Chapter 6

External Memory
 Magnetic Disk
• A disk is a circular platter constructed of nonmagnetic material,
called the substrate, coated with a magnetizable material
• Traditionally the substrate has been an aluminium or aluminium alloy
material
• Recently glass substrates have been introduced
• Benefits of the glass substrate:
• Improvement in the uniformity of the magnetic film surface to increase
disk reliability
• A significant reduction in overall surface defects to help reduce read-
write errors
• Ability to support lower fly heights
• Better stiffness to reduce disk dynamics
• Greater ability to withstand shock and damage
Data are recorded on and later
retrieved from the disk via a
conducting coil named the head
The write mechanism exploits the
• In many systems there are two heads, a read fact that electricity flowing through
head and a write head
• During a read or write operation the head is
a coil produces a magnetic field
stationary while the platter rotates beneath it

The write head itself is made of

Electric pulses are sent to the write
easily magnetizable material and is
head and the resulting magnetic
in the shape of a rectangular
patterns are recorded on the surface
doughnut with a gap along one side
below, with different patterns for
positive and negative currents
and a few turns of conducting wire Magnetic
along the opposite side
Read
and Write
Mechanisms
An electric current in the wire Reversing the direction of the
induces a magnetic field across the current reverses the direction of the
gap, which in turn magnetizes a magnetization on the recording
small area of the recording medium medium
 Read
current

MR
sensor Write current

h Shield
dt
k wi
ac
Tr

Inductive
N write element
S
S
N
N
S
Magnetization S
N
N
S
S
N
N
S
Recording
medium

Figure 6.1 Inductive Write/Magnetoresistive Read Head

 Rotation
Inter-track gap Track

Inter-sector gap
S6 •••

S6 •••
Track sector
Sector •••
S6

SN
S5

SN
S5

SN
S5
S4

S1
S4

S1
S4 S3 S2

S1
S3 S2

S3 S2

Read-write head
(1 per surface)

Platter

Direction of
Cylinder Spindle Boom
arm motion

Figure 6.2 Disk Data Layout

Track Zone
Sector

(a) Constant angular velocity (b) Multiple zone recording

Figure 6.3 Comparison of Disk Layout Methods

 index

physical sector 0 physical sector 1 physical sector 29

sector

gap ID gap data gap gap ID gap data gap gap ID gap data gap
1 field 2 field 3 1 field 2 field 3 1 field 2 field 3
0 0 1 1 29 29
bytes 17 7 41 515 20 17 7 41 515 20 17 7 41 515 20

600 bytes/sector

synch track head sector synch

CRC data CRC
byte # # # byte

bytes 1 2 1 1 2 1 512 2

Figure 6.4 Winchester Disk Format (Seagate ST506)

Head Motion Platters
Fixed head (one per track) Single platter
Movable head (one per surface) Multiple platter

Disk Portability Head Mechanism

Nonremovable disk Contact (floppy)
Removable disk Fixed gap
Aerodynamic gap (Winchester)
Sides
Single sided
Double sided

Table 6.1
Physical Characteristics of Disk Systems
Disk Systems
 Characteristics
• Fixed-head disk • Removable disk
• One read-write head per • Can be removed and replaced
track with another disk
• Heads are mounted on a • Advantages:
fixed ridged arm that • Unlimited amounts of data
extends across all tracks are available with a limited
number of disk systems
• Movable-head disk • A disk may be moved from
• One read-write head one computer system to
• Head is mounted on an arm another
• The arm can be extended or • Floppy disks and ZIP cartridge
retracted disks are examples of
removable disks
• Non-removable disk
• Permanently mounted in the disk • Double sided disk
drive • Magnetizable coating
• The hard disk in a personal is applied to both
computer is a non-removable disk sides of the platter
 Disk
The head mechanism provides a
classification of disks into three Classification
types

