Maxtor quickview 300 User Manual

G-8

80/100/120/160/200/250/300GB PATA

 – The material the disk 

platter is made of beneath the magnetic 
coating. Hard disks are generally made of 
aluminum or magnesium alloy (or glass, for 
optical disks) while the substrate of floppies is 
usually mylar.

 – The top or bottom side of the 

platter which is coated with the magnetic 
material for recording data. On some drives 
one surface may be reserved for positioning 
information.

 – A type of coating, used for 

disk surfaces. Thin film surfaces allow more 
bits to be stored per disk.

 – Acronym for tracks per inch. The 

number of tracks or cylinders that are written 
in each inch of travel across the surface of a 
disk.

 – One of the many concentric 

magnetic circle patterns written on a disk 
surface as a guide to where to store and read 
the data. 

 – How closely the 

tracks are packed on a disk surface. The 
number is specified as tracks per inch (TPI).

 – The 

time required for the read/write heads to 
move to an adjacent track.

 – The rate at which the 

disk sends and receives data from the 
controller. Drive specifications usually 
reference a high number that is the burst 
mode rate for transferring data across the 
interface from the disk buffer to system RAM. 
Sustained data transfer is at a much lower rate 
because of system processing overhead, head 
switches, and seeks.

 – The 

total number of bytes of data that could be fit 
onto a disk. Formatting the disk requires some 
of this space to record location, boundary 
definitions, and timing information. After 
formatting, user data can be stored on the 
remaining disk space, known as formatted 
capacity. The size of a Maxtor drive is 
expressed in formatted capacity.

 – A type of motor used to 

move the disk read/write head in and out to 
the right track. Voice-coil actuators work like 
loudspeakers with the force of a magnetic coil 
causing a proportionate movement of the 
head. Maxtor's actuator uses voice-coil 
technology, and thereby eliminates the high 
stress wearing parts found on stepper motor 
type actuators.

 – The position on every 

track that contains data used by the closed 
loop positioning control. This information is 
used to fine tune the position of the 
read/write heads exactly over the track 
center.

 – Hard disks that 

use a technology similar to an IBM model 
using Winchester as the code name. These 
disks use read/write heads that ride just above 
the magnetic surface, held up by the air flow 
created by the turning disk. When the disk 
stops turning, the heads land on the surface, 
which has a specially lubricated coating. 
Winchester disks must be sealed and have a 
filtration system since ordinary dust particles 
are large enough to catch between the head 
and the disk. 

 – In the context of optical 

disks, technologies that allow the drive to 
store data on a disk and read it back, but not 
to erase it.