William Stallings

Computer Organization
and Architecture
8th Edition

Chapter 6
External Memory
Types of External Memory
• Magnetic Disk
• RAID
• Optical
—CD-ROM
—CD-Recordable (CD-R)
—CD-R/W
—DVD
• Magnetic Tape
Magnetic Disk
• A disk is a circular platter constructed of
nonmagnetic material, called the
substrate,coated with a magnetizable material.
(iron oxide…etc)
• Disk substrate coated with magnetizable material
Substrate.(Normally Aluminium)
• Now glass
— Improvement in the uniformity of the magnetic film
surface to increase disk reliability.
— Reduction in surface defects
– Reduced read/write errors
— Better stiffness to reduce disk dynamics
— Better shock/damage resistance
Magnetic Read and Write Mechanisms
• Recording & retrieval via conductive coil called a head
• May be single read/write head or separate ones
• During read/write, head is stationary, platter rotates
• Write
— Current flowing through coil produces magnetic field
— Electric pulses are sent to the write head
— Magnetic pattern recorded on surface below with different
patterns for positive and negative currents
• The write head itself is made of easily magnetizable material
and is in the shape of a rectangular doughnut with a gap
along one side and a few turns of conducting wire along the
opposite side
• An electric current in the wire induces a magnetic field
across the gap, which in turn magnetizes a small area of the
recording medium.
• Reversing the direction of the current reverses the direction
of the magnetization on the recording medium.
Inductive Write MR Read
Magnetic Read and Write Mechanisms
• Read (traditional)
— Magnetic field moving relative to coil produces current
— Coil is the same for read and write
— When the surface of the disk passes under the head, it
generates a current of the same polarity as the one already
recorded. Ex: Floppy disk Systems
• Read (contemporary)
— Separate read head, close to write head
— The read head consists of a Partially shielded magneto
resistive (MR) sensor
• The MR material has an electrical resistance that depends on the
direction of the magnetization of the medium moving under it.
• By passing a current through the MR sensor, resistance changes
are detected as voltage signals
• High frequency operation
– Greater storage densities and operating speeds
Inductive Write MR Read
Data Organization and Formatting
• Concentric rings or tracks
• Gaps between tracks prevents, or at least
minimizes, errors due to misalignment of
the head or simply interference of
magnetic fields.
—Reduce gap to increase capacity
—Same number of bits per track
• Tracks divided into sectors
• Minimum block size is one sector
• May have more than one sector per block
Disk Data Layout
Disk Velocity
• Bit near centre of rotating disk passes fixed point slower
than bit on outside of disk
• Increase spacing between bits in different tracks
• Rotate disk at constant angular velocity (CAV)
— Gives pie shaped sectors and concentric tracks
— Individual tracks and sectors addressable
— Move head to given track and wait for given sector
• The disadvantage of CAV is that the amount of data that can be
stored on the long outer tracks is the only same as what can be
stored on the short inner tracks.
• Waste of space on outer tracks
– Lower data density
• Can use zones (multiple zone recording)to increase
capacity, Within a zone, the number of bits per track is
constant. Zones farther from the center contain more bits
(more sectors) than zones closer to the center.
— More complex circuitry, greater overall storage capacity
Disk Layout Methods Diagram
Finding Sectors
• Some means is needed to locate sector positions
within a track Must be able to identify start of
track and sector
—These requirements are handled by means of
control data recorded on the disk. Thus, the
disk is formatted with some extra data used
only by the disk drive and not accessible to the
user. (Format disk)
 Winchester Disk Format
Seagate ST506

In this case, each track contains 30 fixed-length sectors of 600 bytes each. Each sector holds
512 bytes of data plus control information useful to the disk controller. The ID field is a
unique identifier or address used to locate a particular sector. The SYNCH byte is a special
bit pattern that delimits the beginning of the field. The track number identifies a track on a
surface. The head number identifies a head, because this disk has multiple surfaces (explained
presently). The ID and data fields each contain an error detecting code.
Characteristics
• Fixed (rare) or movable head
• Removable or fixed
• Single or double (usually) sided
• Single or multiple platter
• Head mechanism
—Contact (Floppy)
—Fixed gap
Fixed/Movable Head Disk
• Fixed head
—One read write head per track
—Heads mounted on fixed ridged arm (rare
today)
• Movable head
—One read write head per side
—Mounted on a movable arm
Removable or Not
• The disk itself is mounted in a disk drive,
which consists of the arm, a spindle that
rotates the disk, and the electronics
needed for input and output of binary data.
• Removable disk
—Can be removed from drive and replaced with
another disk
—Provides unlimited storage capacity
—Easy data transfer between systems
• Nonremovable disk
—Permanently mounted in the disk drive
—e.g. hard disk
Multiple Platter
• Some disk drives accommodate multiple
platters stacked vertically a fraction of an
inch apart.
• One head per side
• Heads are joined and aligned
• Aligned tracks on each platter form
cylinders