are provided in the
Installation Guide. To obtain a copy of the Installation Guide please visit Maxtor’s web
correct installation information for this product.
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Handling and Installation
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This chapter describes the interface between Maxtor D540X-4G hard disk drives and
the ATA bus. The commands that are issued from the host to control the drive are
listed, as well as the electrical and mechanical characteristics of the interface.
Maxtor D540X-4G hard disk drives use the standard ATA/ ATAPI interface.
Support of various options in the standard are explained in the following sections.
The Maxtor D540X-4G hard disk drive contains a 40-pin unitized connector for
both signal and power connections as well as configuration jumpers. The
dimensions and specifications of the unitized connector comply with Annex. A in
the ATA/ ATAPI standard.
The Maxtor D540X-4G drives require the use of an 80 conductor cable (ATA/
ATAPI-6, Annex. A, Figure A.4 and description) to support the drive’s Ultra DMA
capability.
Signals on the ATA interface are assigned to connector pins according to Annex. A in
the ATA/ ATAPI-6 standard for the 80 conductor cable assembly. The signaling
protocol complies with clause 9 and signal timing complies with clause 10 of the
standard.
The Maxtor D540X-4G hard disk drives support all Ultra DMA Data Transfer modes
(0 - 5) defined in the ATA/ ATAPI-6 standard. In addition, these drives support Mode
6, and can send and receive data at the full 133MB/ s transfer rate.
Hosts may assert the RESET- signal for longer than the minimum. When power is
applied with R ESET- asserted, the Maxtor D540X-4G disk media will not begin to
spin up until R ESET- is negated. This may reduce maximum current consumption
for the overall system.
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ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands
The Maxtor D540X-4G hard disk drives allow their host systems to address the full
set of command and control registers as specified in clause 7 of the ATA/ ATAPI-6
standard. This includes the 48-bit Address feature set described in clause 6.
The µProcessor, Disk Controller, and ATA Interface electronics are contained in a
proprietary ASIC developed by Maxtor.
The Maxtor D540X-4G hard disk drives support all the mandatory commands from
the general feature set for devices not supporting the Packet command feature set.
R efer to the ATA/ ATAPI-6 standard for a detailed description of these commands.
Supported Commands
CHECK POWER MODE
98h, E5h
B1h
DEVICE CONFIGURATION FREEZE LOCK
DEVICE CONFIGURATION IDENTIFY
DEVICE CONFIGURATION RESTORE
DEVICE CONFIGURATION SET
DOWNLOAD MICROCODE
EXECUTE DRIVE DIAGNOSTIC
FLUSH CACHE
C1h
B1h
C2h
B1h
C0h
B1h
C3h
92h
07h, 01h
90h
E7h
IDENTIFY DRIVE
ECh
IDLE
97h, E3h
95h, E1h
00h
IDLE IMMEDIATE
NOP
READ BUFFER
E4h
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ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands
Supported Commands
READ DMA
C8h, C9h
22h, 23h
C4h
READ LONG
READ MULTIPLE
READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS
READ SECTOR(S)
F8h
20h, 21h
40h, 41h
F6h
READ VERIFY SECTOR(S)
SECURITY DISABLE PASSWORD
SECURITY ERASE PREPARE
SECURITY ERASE UNIT
SECURITY FREEZE LOCK
SECURITY SET PASSWORD
SECURITY UNLOCK
SEEK
F3h
F4h
F5H
F1h
F2h
70h
SET FEATURES
EFh
Note 1
00h
SET MAX ADDRESS
SET MAX SET PASSWORD
SET MAX LOCK
F9h
F9h
01h
F9h
02h
SET MAX UNLOCK
F9h
03h
SET MAX FREEZE LOCK
SET MULTIPLE MODE
SLEEP
F9h
04h
C6h
99h, E6h
B0h
B0h
B0h
B0h
SMART DISABLE OPERATIONS
SMART ENABLE OPERATIONS
D9h
D8h
D2h
D4h
SMART ENABLE/DISABLE ATTRIBUTE AUTOSAVE
SMART EXECUTE OFF-LINE IMMEDIATE
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ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands
Supported Commands
SMART READ DATA
SMART READ LOG
SMART RETURN STATUS
SMART SAVE ATTRIBUTE VALUES
SMART WRITE LOG
STANDBY
B0h
D0h
D5h
DAh
D3h
D6h
B0h
B0h
B0h
B0h
96h, E2h
94h, E0h
E8h
STANDBY IMMEDIATE
WRITE BUFFER
WRITE DMA
CAh, CBh
C5h
WRITE MULTIPLE
WRITE PIO OVERLAP
WRITE SECTOR(S)
34h
30h, 31h
1. As defined in the ATA/ ATAPI-6 standard.
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If a customer discovers a defect in a Maxtor hard drive, Maxtor will, at its option,
repair or replace the disk drive at no charge to the customer, provided it is returned
during the warranty period. Drives must be properly packaged in Maxtor packaging
or Maxtor-approved packaging to obtain warranty service. Any unauthorized repairs
or adjustments to the drive void the warranty.