• The head must generate or sense

an electromagnetic field of Winchester Heads
sufficient magnitude to write and
read properly • Used in sealed drive assemblies
• The narrower the head, the that are almost free of
contaminants
closer it must be to the
platter surface to function • Designed to operate closer to the
disk’s surface than conventional
• A narrower head means rigid disk heads, thus allowing
narrower tracks and therefore greater data density
greater data density
• Is actually an aerodynamic foil
• The closer the head is to the that rests lightly on the platter’s
disk the greater the risk of surface when the disk is
motionless
error from impurities or • The air pressure generated by a
imperfections spinning disk is enough to make
the foil rise above the surface
 Table 6.2
Typical Hard Disk Drive Parameters
Characteristics Seagate Seagate Seagate Seagate Laptop
Enterprise Barracuda XT Cheetah NS HDD
Application Enterprise Desktop Network Laptop
attached storage,
application
servers
Capacity 6 TB 3 TB 600 GB 2 TB
Average seek 4.16 ms N/A 3.9 ms read 13 ms
time 4.2 ms write
Spindle speed 7200 rpm 7200 rpm 10, 075 rpm 5400 rpm
Average latency 4.16 ms 4.16 ms 2.98 5.6 ms
Maximum 216 MB/s 149 MB/s 97 MB/s 300 MB/s
sustained
transfer rate
Bytes per sector 512/4096 512 512 4096
Tracks per 8 10 8 4
cylinder (number
of platter
surfaces)
Cache 128 MB 64 MB 16 MB 8 MB
Wait for Wait for Seek Rotational Data
Device Channel Delay Transfer

Device Busy

Figure 6.5 Timing of a Disk I/O Transfer

Disk Performance Parameters
• When the disk drive is operating the disk is rotating at constant speed
• To read or write the head must be positioned at the desired track and at
the beginning of the desired sector on the track
• Track selection involves moving the head in a movable-head system or
electronically selecting one head on a fixed-head system
• Once the track is selected, the disk controller waits until the appropriate
sector rotates to line up with the head
• Seek time
• On a movable–head system, the time it takes to position the head at the track

• Rotational delay (rotational latency)

• The time it takes for the beginning of the sector to reach the head

• Access time
• The sum of the seek time and the rotational delay
• The time it takes to get into position to read or write

• Transfer time
• Once the head is in position, the read or write operation is then performed
as the sector moves under the head
• This is the data transfer portion of the operation
Disk Performance Parameters
 • Consists of 7 levels
• Levels do not imply a hierarchical
relationship but designate
RAID different design architectures that
share three common
characteristics:
1) Set of physical disk drives viewed
by the operating system as a single
logical drive
2) Data are distributed across the
Redundant Array of physical drives of an array in a
scheme known as striping
Independent Disks
3) Redundant disk capacity is used to
store parity information, which
guarantees data recoverability in
case of a disk failure
 Table 6.3
RAID Levels
Disks Large I/O Data Small I/O Request
Category Level Description Data Availability Transfer
Required Rate
Capacity
Lower than single Very high for both
Striping 0 Nonredundant N Very high
disk read and write
Higher than single Up to twice that of a
Higher than RAID
disk for read; single disk for read;
Mirroring 1 Mirrored 2N 2, 3, 4, or 5; lower
similar to single similar to single disk
than RAID 6
disk for write for write
Much higher than
Redundant via Hamming single disk; Highest of all Approximately twice
2 N+m
code comparable to listed alternatives that of a single disk
RAID 3, 4, or 5
Parallel access
Much higher than
single disk; Highest of all Approximately twice
3 Bit-interleaved parity N+1
comparable to listed alternatives that of a single disk
RAID 2, 4, or 5
Similar to RAID 0
Much higher than Similar to RAID 0 for
for read;
4 Block-interleaved parity N+1 single disk; read; significantly
significantly
comparable to lower than single disk
lower than single
RAID 2, 3, or 5 for write
disk for write
Much higher than Similar to RAID 0 Similar to RAID 0 for
Independent
Block-interleaved single disk; for read; lower read; generally lower
access 5 N+1
distributed parity comparable to than single disk than single disk for
RAID 2, 3, or 4 for write write
Similar to RAID 0 Similar to RAID 0 for
Block-interleaved dual Highest of all for read; lower read; significantly
6 N+2
distributed parity listed alternatives than RAID 5 for lower than RAID 5 for
write write
N = number of data disks; m proportional to log N
 strip 0 strip 1 strip 2 strip 3
strip 4 strip 5 strip 6 strip 7
strip 8 strip 9 strip 10 strip 11
strip 12 strip 13 strip 14 strip 15

