Hard Drives In this day and age of faster computers and high-speed processors,it should only stand to reason that hard drives meet the same requirements asthe rest of the computer technology world. A technological look and some tips onmaintaining or troubleshooting hard drives is included below. By keeping up withthe standard of needs of the industry we can be assured that our personalcomputers will have all the necessary space and the ability to access and savethe data as required and in an efficient manner. The new DiamondMax® Plus 40series from Maxtor can unleash your computer power with advanced technology andperformance.
Available in capacities up to 40 GB, these 7,200 RPM drives includeMaxtor's unique DualWave™ twin processor technology for a 10x boost in hostcommand processing speed. Coupled with 2 MB of high speed 100 MHz SDRAM for thecache buffer and an UltraDMA 66 interface, give our DualWave-equipped harddrives superior benchmark performance and maximum throughput. As a result,they're an ideal choice for consumers working with large files, including audioand video applications. No matter how demanding your application, the newDiamondMax Plus 40 series delivers the ultimate in performance and capacity.With the popularity of multimedia, Internet and audio/video applications, moreperformance is demanded from desktop PC systems than ever before.
System vendorsare looking at all sub-components, including hard drives, as critical elementsin increasing system speed and performance. As we go forward every part of thesystem will be called upon to improve throughput. The hard drive is a criticalelement in system performance, influencing how fast windows or Mac OS boots, howquickly applications launch, and the speed of loading large data or graphicsfiles. Any operation that involves moving large amounts of information on or offthe disk will reveal the importance of a high-performance hard drive.
Many topPC manufacturers are expanding the use of 7200 RPM drives across all platformsand market segments. The performance achieved by 7200 RPM IDE drives also havemade these drives a viable alternative to SCSI in traditional SCSI applicationssuch as server and entry-level RAID. According to analysts at IDC, totalworldwide shipments of 7200 RPM IDE drives is expected to be 16% of all IDEdrives by the end of this year. This number is expected to be approximately 75%by the year 2002. The newly introduced DiamondMax® Plus 40 hard drives featurea 7200 RPM rotational speed along with other performance-enhancing features thatgenerate faster overall system response times and performance.
A ViableAlternative to SCSI,IDE 7200 RPM drives have made their way into thestorage-intensive environment of graphic and video applications. The ability toachieve fast-sustained throughput is essential in high-end graphics and digitalvideo content creation. 7200 RPM drives establish a new price/performance ratioin the professional graphic and digital video marketplace when compared to theSCSI alternative. Maxtor's 7200 RPM IDE drives incorporate a larger buffer toprovide high-sustained data transfer rates that are important when working withlarge files such as multimedia and video.
Maxtor is a leader in cachingtechnology, employing sophisticated algorithms similar to those found inhigh-end SCSI drives. Maxtor's drives feature a 2 MB cache buffer incorporatinga high-speed 100 MHz SDRAM memory, the same sort of memory found on today's highperformance systems. Maxtor's 7200 RPM drives were the first IDE drives to befeatured in a RAID level 5 configuration in an uncompressed nonlinear videoediting system. The drive's high storage capacity, reliability and performanceare well suited for this application. RAID level 5 provides protection againstdrive failures because in the event of a failure, the drive can be replacedwithout loss of data.
This is especially critical in the video editing process,where 1 GB of storage typically holds approximately 1 minute of uncompressedvideo. The new DiamondMax Plus 40 drives include Maxtor's MaxSafe and ShockBlockreliability feature set for added protection against surface scan errors andshock and handling damage. This reliability set, when incorporated into a RAIDlevel 5 configuration provides users in this market with unsurpassed protectionagainst drive failures and potential loss from expensive downtime and data loss.The editorial community is taking notice of the SCSI-level performance that isachieved by today's 7200 RPM IDE drives. In a recent product evaluation ofMaxtor's 7200 RPM drive published at Winmag.com, the reviewers tested thedrive's performance using an internally-developed benchmark.