To consistently provide our customers with the best possible products and services,
Maxtor developed the Total Customer Satisfaction (TCS) program. Through the
ongoing TCS process, Maxtor employees take direct responsibility for every
customer’s level of satisfaction – with Maxtor technology, price, quality,
delivery, service and support.
®
Another TCS feature is Maxtor’s No Quibble Service policy. By minimizing paperwork
and processing, No Quibble Service dramatically cuts the turnaround time normally
required for repairs and returns. Here’s how it works:
Material Authorization (R MA) number and provides a credit card number
2. Maxtor ships a replacement drive within 2 business days
3. Customer returns the original drive and credit card draft is destroyed.
For the current up-to-date information, hours of operation, phone numbers and
worldwide email accounts, on how to contact Maxtor Technical support and Product
‘Contact’ link at the top of the page.
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Service and Support
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This appendix provides information about the 137GB storage barrier. It discusses the
history, cause and the solution to overcome this barrier.
Capacity barriers have been a fact of the personal computer world since its beginnings
in the early 1980’s. At least 10 different capacity barriers have occurred in the storage
industry over the last 15 years. The most notable barriers seen previously have been at
528 megabytes and then at 8.4 gigabytes.
The most recent barrier which will be surmounted in 2001, is the 137-gigabyte limit
or a single ATA drive. The first ATA devices to exceed 137 gigabytes will be four-
platter hard disk drives with 40 gigabytes per platter, yielding 160 gigabytes per drive.
These drives will be available in the second half of 2001. Later in the same year,
capacity will continue to grow to 60 gigabytes per platter, and a three-disk, 180-
gigabyte device will be available and shipping.
The ANSI NCITS T13 Technical Committee (also known as the ANSI ATA
committee) has broken this barrier by incorporating a proposal from Maxtor into the
ATA/ ATAPI-6 draft standard that defines a method for 48-bit addressing on a single
drive, giving more than 144 petabytes (144,000 gigabytes) of storage.
In addition, the proposal from Maxtor that was incorporated into ATA/ ATAPI-6
defines a method for extending the maximum amount of data that can be transferred
per command for ATA devices from 256 sectors (about 131 kilobytes) to 65,536
sectors (about 33 megabytes). This new method is particularly useful for applications
that use extremely large files, such as those for A/ V or multimedia.
The following sections will describe issues surrounding the 137-gigabyte barrier and
the solution for breaking it.
Many of the “barriers” in the past resulted from BIOS and operating system issues
caused by failure to anticipate the remarkable increases in device storage capacity by
the people who designed hard disk structures, access routines, and operating systems
many years ago. They thought, “Who will ever have xxx much storage?” In some
cases, the barriers were caused by hardware or software bugs not found until hard disks
had grown in size beyond a certain point where the bugs would occur.
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Breaking the 137GB Storage Barrier
Past barriers often frustrated people trying to add a new hard disk to an older system
when they discovered that not all of the designed capacity of the hard disk was
accessible. This inability to access the entire drive is referred to as a “capacity barrier”
and it has been seen and overcome many times in the computer and disk drive
industry.
The 137-gigabyte barrier is the result of the original design specification for the ATA
interface that provided only 28 bits of address for data. This specification means a hard
disk can have a maximum of 268,435,456 sectors of 512 bytes of data which puts the
ATA interface maximum at 137.4 gigabytes.
10,000,000
1,000,000
100,000
10,000
1,000
137GB
Win2000
WinME
WinXP
33GB
Win98
Win95(osr2)
8GB
4GB
Win95A
2GB
Win 3.x
5.x
DOS
528MB
4.x
128MB
100
32MB
16MB
3.x
10MB
10
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
10 megabytes:early
16 megabytes:
32 megabytes:
128 megabytes:
528 megabytes:
2.1 gigabytes:
4.2 gigabytes:
8.4 gigabytes:
32 gigabytes:
PC/ XT limit
FAT 12 limit
DOS 3.x limit
DOS 4.x limit
Early ATA BIOSs without BIOS extensions
DOS file system partition limit
CMOS extended CHS addressing limit (not widely experienced)
BIOS/Int13 24-bit addressing limit
BIOS limit
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Breaking the 137GB Storage Barrier
As described earlier, the issue causing the 137-gigabyte barrier is the 28-bit addressing
method of the original ATA specification. A change to expand this method was
required to provide more address bits for the interface, allowing significant growth for
many years to come. A critical issue in expanding the addressing capability was
maintaining compatibility with the existing installed base of products.
