Head-media interface instability under hostile operating conditions

Author

Tunstall, Glen ; Clegg, Warwick ; Jenkins, David F L ; Chilumbu, Chibesa

Author_Institution

Centre for Res. in Inf. Storage Technol., Univ. of Plymouth, UK

Volume

51

Issue

2

fYear

2002

fDate

4/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

293

Lastpage

298

Abstract

In the office environment, computers reliably transfer data to and from the hard disk drive and data transfer errors are extremely rare. However, when even "ruggedized" computers are operated in hostile conditions, valuable data can be lost as a result of read-write error due to either shock or vibration, seriously impairing drive performance. For this work, drives have been vibrated over large frequency ranges in order to characterize their data-transfer performance. In order to observe the cause of the problems, a drive has been modified with integral sensors to identify internal system failures and the results of these investigations are presented. These sensors have enabled the first unobtrusive tests of the drives\´ mechanical frequency response while the drive is in operation with sensors that can be easily and inexpensively embedded within a hard disk drive for use in a generic, smart, vibration resilient drive

Keywords

disc drives; hard discs; magnetic heads; vibrations; data transfer; hard disk drive; head-media interface instability; hostile environment; integral sensor; internal system failure; mechanical frequency response; read-write error; shock; vibration; Computer errors; Drives; Electric shock; Frequency; Hard disks; Intelligent sensors; Mechanical sensors; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Sensor systems; Vibrations;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/19.997827

Filename

997827