The results wereimpressive. In the copy test, the drive copied at 3.29 MB/sec., surpassing theresults of a competitive SCSI-2 LVD drive. Maxtor's DiamondMax Plus 7200 RPM IDEdrives are approximately 25% faster on copy speed than a competing SCSI drive!7200 RPM Drives Improve Overall System Performance High-performance drivesimprove performance in several ways. The first is evident in the WinBenchmeasurement, a popular means of evaluating system performance.
In WinBench, avariety of popular applications are simulated and overall execution timemeasured. A weighting factor is applied to the execution time for eachapplication package. Measurements have shown that 7200 RPM drives improveWinBench scores approximately 20% over equivalent capacity 5400 RPM drives.Considering that WinBench is a measure of overall system throughput, as opposedto just drive throughput, this is an impressive result. Random throughput,especially important in database or server applications, is largely determinedby seek time and rotational speed. In its roughest terms, random throughput, inoperations per second, is the speed of processing a string of mall transfercommands where the data locations are randomly distributed over the disk.
Maxtor's new 7200 RPM rotational speed drive reduces rotational latency by 25%relative to 5400 RPM drives. This results in a substantial improvement in thedrive's random throughput. Sequential throughput, critical in graphics, videoand entertainment applications, is ultimately determined by the drive's internaldata rate or the rate at which the recording head transfers data to and from thedisk. The factor that determines sustained throughput, the internal data rate,is indirectly determined by the drive's rotational rate. Simply stated, afaster-spinning drive will tend to read data from the disk faster.
If twodrives, one 5400 and one 7200 RPM have the same capacity and the same number ofdisks; the 7200 RPM drive will read the same amount of data in a shorter period.Files therefore load faster, the OS boots in less time, and the computerresponds more quickly. The insatiable need for performance in high-end computingsystems and workstations requires new technologies and architectures in order tomeet the demand. Maxtor's new DiamondMax Plus 40 incorporates a host of featuresto provide an increase in overall system performance and responsiveness.
TheDiamondMax 40 includes: 7200 RPM rotational speed; Capacities ranging from 10.2GB to 40.9 GB; 2 MB cache buffer; DualWave controller; MaxSafe media scan;ShockBlock mechanics; UltraDMA 66. General information and troubleshooting yourhard drive: The amount of space available to store information on hard drives isconstantly increasing. Computer operating systems and system BIOS havelimitations that are related to specific hard drive capacities. Three capacitypoints that can affect how your operating system and system BIOS support yourhard drive are 8.
4 GB, 2.1 GB, and 528 MB. There are several PC components thathave an EIDE drive capacity limitation at approximately 8.4 GB. The BIOSlimitations at the 2.1 GB and 528 MB capacity barriers do not occur in newersystems.
They are addressed here solely for the benefit of those who may beexperiencing issues with an older system. There is an 8.4 GB hard drivelimitation on some traditional system BIOS. The following is required to accessthe full capacity of an 8.4 GB or larger hard drive: A system BIOS that supportsextended functions An operating system that recognizes extended BIOS functionsOperating systems that recognize extended BIOS functions: Windows 95 Windows 98Operating systems that do not recognize extended BIOS functions: DOS 6.
xx andearlier Windows 3.1x Windows NT (See note in table below.) Novell NetWare OS/2Warp (See note in table below.) Operating System Limitation DOS 6.xx andearlier, Windows 3.
1x, Windows NT 4.0, 3.x, and earlier, Novell NetWare-- 8.4 GBmaximum capacity limit.
Hard drive capacities larger than 8.4 GB are recognizedas 8.4 GB. Note: Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 recognizes hard drivecapacities larger than 8.4 GB.
OS/2 Warp-- Note: OS/2 Warp has a driver updateavailable, which should support hard drive capacities larger than 8.4 GB. SeeIBM's OS/2 Device Driver Pak on-line for more details. The limitations of yoursystem BIOS and your operating system combined determine your overall systemlimitation. For example, if your operating system recognizes extended BIOSfunctions, but your system BIOS has a 2.1 GB drive barrier, you are limited toyour system BIOS's 2.
1 GB drive barrier. Conversely, if your operating systemdoes not recognize extended BIOS functions, but your system BIOS supports 8.4 GBhard drives, you are limited to your operating system's capability. Your systemlimitation is based on the lowest functioning barrier.