A new ATA standard, ATA/ ATAPI-6, has been in the works for some time, and the
latest draft of this standard resolves this issue by increasing the maximum number of
bits used for addressing from 28 to 48. This solution increases the maximum capacity
of an ATA device to 144 petabytes while maintaining compatibility with current ATA
products.
The 48-bit Address feature set provides a method to address devices with capacities up
to approximately 144 petabytes by increasing the number of bits used to specify logical
block addresses (LBAs) from 28 to 48. The feature set also provides a method to
increase the number of sectors that can be transferred by a single command from 256
to 65,536 by increasing the number of bits specifying sector count to 16 bits.
New commands specific to this feature set have been defined so that devices can
implement the new feature set in addition to previously defined commands. Devices
implementing the 48-bit Address feature set commands will also implement
commands that use 28-bit addressing in order to maintain interoperability with older
system components. In addition, 8-bit and 48-bit commands may be intermixed.
The 48-bit Address feature set operates in LBA addressing only. Support of the 48-bit
Address feature set is indicated in the IDENTIFY DEVICE response data. In a device
implementing the 48-bit Address feature set, the registers used for addressing are, in
fact, a two-byte deep FIFO. Each time one of these registers is written, the new
content written is placed into the “most recently written” location and the previous
content of the register is moved to “previous content” location. A host may read the
“previous content” of the registers by first setting a bit in the Device Control register
to 1 and then reading the desired register.
The challenge to drive manufacturers is to develop and implement new interface chips
on drives that can accept and decode the new 48-bit addressing scheme. Many
functions of decoding the commands sent to and from the drive are automated in the
silicon of the drive interface ASIC, and this is where drive manufacturers must update
their designs. Maxtor is the leader in development efforts and is the first to deliver a
product with the capacity and drive technology to deliver greater than 137 gigabytes
of capacity.
Effort is required from OS vendors to increase storage device addressing up to 48 bits
or more. This increase will be a significant challenge for many OS vendors that have
32-bit code models. Adapting to 48-bit commands will be easy, but most vendors
will stop filling data at the 32-bit boundary and pad the upper 16 bits with zeros,
leaving that space empty.
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Breaking the 137GB Storage Barrier
The BIOS companies will also have to perform some work to recognize the increased
capacity of the devices attached to the bus and allow the extended 48-bit commands
to pass on to the devices. Boot partitions will also be an issue for the capacity of the
drive if the BIOS does not recognize the 48-bit addressing scheme at or before the
system boots the OS from the hard drive.
Independent software driver efforts for legacy operating systems (Windows NT 4,
Windows 98, and so on) will need to be implemented to allow higher-capacity devices
to work on installed systems and recognize the maximum available capacity of the
drive over the 137-gigabyte limit.
While it is true that the ATA/ ATAPI-6 standard defines a method to provide a total
capacity for a device of 144 petabytes, the next limit will be imposed not by the ATA
devices but by many of the popular operating systems in use today. This limit will be
at 2.2 terabytes (2,200 gigabytes). This barrier exists because many of today’s operating
systems are based on 32-bit addressing. These operating systems include many flavors
of Linux, Mac OS 9.x, and Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4, 2000, and XP (Windows
XP/ 64-bit also has the limit because of leveraged 32-bit code).
This barrier could be real as early as 2004 if current hard drive capacity rate increases
continue along the same growth trends.
• BIOS: (an acronym for Basic Input/ Output System design): The BIOS
processes and redirects all data as it is being accessed and stored.
• FAT: (an acronym for File Allocation Table): The FAT tells the
computer where data has been stored on the hard drive.
• CHS: (an acronym for Cylinders, Heads, and Sectors): The basic layout
components of a hard drive. INT 13h & INT 13h extensions: protocols
used for accessing data on hard drives.
• 131 kilobytes =
131,000 bytes
a little more than 30 pages of text
• 33 megabytes =
33,000,000 bytes
more than 8,000 pages of text or 25 300-page books
• 137 gigabytes =
137,000,000,000 bytes
more than 100,000 books, or the contents of a good library
• 2.2 terabytes =
2,200,000,000,000 bytes
almost 2,000,000 books, or the about content of the Library of Congress
• 144 petabytes = 144,000,000,000,000,000 bytes
120 billion books – (more than all that man has written)
• 9.4 zettabytes = 9,400,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes
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Breaking the 137GB Storage Barrier
• Maxtor “Big Drive” web site for resource information:
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Breaking the 137GB Storage Barrier
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ALLOCATION UNIT – An allocation
unit, also known as a cluster, is a group of
sectors on the disk that can be reserved for the
use of a particular file.