(a) RAID 0 (non-redundant)

strip 0 strip 1 strip 2 strip 3 strip 0 strip 1 strip 2 strip 3

strip 4 strip 5 strip 6 strip 7 strip 4 strip 5 strip 6 strip 7
strip 8 strip 9 strip 10 strip 11 strip 8 strip 9 strip 10 strip 11
strip 12 strip 13 strip 14 strip 15 strip 12 strip 13 strip 14 strip 15

(b) RAID 1 (mirrored)

b0 b1 b2 b3 f0(b) f1(b) f2(b)

(c) RAID 2 (redundancy through Hamming code)

Figure 6.6 RAID Levels (page 1 of 2)

 b0 b1 b2 b3 P(b)

(d) RAID 3 (bit-interleaved parity)

block 0 block 1 block 2 block 3 P(0-3)

block 4 block 5 block 6 block 7 P(4-7)
block 8 block 9 block 10 block 11 P(8-11)
block 12 block 13 block 14 block 15 P(12-15)

(e) RAID 4 (block-level parity)

block 0 block 1 block 2 block 3 P(0-3)

block 4 block 5 block 6 P(4-7) block 7
block 8 block 9 P(8-11) block 10 block 11
block 12 P(12-15) block 13 block 14 block 15
P(16-19) block 16 block 17 block 18 block 19

(f) RAID 5 (block-level distributed parity)

block 0 block 1 block 2 block 3 P(0-3) Q(0-3)

block 4 block 5 block 6 P(4-7) Q(4-7) block 7
block 8 block 9 P(8-11) Q(8-11) block 10 block 11
block 12 P(12-15) Q(12-15) block 13 block 14 block 15

(g) RAID 6 (dual r edundancy)

Figure 6.6 RAID Levels (page 2 of 2)

Logical Disk

strip 0 strip 0 strip 1 strip 2 strip 3

strip 1 strip 4 strip 5 strip 6 strip 7
strip 2 strip 8 strip 9 strip 10 strip 11
strip 3 strip 12 strip 13 strip 14 strip 15
strip 4
strip 5
Physical Physical Physical Physical
strip 6 Disk 0 Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3
strip 7
strip 8
strip 9
Array
Management
strip 10
Software
strip 11
strip 12
strip 13
strip 14
strip 15

Figure 6.7 Data Mapping for a RAID Level 0 Array

  Addresses the issues of request patterns of the R 0
RAID host system and layout of the data a
Level 0  Impact of redundancy does not interfere with
analysis
i
d

RAID 0 for High Data Transfer

Capacity
RAID 0 for High I/O Request Rate
• For applications to experience
a high transfer rate two  For an individual I/O request for a
requirements must be met: small amount of data the I/O time is
1. A high transfer capacity must exist dominated by the seek time and
along the entire path between rotational latency
host memory and the individual
disk drives  A disk array can provide high I/O
2. The application must make I/O
execution rates by balancing the
requests that drive the disk array I/O load across multiple disks
efficiently
 If the strip size is relatively large
multiple waiting I/O requests can
be handled in parallel, reducing
the queuing time for each request
 R
RAID a
Level 1 i
d

Characteristics Positive Aspects

1
• Differs from RAID levels 2 • A read request can be serviced by
through 6 in the way in which either of the two disks that
redundancy is achieved contains the requested data
• Redundancy is achieved by the • There is no “write penalty”
simple expedient of duplicating
all the data • Recovery from a failure is simple,
• Data striping is used but each when a drive fails the data can be
logical strip is mapped to two accessed from the second drive
separate physical disks so that • Provides real-time copy of all
every disk in the array has a
mirror disk that contains the data
same data • Can achieve high I/O request
• RAID 1 can also be implemented rates if the bulk of the requests
without data striping, although are reads
this is less common • Principal disadvantage is the cost
 R d
RAID a
Level 2 i