Since it is difficult todetermine if your system BIOS supports 8.4 GB or larger hard drives, werecommend using EZ-Drive 9.06W or later. EZ-Drive 9.06W or later determineswhether or not your system BIOS provides extended BIOS support.
If it does not,EZ-Drive installs EZ-BIOS on the boot sector of the hard drive to support thefull capacity of your 8.4 GB or larger hard drive. If your system supportsextended BIOS functions, EZ-Drive does not install EZ-BIOS. EZ-Drive softwarecan be downloaded here.
If you do not use EZ-Drive, another option is to upgradeyour system BIOS. A properly upgraded system BIOS will support the full capacityof your hard drive if used with an operating system that recognizes extendedBIOS functions. Contact your system manufacturer for more information. Harddrives larger than 2.
1 GB have more than 4095 cylinders. Some computer systemsbuilt before early 1996 do not support hard drives with more than 4095 cylinders(hard drives larger than 2.1 GB), unless you update the system BIOS, install anEIDE controller card with onboard BIOS, or install third-party software such asEZ-Drive. You will know if your system BIOS has this limitation after installingyour drive if: Your operating system shows a much smaller drive capacity thanthe actual drive capacity. Your system locks up on initial boot, preventing youfrom accessing CMOS setup. If your operating system shows a much smaller drivecapacity, use EZ-Drive to overcome the 2.
1 GB BIOS limitation. Your System LocksUp on Initial Boot. If you cannot access the CMOS setup because your systemlocks up on initial boot, follow these instructions: 1. Turn off your systempower, check the IDE interface cable and power supply cable.
2. Check jumpersettings. 3. Turn on your system power.
4. Try to enter your CMOS setup and setthe drive type to auto config. If your system still does not respond, yoursystem BIOS may not support drives with more than 4095 cylinders. If this is thecase, consider these solutions: 1. Use EZ-Drive installation software.
If thesystem locks up and prevents entry to CMOS, you must turn off your system powerand disconnect the IDE interface cable from the system. - Enter your CMOS setup.- Select the Hard Disk Type option for your new Western Digital hard drive. -Select a user defined drive type and enter: 1023 cylinders, 16 heads, and 63sectors. If your system does not have a user defined drive type, select Type 9.- Reconnect your IDE interface cable to the system.
- Use EZ-Drive installationsoftware. These new settings allow your system to boot so that you can installEZ-Drive to access the full capacity of your drive. - OR- If you do not have auser defined or Type9 drive type, use option 2, 3, or 4 below to change theparameters reported to the BIOS. 2.
Upgrade your system BIOS A properly upgradedsystem BIOS will support the full capacity of your hard drive. Contact yoursystem manufacturer. 3. Install an EIDE controller card with an onboard BIOSthat supports hard drives larger than 2.1 GB. For 8.
4 GB or larger hard drives,the EIDE controller card must support extended BIOS functions. 4. Rejumper thedrive using alternate jumper set-tings and install EZ-Drive. With thesealternate jumper settings, you MUST install EZ-Drive.
Most computer systemsbuilt before August 1994 do not support hard drives larger than 528 MB, unlessyou update the system BIOS, install an EIDE controller card with onboard BIOS,or install third-party software such as EZ-Drive. To determine if your systemsupports drives with a capacity larger than 528 MB, we suggest the following: 1.Enter your CMOS setup, look for options such as "LBA", "LargeDisk Access", or "Translation," and enable these options. 2.
Frequently, but not always, you must select an auto config drive type. If yousee a value greater than 16 heads, you probably have translating BIOS. 3.Contact your system or BIOS manufacturer and verify that your system recognizesdrive capacities over 528 MB. In conclusion it has been shown that indeed harddrive specifications and technology is keeping up with the rest of thetechnology world. Advances in throughput and access speeds, coupled with largeamounts of space, have made the personal computer much more efficient andeffective for the average and the serious user.
Bibliography'The Expanding Frontier for 7200 RPM Drives', www.maxtor.com/techdocs/dm_p40wp.htm,February 14, 2000. 'Hard Drive Capacity Hard Drive Barriers',www.westerndigital.com/products/drives/8-4barr.html, December 02, 1999.