A
ACCESS – (v) R ead, write, or update
information on some storage medium, such as
a disk. (n) One of these operations.
ACCESS TIME – The interval between the
time a request for data is made by the system
and the time the data is available from the
drive. Access time includes the actual seek
time, rotational latency, and command
processing overhead time. See also seek,
rotational latency, and overhead.
AVERAGE SEEK TIME – The average
time it takes for the read/ write head to move
to a specific location. To compute the average
seek time, you divide the time it takes to
complete a large number of random seeks all
over the disk by the number of seeks
performed.
ACTUATOR – Also known as the positioner.
The internal mechanism that moves the
read/ write head to the proper track. The
Maxtor actuator consists of a rotary voice coil
and the head mounting arms. One end of each
head mounting arm attaches to the rotor with
the read/ write heads attached at the opposite
end of each arm. As current is applied to the
rotor, it rotates, positioning the heads over the
desired cylinder on the media.
B
BACKUP – A copy of a file, directory, or
volume on a separate storage device from the
original, for the purpose of retrieval in case the
original is accidentally erased, damaged, or
destroyed.
BAD BLOCK – A block (usually the size of
a sector) that cannot reliably hold data because
of a media flaw or damaged format markings.
AIRLOCK – A patented Maxtor feature that
ensures durable and reliable data storage.
Upon removal of power from the drive for
any reason, the read/ write heads
BAD TRACK TABLE – A label affixed to
the casing of a hard disk drive that tells which
tracks are flawed and cannot hold data. The
listing is typed into the low-level formatting
program when the drive is being installed.
Because Maxtor disk drive’s
defect-management scheme handles all such
flaws automatically, there is no need to
concern yourself with bad track tables.
automatically park and lock in a non data area
called the landing zone. AIR LOCK allows
the drive to withstand high levels of
non-operating shock. When power is applied
to the drive, airflow created from the spinning
disks causes the AIR LOCK arm to swing
back and unlock the actuator, allowing the
heads to move from the landing zone. Upon
power down, the AIR LOCK swings back to
the locked position, locking the heads in the
landing zone. A park utility is not required to
park the heads on drives equipped with
AIR LOCK (all Maxtor drives).
BIT – Abbreviation for binary digit. A binary
digit may have one of two values—1 or 0.
This contrasts with a decimal digit, which
may have a value from 0 to 9. A bit is one of
the logic 1or logic 0 binary settings that make
up a byte of data. See also byte.
ALLOCATION – The process of assigning
particular areas of the disk to particular files.
See also allocation unit.
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Glossary
BLOCK – A sector or group of sectors. By
CONTROLLER CARD – An adapter
holding the control electronics for one or
more hard disks, usually installed in a slot in
the computer.
default, a block of data consists of 512 bytes.
BPI – Abbreviation for bits per inch. A
measure of how densely information is packed
on a storage medium. Flux changes per inch is
also a term commonly used in describing
storage density on a magnetic surface.
CPU – Acronym for Central Processing Unit.
The microprocessor chip that performs the
bulk of data processing in a computer.
BUFFER – An area of R AM reserved for
temporary storage of data that is waiting to be
sent to a device that is not yet ready to receive
it. The data is usually on its way to or from the
disk drive or some other peripheral device.
CRC – Acronym for Cyclic Redundancy Check.
An error detection code that is recorded
within each sector and is used to see whether
parts of a string of data are missing or
erroneous.
BUS – The part of a chip, circuit board, or
CYLINDER – On a disk drive that has more
than one recording surface and heads that
move to various tracks, the group of all tracks
located at a given head position. The number
of cylinders times the number of heads equals
the number of tracks per drive.
interface designed to send and receive data.
BYTE – The basic unit of computer
memory, large enough to hold one character
of alphanumeric data. Comprised of eight bits.
See also bit.
D
DATA SEPARATOR – On a disk drive
that stores data and timing information in an
encoded form, the circuit that extracts the
data from the combined data and clock signal.
C
CACHE – R andom-access memory used as a
buffer between the CPU and a hard disk.
Information more likely to be read or changed
is placed in the cache, where it can be accessed
more quickly to speed up general data flow.
DEDICATED SERVO – A surface separate
from the surface used for data that contains
only disk timing and positioning information
and contains no data.
CAPACITY – The amount of information
that can be stored on a disk drive. The data is
stored in bytes, and capacity is usually
expressed in megabytes.
DEFECT MANAGEMENT – A method
that is implemented to ensure long term data
integrity. Defect management eliminates the
need for user defect maps. This is
CDB – Command Descriptor Block. The
SCSI structure used to communicate requests
from an initiator (system) to a target (drive).
accomplished by scanning the disk drives at
the factory for defective sectors. Defective
sectors are deallocated prior to shipment. In
addition, during regular use, the drive
continues to scan and compensate for any new
defective sectors on the disk.
