The 39Kg hard disk
03/03/08 10:33 Filed in: Tech
I found this Hard disk on display at a computer shop
in holland.
note the 3.5" ide disk on the table, which probably has about 1000 times more capacity then this behemoth.
just looking at the construction of this disk, one comes to think of washing machines and tractors. everything is just as massive as it can be,
from the platter mounting screws (I have seen smaller on car hubs), the huge motor (bottom left of the device)
and the psu cooling fins, which looks suspiciously like the ones found on motorcycles. notice the serious vibration dampers
(visible in the enlarged frame). the sticker reads "approx. unit weight 39 KG", or about 86 pounds. the smaller sticker on the platter cover reads
"IBM ITALIA". unfortunately, i didn't ask the shopkeeper for more details on the disk (not my fault, it was sunday), so if any of you know any
further details on this stone-age storage device,when was it made, who used it and was was it's capacity, please drop a line.
later
NsHex
Update:
With the help of some good friends over at arstechnica, we have reached the conclusion that this disk is probably
made sometime around 1970, and is a component of 33xx series storage device (think of it as a drive in a RAID). the capacity is somewhere around 200MB.
over at storage review someone commented that IBM ITALIA made disks in the early 80's, as parts of the 3350 and 3370 storage system.
This is still not conclusive, so if any IBM engineer or someone who worked with this unit can shed more light and solve this riddle once and for all, please leave a comment.
later
NsHex
note the 3.5" ide disk on the table, which probably has about 1000 times more capacity then this behemoth.
just looking at the construction of this disk, one comes to think of washing machines and tractors. everything is just as massive as it can be,
from the platter mounting screws (I have seen smaller on car hubs), the huge motor (bottom left of the device)
and the psu cooling fins, which looks suspiciously like the ones found on motorcycles. notice the serious vibration dampers
(visible in the enlarged frame). the sticker reads "approx. unit weight 39 KG", or about 86 pounds. the smaller sticker on the platter cover reads
"IBM ITALIA". unfortunately, i didn't ask the shopkeeper for more details on the disk (not my fault, it was sunday), so if any of you know any
further details on this stone-age storage device,when was it made, who used it and was was it's capacity, please drop a line.
later
NsHex
Update:
With the help of some good friends over at arstechnica, we have reached the conclusion that this disk is probably
made sometime around 1970, and is a component of 33xx series storage device (think of it as a drive in a RAID). the capacity is somewhere around 200MB.
over at storage review someone commented that IBM ITALIA made disks in the early 80's, as parts of the 3350 and 3370 storage system.
This is still not conclusive, so if any IBM engineer or someone who worked with this unit can shed more light and solve this riddle once and for all, please leave a comment.
later
NsHex