Storage technology

[KingofFah]

I don't even know how to word this to get the kind of replies I am interested in. I was trying to google this to find out more information and couldn't come up with a good way to search for it.

From hard drives to OS, what is the process? How does the data stored in the magnetic fields on the disk get to the OS. Read 0's or 1's then what? The firmware handles it?

Maybe I should just ask what is inbetween the physical storage and the virtual understanding of the data. My question applies to RAM too, and now the experiment that is the I-RAM. The I-RAM just uses RAM and circuitry to treat the device as a normal hard drive. What is this circuitry? What does it do and how does it work? I assume that the premise is the same between the I-RAM and hard drives, so I just want to know what happens between the physical storage and the controller, maybe... this is why I didn't know what to search for.

Also, any guesses why they didn't make the I-RAM go right through a PCIe connection. I assume they would have to code a driver, and one couldn't just boot from it without some addition software.

Simplistically, what does that piece of circuitry on hard drives do, and how does it do it? What does each circuit board consist of, and what are the functions of each part?

 

[Fraggable]

Originally posted by: KingofFah
I don't even know how to word this to get the kind of replies I am interested in. I was trying to google this to find out more information and couldn't come up with a good way to search for it.

From hard drives to OS, what is the process? How does the data stored in the magnetic fields on the disk get to the OS. Read 0's or 1's then what? The firmware handles it?

Well, the OS is 1's and 0's on the hard drive, as is every other bit of data in your computer. Is basic terms, the hard drive passes data to the memory, which holds it for the processor to access quickly. The firmware on the hard drive tells the chipset on the mobo how to use the hard drive, it very little to do with the data that passes through your IDE or SATA connection.

Maybe I should just ask what is inbetween the physical storage and the virtual understanding of the data. My question applies to RAM too, and now the experiment that is the I-RAM. The I-RAM just uses RAM and circuitry to treat the device as a normal hard drive. What is this circuitry? What does it do and how does it work? I assume that the premise is the same between the I-RAM and hard drives, so I just want to know what happens between the physical storage and the controller, maybe... this is why I didn't know what to search for.

I-RAM is on a card that has a controller chip similar to what's on a hard drive and uses a SATA cable to connect to the system board. They use a PCI slot only for power, so using a PCI-E slot would be pointless. The system board doesn't care what kind of storage the I-RAM is, it just needs to konw how to communicate with it.

Also, any guesses why they didn't make the I-RAM go right through a PCIe connection. I assume they would have to code a driver, and one couldn't just boot from it without some addition software.

Simplistically, what does that piece of circuitry on hard drives do, and how does it do it? What does each circuit board consist of, and what are the functions of each part?

 

[KingofFah]

Regarding the I-Ram and PCIe, I was referring to increasing the bandwidth by using the PCIe connection as the means of data transmission, which I am almost positive would require a driver alongside the circuitry changes, not to continue connecting through the SATA connection. That was my fault for lack of clarity.

Thanks for the reply, but I pretty much know all that you said. According to your post, though, it is definitely the firmware and the logic board that I am interested in researching. I will probably go google around for this, but I would still like to hear more regarding this.

If anyone knows specific details on how the logic boards on the hard drives and firmware works, then I would appreciate your reply. I would assume people know more about how hard drive firmware and circuitry work than they would know how something like the I-Ram works; though, if you do know a lot about how the I-Ram works that would be interesting too.

 

[Fraggable]

I know a little about what happens on the circuit board on a hard drive, but the best place to learn it for yourself is going to be in a book like 'Upgrading and Repairing PCs' by Mueller. link

That book has lots of things you will need to know if you're continuing in that field and is a great resource for reference to old hardware.