CLEAN ROOM – An environmentally
controlled dust-free assembly or repair facility
in which hard disk drives are assembled or can
be opened for internal servicing.
DISK – In general, any circular-shaped
data-storage medium that stores data on the
flat surface of the platter. The most common
type of disk is the magnetic disk, which stores
data as magnetic patterns in a metal or
CLUSTER – A group of sectors on a disk
drive that is addressed as one logical unit by
the operating system.
metal-oxide coating. Magnetic disks come in
two forms: floppy and hard. Optical recording
is a newer disk technology that gives higher
capacity storage but at slower access times.
CONTROLLER – Short form of disk
controller. The chip or complete circuit that
translates computer data and commands into a
form suitable for use by the disk drive.
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Glossary
DISK CONTROLLER – A plug-in board,
or embedded circuitry on the drive, that
passes information to and from the disk. The
Maxtor disk drives all have controllers
allocated to each file and in what order.
FCI – Acronym for flux changes per inch. See
also BPI.
embedded on the drive printed-circuit board.
FILE SERVER – A computer that provides
network stations with controlled access to
shareable resources. The network operating
system is loaded on the file server, and most
shareable devices (disk subsystems, printers)
are attached to it. The file server controls
system security and monitors
station-to-station communications. A
dedicated file server can be used only as a file
server while it is on the network. A non
dedicated file server can be used
DISKWARE – The program instructions
and data stored on the disk for use by a
processor.
DMA – Acronym for direct memory access. A
process by which data moves directly between
a disk drive (or other device) and system
memory without passing through the CPU,
thus allowing the system to continue
processing other tasks while the new data is
being retrieved.
simultaneously as a file server and a
workstation.
DRIVE – Short form of disk drive.
FLUX DENSITY – The number of
magnetic field patterns that can be stored in a
given length of disk surface. The number is
usually stated as flux changes per inch (FCI),
with typical values in the thousands.
DRIVE GEOMETRY – The functional
dimensions of a drive in terms of the number
of heads, cylinders, and sectors per track. See
also logical format.
FLYING HEIGHT – The distance between
the read/ write head and the disk surface
caused by a cushion of air that keeps the head
from contacting the media. Smaller flying
heights permit more dense storage of data, but
require more precise mechanical designs.
E
ECC – Acronym for error correction code. The
recording of extra verifying information
encoded along with the disk data. The
controller uses the extra information to check
for data errors, and corrects the errors when
possible.
FORMAT – To write onto the disk surface a
magnetic track pattern that specifies the
locations of the tracks and sectors. This
information must exist on a disk before it can
store any user data. Formatting erases any
previously stored data.
EMBEDDED SERVO – A timing or
location signal placed on the disk’s surface on
the tracks that also store data. These signals
allow the actuator to fine-tune the position of
the read/ write heads.
FORMATTED CAPACITY – The
amount of room left to store data on the disk
after the required space has been used to write
sector headers, boundary definitions, and
timing information generated by a format
operation. All Maxtor drive capacities are
expressed in formatted capacity.
ENCODING – The protocol by which
particular data patterns are changed prior to
being written on the disk surface as a pattern
of On and Off or 1 and 0 signals.
FORM FACTOR – The physical outer
dimensions of a device as defined by industry
standard. For example, most Maxtor disk
drives use a 3 1/ 2-inch form factor.
EXTERNAL DRIVE – A drive mounted in
an enclosure separate from the PC or
computer system enclosure, with its own
power supply and fan, and connected to the
system by a cable.F
FAT – Acronym for file allocation table. A data
table stored on the outer edge of a disk that
tells the operating system which sectors are
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G
I
GIGABYTE (GB) – One billion bytes (one
thousand megabytes).
INITIALIZ E – See low level formatting.
INITIATOR – A SCSI device that requests
another SCSI device to perform an operation.
A common example of this is a system
requesting data from a drive. The system is the
initiator and the drive is the target.
GUIDE RAILS – Plastic strips attached to
the sides of a disk drive mounted in an IBM
AT and compatible computers so that the
drive easily slides into place.
INTERFACE – A hardware or software
protocol, contained in the electronics of the
disk controller and disk drive, that manages
the exchange of data between the drive and
computer.
H
HALF HEIGHT – Term used to describe a
drive that occupies half the vertical space of
the original full size 5 1/ 4-inch drive. 1.625
inches high.
INTERLEAVE – The arrangement of
sectors on a track. A 1:1 interleave arranges
the sectors so that the next sector arrives at the
read/ write heads just as the computer is ready
to access it. See also interleave factor.
HARD DISK – A type of storage medium
that retains data as magnetic patterns on a rigid
disk, usually made of an iron oxide or alloy
over a magnesium or aluminum platter.
