Buzz
The 1.44-megabyte floppy disk drives that use -inch diskettes have been in use for over 15 years. When they were first introduced, they were considered revolutionary – smaller than the previous 5.25-inch disks, yet with a higher data capacity!
Here are some factors that influence the data storage capacity of a floppy disk:
- Tracks per inch: 135
- Total tracks per side: 80
- Sectors per track: 18
- Bytes per sector: 512
- Spin rate: 360 rpm
- Head movement mechanism: worm gear and stepper motor
Two key factors to consider are the limited number of tracks on the disk and the constant number of sectors
The primary distinction between a Zip disk and a floppy disk lies in the magnetic coating applied to the disk. The coating on a Zip disk is of much higher quality, as discussed in How Tape Recorders Work. This enhanced quality allows the Zip disk's read/write head to be significantly smaller—by roughly a factor of 10—compared to the one used in floppy disks. A smaller head, coupled with a positioning mechanism similar to that in a hard disk, enables Zip drives to pack thousands of tracks per inch on the disk surface. Additionally, Zip drives employ a variable number of sectors per track, optimizing disk space usage. All of these factors combine to make Zip disks capable of holding an immense amount of data.
Explore the following links to enhance your understanding:
- Iomega Zip Drives
- Patent #4,415,939: Head positioning servo for disk drive
- Patent #5,768,059: Head load/unload and cleaning in a data storage device
- Patent #5,638,228: Retroreflective marker for data storage cartridge
- Patent #5,644,444: Read/write protect scheme for a disk cartridge and drive
- Patent #5,677,818: Disk Cartridge with fuzzed liner
- Patent #5,237,477: Head wiper for Bernoulli disk drive
- Patent #5,530,607: Wing attachment for head load/unload in a data storage device
- Patent #5,617,397: Movable internal platform for a disk drive
- Patent #5,650,891: Apparatus for performing multiple functions in a data storage device using a single electro-mechanical device
- How Floppy Disk Drives Work
- How Hard Disks Work
- How Bits and Bytes Work
- How Computer Memory Works
- How Removable Storage Works