Characteristics Performance
• An error-correcting code is
• Makes use of a parallel access calculated across corresponding
technique bits on each data disk and the
• In a parallel access array all bits of the code are stored in the
member disks participate in corresponding bit positions on
multiple parity disks
the execution of every I/O
request • Typically a Hamming code is
used, which is able to correct
• Spindles of the individual single-bit errors and detect
drives are synchronized so double-bit errors
that each disk head is in the • The number of redundant disks is
same position on each disk at proportional to the log of the
any given time number of data disks
• Data striping is used • Would only be an effective choice
• Strips are very small, often as small in an environment in which many
as a single byte or word disk errors occur
 R
RAID a
Level 3 i
d

Redundancy Performance
• Requires only a single • In the event of a drive failure, the
parity drive is accessed and data is
redundant disk, no matter how reconstructed from the remaining 3
large the disk array devices
• Employs parallel access, with • Once the failed drive is replaced,
the missing data can be restored on
data distributed in small strips the new drive and operation
resumed
• Instead of an error correcting
code, a simple parity bit is • In the event of a disk failure, all of
the data are still available in what is
computed for the set of referred to as reduced mode
individual bits in the same • Return to full operation requires
position on all of the data disks that the failed disk be replaced and
the entire contents of the failed disk
• Can achieve very high data be regenerated on the new disk
transfer rates • In a transaction-oriented
environment performance suffers
 RAID R
a
Level 4
i
d
Characteristics
Performance
• Makes use of an independent
access technique • Involves a write penalty when
an I/O write request of small 4
• In an independent access array,
each member disk operates size is performed
independently so that separate
I/O requests can be satisfied in • Each time a write occurs the
parallel array management software
• Data striping is used must update not only the user
• Strips are relatively large data but also the
corresponding parity bits
• To calculate the new parity the • Thus each strip write involves
array management software two reads and two writes
must read the old user strip and
the old parity strip
 R
RAID RAID a
Level 5 Level 6 i
d
Characteristics Characteristics

• Organized in a similar fashion • Two different parity 5

to RAID 4 calculations are carried out 6
and stored in separate blocks
• Difference is distribution of on different disks
the parity strips across all
• Advantage is that it provides
disks extremely high data
• A typical allocation is a round- availability
robin scheme • Three disks would have to fail
• The distribution of parity within the mean time to
strips across all drives avoids repair (MTTR) interval to
cause data to be lost
the potential I/O bottleneck
found in RAID 4 • Incurs a substantial write
penalty because each write
affects two parity blocks
 Table 6.4

RAID Comparison
(page 1 of 2)
 Table 6.4

RAID Comparison
(page 2 of 2)
 SSD Compared to HDD
• SSDs have the following advantages over HDDs:

 High-performance input/output operations per second (IOPS)

 Durability

 Longer lifespan

 Lower power consumption

 Quieter and cooler running capabilities

 Lower access times and latency rates

 NAND Flash Drives Seagate Laptop Internal
HDD
File copy/write speed 200—550 Mbps 50—120 Mbps
Power draw/battery life Less power draw, averages 2– More power draw, averages
3 watts, resulting in 30+ 6–7 watts and therefore uses
minute battery boost more battery
Storage capacity Typically not larger than 512 Typically around 500 GB and
GB for notebook size drives; 1 2 TB maximum for notebook
TB max for desktops size drives; 4 TB max for
desktops
Cost Approx. $0.50 per GB for a 1- Approx $0.15 per GB for a 4-
TB drive TB drive

Table 6.5
Comparison of Solid State Drives and Disk Drives
 Host System
Operating System
Software
File System Software
I/O Driver Software