Because hard disks spin more rapidly than
floppy disks, and the head flies closer to the
disk, hard disks can transfer data faster and
store more in the same volume.
INTERLEAVE FACTOR – The number
of sectors that pass beneath the read/ write
heads before the next numbered sector
arrives. When the interleave factor is 3:1, a
sector is read, two pass by, and then the next
is read. It would take three revolutions of the
disk to access a full track of data. Maxtor
drives have an interleave of 1:1, so a full track
of data can be accessed within one revolution
of the disk, thus offering the highest data
throughput possible.
HARD ERROR – A repeatable error in disk
data that persists when the disk is reread,
usually caused by defects in the media surface.
HEAD – The tiny electromagnetic coil and
metal pole piece used to create and read back
the magnetic patterns (write and read
information) on the media.
INTERNAL DRIVE – A drive mounted
inside one of a computer’s drive bays (or a
hard disk on a card, which is installed in one
of the computer’s slots).
HIGH-CAPACITY DRIVE – By industry
conventions typically a drive of 1 gigabytes or
more.
HIGH-LEVEL FORMATTING –
Formatting performed by the operating
system’s format program. Among other
things, the formatting program creates the
root directory and file allocation tables. See
also low-level formatting.
J
JUMPER – A tiny box that slips over two
pins that protrude from a circuit board. When
in place, the jumper connects the pins
electrically. Some board manufacturers use
Dual In-Line Package (DIP) switches instead
of jumpers.
HOME – R eference position track for
recalibration of the actuator, usually the outer
track (track 0).
HOST ADAPTER – A plug-in board that
forms the interface between a particular type
of computer system bus and the disk drive.
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Glossary
K
M
KILOBYTE (K) – A unit of measure
MB – See megabyte.
consisting of 1,024 (210) bytes.
MEDIA – The magnetic film that is
deposited or coated on an aluminum substrate
which is very flat and in the shape of a disk.
The media is overcoated with a lubricant to
prevent damage to the heads or media during
head take off and landing. The media is where
the data is stored inside the disk in the form of
magnetic flux or polarity changes.
L
LANDING ZONE – A position inside the
disk’s inner cylinder in a non data area
reserved as a place to rest the heads during the
time that power is off. Using this area prevents
the heads from touching the surface in data
areas upon power down, adding to the data
integrity and reliability of the disk drive.
MEGABYTE (MB) – A unit of
measurement equal to 1,024 kilobytes, or
1,048,576 bytes except when referring to disk
storage capacity.
LATENCY – The period of time during
which the read/ write heads are waiting for the
data to rotate into position so that it can be
accessed. Based on a disk rotation speed of
3,662 rpm, the maximum latency time is 16.4
milliseconds, and the average latency time is
8.2 milliseconds.
1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes when referring to
disk storage capacity.
See also kilobyte.
MEGAHERTZ – A measurement of
frequency in millions of cycles per second.
LOGICAL FORMAT – The logical drive
geometry that appears to an AT system BIOS
as defined by the drive tables and stored in
CMOS. With an installation program like
Disk Manager, the drive can be redefined to
any logical parameters necessary to adapt to
the system drive tables.
MHz – See megahertz.
MICROPROCESSOR – The integrated
circuit chip that performs the bulk of data
processing and controls the operation of all of
the parts of the system. A disk drive also
contains a microprocessor to handle all of the
internal functions of the drive and to support
the embedded controller.
LOOK AHEAD – The technique of
buffering data into cache R AM by reading
subsequent blocks in advance to anticipate the
next request for data. The look ahead
technique speeds up disk access of sequential
blocks of data.
MICROSECOND (µs) – One millionth of
a second (.000001 sec.).
MILLISECOND (m s) – One thousandth of
a second (.001 sec.).
LOW-LEVEL FORMATTING –
Formatting that creates the sectors on the
platter surfaces so the operating system can
access the required areas for generating the file
structure. Maxtor drives are shipped with the
low-level formatting already done.
MTBF – Mean Time Between Failure. Used
as a reliability rating to determine the
expected life of the product expressed in
power on hours (POH). There are several
accepted methods for calculating this value
that produce very different results and
generate much confusion in the industry.
When comparing numbers you should first
verify which method was used to calculate the
values.
LOW PROFILE – Describes drives built to
the 3 1/ 2-inch form factor, which are only 1
inch high.
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MTTR – Mean Time To R epair. The
PLATED MEDIA – Disks that are covered
with a hard metal alloy instead of an
iron-oxide compound. Plated disks can store
greater amounts of data in the same area as a
coated disk.
average time it takes to repair a drive that has
failed for some reason. This only takes into
consideration the changing of the major
sub-assemblies such as circuit board or sealed
housing. Component level repair is not
included in this number as this type of repair
is not performed in the field.
