RA80 Disk Drive
From Computer History Wiki
					
										
					
					
| RA80 | |
| Manufacturer: | DEC | 
|---|---|
| Drive Controller(s): | all SDI controllers | 
| Capacity: | 121 Mbytes | 
| Transfer Rate: | 1.2 Mbytes/sec | 
| Average Access Time: | 33 msec | 
| Revolutions per Minute: | 3600 | 
| 1/2 Revolution Time: | 8.3 msec | 
| One Track Seek Time: | 6 msec | 
| Average Seek Time: | 25 msec | 
| Maximum Seek Time: | 50 msec | 
| Total Surfaces: | 7 data, 1 servo | 
| Number of Heads: | 14 data, 1 servo (read-only) | 
| Tracks per Surface: | 561 per head (total) 546 (usable for data) | 
| Sectors per Track: | 31 | 
| Bytes per Sector: | 512 | 
| Tracks per Inch: | 478 | 
| Density: | 6339 (max; inner track) | 
| Recording Method: | MFM | 
| Start Time: | 15 secs (avg); 40 secs (max) | 
| Physical Size: | 26cm x 44cm x 67cm | 
| Weight: | 147 lbs (approx) | 
| Power Consumption: | 720 watts | 
The RA80 Disk Drive is a Standard Disk Interconnect non-removable-media disk drive from DEC. A physically large drive (14-inch platters, in a heavy enclosure 10.5" x 16" x 36"), its capacity was 121 Mbytes.
It had two heads per surface; not rotationally opposed (to halve maximum access time), but two on each arm; there thus 1,092 usable tracks on each surface. It was internally operated by a microprocessor which used 32-bit burst ECC to invisibly repair simple data errors.
It was apparently the SDI version of the R80 Disk Drive. The RA80 can also be connected in a dual-port arrangement, permitting its use by two controllers.
4.3 BSD disktab
a80|RA80|DEC RA80 Winchester:\ :ty=winchester:ns#31:nt#14:nc#559:\ :pa#15884:ba#8192:fa#1024:\ :pb#33440:pc#242606:\ :pg#82080:bg#4096:fg#512:\ :ph#111202:bh#4096:fh#1024:
External links
-  ra80 - documentation at Bitsavers
- RA80 Disk Drive User Guide (EK-0RA80-UG-001)
 
- The RA60, RA80 and RA81 Disk Drives and The Digital Storage Architecture - brochure


