Difference between revisions of "Fixed-head disk"

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'''Fixed-head disk'''s were [[disk]]s which had a separate [[head]], fixed in position, for each [[track]]. They were direct descendants of [[drum]]s, a prior [[secondary storage]] technology, which also had a head per track.
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'''Fixed-head disk'''s were [[magnetic storage|magnetic]] [[disk]]s which had a separate [[head]], fixed in position, for each [[track]]. They were direct descendants of [[drum]]s, a prior [[secondary storage]] technology, which also had a head per track.
  
 
This avoided the delays involved in having the head(s) [[seek]] to the correct cylinder, and was also mechanically simpler, but did require more components.
 
This avoided the delays involved in having the head(s) [[seek]] to the correct cylinder, and was also mechanically simpler, but did require more components.

Revision as of 21:10, 14 April 2018

Fixed-head disks were magnetic disks which had a separate head, fixed in position, for each track. They were direct descendants of drums, a prior secondary storage technology, which also had a head per track.

This avoided the delays involved in having the head(s) seek to the correct cylinder, and was also mechanically simpler, but did require more components.

The platters of such disks were generally not removable, which meant they also did not require exact alignment (if you did not care about being able to read the previous contents after a servicing).