PLATTER – An disk made of metal (or
other rigid material) that is mounted inside a
fixed disk drive. Most drives use more than
one platter mounted on a single spindle (shaft)
to provide more data storage surfaces in a
small package. The platter is coated with a
magnetic material that is used to store data as
transitions of magnetic polarity.
N
NANOSECOND (ns)– One billionth of a
second (0.000000001 second).
POH – Acronym for power on hours. The unit
of measurement for Mean Time Between
Failure as expressed in the number of hours
that power is applied to the device regardless
of the amount of actual data transfer usage.
See MTBF.
O
OVERHEAD – The processing time of a
command by the controller, host adapter or
drive prior to any actual disk accesses taking
place.
POSITIONER – See actuator.
OVERWRITE – To write data on top of
existing data, erasing it.
R
REDUNDANT ARRAY OF
OXIDE – A metal-oxygen compound. Most
magnetic coatings are combinations of iron or
other metal oxides, and the term has become
a general one for the magnetic coating on tape
or disk.
INDEPENDENT DISKS (RAID) - is a
way of storing the same data in different places
(thus, redundantly) on multiple hard disks. By
placing data on multiple disks, I/ O operations
can overlap in a balanced way, improving
performance. Since multiple disks increases
the mean time between failure (MTBF),
storing data redundantly also increases
fault-tolerance.
P
A R AID appears to the operating system to be
a single logical hard disk. R AID employs the
technique of striping, which involves
partitioning each drive's storage space into
units ranging from a sector (512 bytes) up to
several megabytes. The stripes of all the disks
are interleaved and addressed in order.
PARTITION – A portion of a hard disk
devoted to a particular operating system and
accessed as one logical volume by the system.
PERFORMANCE – A measure of the speed
of the drive during normal operation. Factors
affecting performance are seek times, transfer
rate and command overhead.
RAID – See redundant array of independent
disks
PERIPHERAL – A device added to a system
as an enhancement to the basic CPU, such as
a disk drive, tape drive or printer.
RAM – Acronym for random access memory.
An integrated circuit memory chip which
allows information to be stored and retrieved
by a microprocessor or controller. The
information may be stored and retrieved in
PHYSICAL FORMAT – The actual
physical layout of cylinders, tracks, and sectors
on a disk drive.
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Glossary
any order desired, and the address of one
storage location is as readily accessible as any
other.
closed-loop feedback positioning of the heads,
which is more accurate than stepper motors.
ROTATIONAL LATENCY – The delay
between when the controller starts looking
for a specific block of data on a track and
when that block rotates around to where it
can be read by the read/ write head. On the
average, it is half of the time needed for a full
rotation (about 8 ms.).
RAM DISK – A “phantom disk drive” for
which a section of system memory (R AM) is
set aside to hold data, just as if it were a
number of disk sectors. The access to this data
is extremely fast but is lost when the system is
reset or turned off.
READ AFTER WRITE – A mode of
operation that has the computer read back
each sector on the disk, checking that the data
read back is the same as recorded. This slows
disk operations, but raises reliability.
S
SCSI – Acronym for Small Computer System
Interface, an American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) version of Shugart Associates'
SASI interface between the computer and
controller. SCSI has grown in popularity and
is one of the most flexible and intelligent
interfaces available.
READ VERIFY – A disk mode where the
disk reads in data to the controller, but the
controller only checks for errors and does not
pass the data on to the system.
READ/ WRITE HEAD – The tiny
electromagnetic coil and metal pole piece
used to create and read back the magnetic
patterns (write or read information) on the
disk. Each side of each platter has its own
read/ write head.
SECTOR – A section of space along a track
on the disk, or the data that is stored in that
section. Hard disks most often have sectors
that are 512 data bytes long plus several bytes
overhead for error correcting codes. Each
sector is preceded by ID data known as a
header, which cannot be overwritten.
REMOVABLE DISK – Generally said of
disk drives where the disk itself is meant to be
removed, and in particular of hard disks using
disks mounted in cartridges. Their advantage
is that multiple disks can be used to increase
the amount of stored material, and that once
removed, the disk can be stored away to
prevent unauthorized use.
SEEK – A movement of the disk read/ write
head in or out to a specific track.
SERVO DATA – Magnetic markings
written on the media that guide the
read/ write heads to the proper position.
RLL – Run Length Limited. A method used
on some hard disks to encode data into
magnetic pulses. R LL requires more
processing, but stores almost 50% more data
per disk than the MFM method.
SERVO SURFACE – A separate surface
containing only positioning and disk timing
information but no data.
SETTLE TIME – The interval between
when a track to track movement of the head
stops, and when the residual vibration and
movement dies down to a level sufficient for
reliable reading or writing.