Interface

Interface SSD

Controller

Addressing

Data buffer/ Error

cache correction

Flash
memory
components
Flash
memory
components
Flash
memory
components

Flash
memory
components

Figure 6.8 Solid State Drive Architecture

 Practical Issues
There are two practical issues peculiar to SSDs that are not faced by HDDs:

• Flash memory becomes unusable

• SDD performance has a after a certain number of writes
tendency to slow down as the • Techniques for prolonging life:
device is used • Front-ending the flash with a
• The entire block must be read cache to delay and group
from the flash memory and write operations
placed in a RAM buffer • Using wear-leveling
• Before the block can be written algorithms that evenly
back to flash memory, the distribute writes across block
entire block of flash memory of cells
must be erased • Bad-block management
• The entire block from the techniques
buffer is now written back to • Most flash devices estimate
the flash memory their own remaining lifetimes
so systems can anticipate
failure and take preemptive
action
CD
Compact Disk. A nonerasable disk that stores digitized audio information. The standard
system uses 12-cm disks and can record more than 60 minutes of uninterrupted playing time.

CD-ROM
Compact Disk Read-Only Memory. A nonerasable disk used for storing computer data.
The standard system uses 12-cm disks and can hold more than 650 Mbytes.

CD-R
Table 6. 6
CD Recordable. Similar to a CD-ROM. The user can write to the disk only once.

CD-RW
CD Rewritable. Similar to a CD-ROM. The user can erase and rewrite to the disk
multiple times.
Optical
DVD
Disk
Digital Versatile Disk. A technology for producing digitized, compressed representation
of video information, as well as large volumes of other digital data. Both 8 and 12 cm diameters
are used, with a double-sided capacity of up to 17 Gbytes. The basic DVD is read-only (DVD-
Products
ROM).

DVD-R
DVD Recordable. Similar to a DVD-ROM. The user can write to the disk only once.
Only one-sided disks can be used.

DVD-RW
DVD Rewritable. Similar to a DVD-ROM. The user can erase and rewrite to the disk
multiple times. Only one-sided disks can be used.

Blu-Ray DVD
High definition video disk. Provides considerably greater data storage density than DVD,
using a 405-nm (blue-violet) laser. A single layer on a single side can store 25 Gbytes.
 Compact Disk Read-Only Memory
(CD-ROM)

• Audio CD and the CD-ROM share a similar technology

• The main difference is that CD-ROM players are more rugged and
have error correction devices to ensure that data are properly transferred

• Production:
• The disk is formed from a resin such as polycarbonate
• Digitally recorded information is imprinted as a series of microscopic pits
on the surface of the polycarbonate
• This is done with a finely focused, high intensity laser to create a master disk
• The master is used, in turn, to make a die to stamp out copies onto
polycarbonate
• The pitted surface is then coated with a highly reflective surface, usually
aluminum or gold
• This shiny surface is protected against dust and scratches by a top
coat of clear acrylic
• Finally a label can be silkscreened onto the acrylic
Protective
acrylic Label

Land
Pit
Polycarbonate Aluminum
plastic

Laser transmit/
receive

Figure 6.9 CD Operation

 Layered

Sector

Mode
MIN

SEC
00 FF . . . FF 00 Data ECC

12 bytes 4 bytes 2048 bytes 288 bytes

SYNC ID Data L-ECC

2352 bytes

Figure 6.10 CD-ROM Block Format

 CD-ROM is appropriate for the distribution of large CD-ROM
amounts of data to a large number of users
 Because the expense of the initial writing process it is not
appropriate for individualized applications
 The CD-ROM has two advantages:

 The optical disk together with the information stored on it

can be mass replicated inexpensively

 The optical disk is removable, allowing the disk itself to be

used for archival storage

 The CD-ROM disadvantages:

 It is read-only and cannot be updated

 It has an access time much longer than that of a magnetic

disk drive
 CD Recordable CD Rewritable
(CD-R) (CD-RW)
• Write-once read-many • Can be repeatedly written and overwritten
• Accommodates applications in which only
one or a small number of copies of a set of • Phase change disk uses a material that has two
data is needed significantly different reflectivities in two
• Disk is prepared in such a way that it can be different phase states
subsequently written once with a laser beam • Amorphous state
of modest-intensity
• Medium includes a dye layer which is used to • Molecules exhibit a random orientation
change reflectivity and is activated by a high- that reflects light poorly
intensity laser
• Crystalline state
• Provides a permanent record of large
volumes of user data • Has a smooth surface that reflects light
well
• A beam of laser light can change the material
from one phase to the other
• Disadvantage is that the material eventually
and permanently loses its desirable properties
• Advantage is that it can be rewritten
 Label

Protective layer
(acrylic)
1.2 mm
Reflective layer thick
(aluminum)
Polycarbonate substrate Laser focuses on polycarbonate
(plastic) pits in front of reflective layer.

(a) CD-ROM - Capacity 682 MB

Polycarbonate substrate, side 2

Semireflective layer, side 2

Polycarbonate layer, side 2

Fully reflective layer, side 2

Fully reflective layer, side 1 1.2 mm

thick
Polycarbonate layer, side 1

Semireflective layer, side 1 Laser focuses on pits in one layer

on one side at a time. Disk must
Polycarbonate substrate, side 1 be flipped to read other side.

(b) DVD-ROM, double-sided, dual-layer - Capacity 17 GB

Figure 6.11 CD-ROM and DVD-ROM

CD 2.11 µm

Data layer
Beam spot Land

Pit 1.2 µm
0.58 µm
Blu-ray
Track

laser wavelength
= 780 nm

0.1 µm
1.32 µm
DVD

405 nm

0.6 µm

650 nm

Figure 6.12 Optical Memory Characteristics

 Magnetic Tape
• Tape systems use the same reading and recording techniques as
disk systems
• Medium is flexible polyester tape coated with magnetizable
material
• Coating may consist of particles of pure metal in special binders
or vapor-plated metal films
• Data on the tape are structured as a number of parallel tracks
running lengthwise
• Serial recording
• Data are laid out as a sequence of bits along each track

• Data are read and written in contiguous blocks called physical

records
• Blocks on the tape are separated by gaps referred to as
inter-record gaps
Track 2

Track 1

Track 0

Direction of
Bottom read/write
edge of tape

(a) Serpentine reading and writing

Track 3 4 8 12 16 20

Track 2 3 7 11 15 19

Track 1 2 6 10 14 18

Track 0 1 5 9 13 17
Direction of
tape motion

(b) Block layout for system that reads/writes four tracks simultaneously

Figure 6.13 Typical Magnetic Tape Features

 Table 6.7
LTO Tape Drives
LTO-1 LTO-2 LTO-3 LTO-4 LTO-5 LTO-6 LTO-7 LTO-8
Release date 2000 2003 2005 2007 2010 TBA TBA TBA
Compressed 200 GB 400 GB 800 GB 1600 GB 3.2 TB 8 TB 16 TB 32 TB
capacity
Compressed 40 MB/s 80 MB/s 160 MB/s 240 MB/s 280 MB/s 525 MB/s 788 MB/s 1.18 GB/s
transfer rate
(MB/s)
Linear density 4880 7398 9638 13250 15142
(bits/mm)
Tape tracks 384 512 704 896 1280
Tape length 609 m 609 m 680 m 820 m 846 m
Tape width (cm) 1.27 1.27 1.27 1.27 1.27
Write elements 8 8 16 16 16
WORM? No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Encryption No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Capable?
Partitioning? No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
 Summary
Chapter 6 External Memory
• RAID
• Magnetic disk • RAID level 0
• Magnetic read and write • RAID level 1
mechanisms
• RAID level 2
• Data organization and
• RAID level 3
formatting
• RAID level 4
• Physical characteristics
• RAID level 5
• Disk performance parameters
• RAID level 6
• Solid state drives • Optical memory
• SSD compared to HDD • Compact disk
• SSD organization • Digital versatile disk
• Practical issues • High-definition optical disks
• Magnetic tape