Hard drive evolution.

[Ret10Echo]

I had not heard of this change being in the works. The uber-geek squad is probably well aware. Of course for the next PC buy I will at least have Windows 7 ....I have paid extra for the XP downgrade twice already to dodge the Vista bullet.

R10

Hard drive evolution could hit XP
By Mark Ward
technology correspondent, BBC News

Hard drives are about to undergo one of the biggest format shifts in 30 years.

By early 2011 all hard drives will use an "advanced format" that changes how they go about saving the data people store on them.

The move to the advanced format will make it easier for hard drive makers to produce bigger drives that use less power and are more reliable.

However, it might mean problems for Windows XP users who swap an old drive for one using the changed format.

Error codes

Since the days of the venerable DOS operating system, the space on a hard drive has been formatted into blocks 512 bytes in size.

The 512 byte sector became standardised thanks to IBM which used it on floppy disks.

While 512 bytes was useful when hard drives were only a few megabytes in size, it makes less sense when drives can hold a terabyte (1000 gigabytes), or more of data.

"The technology has changed but that fundamental building block of formatting has not," said David Burks, a product marketing manager for storage firm Seagate.

This fine resolution on hard drives is causing a problem, he said, because of the wasted space associated with each tiny block.

Each 512 byte sector has a marker showing where it begins and an area dedicated to storing error correction codes. In addition a tiny gap has to be left between each sector. In large drives this wasted space where data cannot be stored can take up a significant proportion of the drive.

Moving to an advanced format of 4K sectors means about eight times less wasted space but will allow drives to devote twice as much space per block to error correction.

"You can get yourself into a corner where you cannot squeeze much more onto the disk," said Steve Perkins, a technical consultant for Western Digital.

This shift also allows manufacturers to make more efficient use of the real estate on a hard drive.

"We can put more data on the disk," he said. "It's about 7-11% more efficient as a format."

Slow down

Through the International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association (Idema) all hard drive makers have committed to adopting the 4K advanced format by the end of January 2011.

Hard drive makers have begun an education and awareness campaign to let people know about the advanced format and to warn about the problems it could inflict on users of older operating systems such as Windows XP.

This is because Windows XP was released before the 4K format was decided upon.

"The 512 byte sector assumption is ensconced into a lot of the aspects of computer architecture," said Mr Burks from Seagate.

By contrast, Windows 7, Vista, OS X Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard and versions of the Linux kernel released after September 2009 are all 4K aware.

To help Windows XP cope, advanced format drives will be able to pretend they still use sectors 512 bytes in size.

When reading data from a drive this emulation will go unnoticed. However, said Mr Burks, in some situations writing data could hit performance.

In some cases the drive will take two steps to write data rather than one and introduce a delay of about 5 milliseconds.

"All other things being equal you will have a noticeable hard drive reduction in performance," said Mr Burks, adding that, in some circumstances, it could make a drive 10% slower.

In a bid to limit the misalignment, hard drive makers are producing software that ensures 512 sectors line up with 4K ones.

Those most likely to see the performance problems are those building their own computers or swapping out an old drive for one that uses the new format.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...gy/8557144.stm

[Papa Zero Three]

Originally Posted by Ret10Echo

I had not heard of this change being in the works. The uber-geek squad is probably well aware. Of course for the next PC buy I will at least have Windows 7 ....I have paid extra for the XP downgrade twice already to dodge the Vista bullet.

R10

You could also buy a Mac and none of this would be an issue. As the article mentioned, the Linux kernel is already 4k aware going as far back as the Tiger OS.

[dr. mabuse]

*

[JJ_BPK]

This could be a no-brainer for the older OS's.

As the new technology evolves, designers have the ability to embed the control logic on the drive, rather than leave it to the operating system.

A small update to the older operating system,, OR a clever flipper could easily fix any retro fitment.

A flipper is a small set of lower lever logic code that reads the operating systems request for data and converts the request into something the drive can use. Flippers generally cause system slowing, but the new hard-drives are getting so fact that the lag would be minimal..

And the ultimate,, do nothing,, Unless your are editing feature length movies for George Lucas or running spell-checker on the Bible, in Hebrew, you will not be aware of the speed.

A lot of the technology innovations are for geeks only, and even the geeks don't always use it.

Super computers can use it, but most of it flies right over our heads,, until our kids tell us we must have it to be cool in PE class...

If you have noticed that the CPU speed that use to be the number 1 selling pitch,, is not a big thing anymore..

Why,, because you can only type so fast.. You are the gate to your systems speed needs..

The new technology to watch for is data via cell phones that approach cable modems speeds.

So you can watch Barbabra Walters, Bette Middler, Rosy, and the girls diss Bush on The View.

Just kidding..