ROM – Acronym for read only memory.
Usually in the form of an ROM in the
controller that contains programs that can be
accessed and read but not modified by the
system.
SHOCK RATING – A rating (expressed in
Gs) of how much shock a disk drive can
sustain without damage.
ROTARY ACTUATOR – The rotary
actuator replaces the stepper motor used in the
past by many hard disk manufacturers. The
rotary actuator is perfectly balanced and
rotates around a single pivot point. It allows
SOFT ERROR – An error in reading data
from the disk that does not recur if the same
data is reread. Often caused by power
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Glossary
fluctuations or noise spikes.
THIN FILM – A type of coating, used for
disk surfaces. Thin film surfaces allow more
bits to be stored per disk.
SOFT SECTORED – Disks that mark the
beginning of each sector of data within a track
by a magnetic pattern.
TPI – Acronym for tracks per inch. The
number of tracks or cylinders that are written
in each inch of travel across the surface of a
disk.
SPINDLE – The center shaft of the disk
upon which the drive’s platters are mounted.
SPUTTER – A type of coating process used
to apply the magnetic coating to some
high-performance disks. In sputtering, the
disks are placed in a vacuum chamber and the
coating is vaporized and deposited on the
disks. The resulting surface is hard, smooth,
and capable of storing data at high density.
Maxtor disk drives use sputtered thin film
disks.
TRACK – One of the many concentric
magnetic circle patterns written on a disk
surface as a guide to where to store and read
the data.
TRACK DENSITY – How closely the
tracks are packed on a disk surface. The
number is specified as tracks per inch (TPI).
TRACK TO TRACK SEEK TIME – The
time required for the read/ write heads to
move to an adjacent track.
STEPPER – A type of motor that moves in
discrete amounts for each input electrical
pulse. Stepper motors used to be widely used
for read/ write head positioner, since they can
be geared to move the head one track per
step. Stepper motors are not as fast or reliable
as the rotary voice coil actuators which
Maxtor disk drives use.
TRANSFER RATE – The rate at which the
disk sends and receives data from the
controller. Drive specifications usually
reference a high number that is the burst
mode rate for transferring data across the
interface from the disk buffer to system R AM.
Sustained data transfer is at a much lower rate
because of system processing overhead, head
switches, and seeks.
SUBSTRATE – The material the disk
platter is made of beneath the magnetic
coating. Hard disks are generally made of
aluminum or magnesium alloy (or glass, for
optical disks) while the substrate of floppies is
usually mylar.
U
Ultra DMA – (UDMA, or, more accurately,
Ultra DMA/ 133) is a protocol for transferring
data between a hard disk drive through the
computer's data paths (or bus) to the
computer's random access memory (RAM).
The Ultra DMA/ 133 protocol transfers data
in burst mode at a rate of 133 MBps
(megabytes per second), twice as fast as the
previous Direct Memory Access (DMA)
interface.
SURFACE – The top or bottom side of the
platter which is coated with the magnetic
material for recording data. On some drives
one surface may be reserved for positioning
information.
T
UNFORMATTED CAPACITY – The
total number of bytes of data that could be fit
onto a disk. Formatting the disk requires some
of this space to record location, boundary
definitions, and timing information. After
formatting, user data can be stored on the
remaining disk space, known as formatted
capacity. The size of a Maxtor drive is
expressed in formatted capacity.
TERABYTE (TB) – A unit of measurement
to 1,024 gigabytes (GB), or
1,099,511,627,776 bytes, except when
referring to disk storage capacity. Storage
capacities of one or more terabytes is achieved
by installing multiple hard drive in a RAID
system. 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes
when referring to disk storage capacity. See
also gigabyte.
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Glossary
V
VOICE COIL – A type of motor used to
move the disk read/ write head in and out to
the right track. Voice-coil actuators work like
loudspeakers with the force of a magnetic coil
causing a proportionate movement of the
head. Maxtor's actuator uses voice-coil
technology, and thereby eliminates the high
stress wearing parts found on stepper motor
type actuators.
W
WEDGE SERVO – The position on every
track that contains data used by the closed
loop positioning control. This information is
used to fine tune the position of the
read/ write heads exactly over the track
center.
WINCHESTER DISKS – Hard disks that
use a technology similar to an IBM model
using Winchester as the code name. These
disks use read/ write heads that ride just above
the magnetic surface, held up by the air flow
created by the turning disk. When the disk
stops turning, the heads land on the surface,
which has a specially lubricated coating.
Winchester disks must be sealed and have a
filtration system since ordinary dust particles
are large enough to catch between the head
and the disk.
WRITE ONCE – In the context of optical
disks, technologies that allow the drive to
store data on a disk and read it back, but not
to erase it.
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