WishX Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 Arguing the Case for a Smarter Disk Drive By Jay Wrolstad NewsFactor Sci::Tech, Part of the NewsFactor Network July 31, 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18826.html Gordon Hughes is a man on a mission. His primary objective is to convince computer and disk drive manufacturers to change their thinking and update longstanding technology standards that prevent the drives from realizing their full potential. If "wise drives" were built to perform a number of tasks that have traditionally been the work of CPUs (central processing units), substantial low-cost improvements could be made in computing sectors ranging from laptops to massive storage networks, contends Hughes, associate director of the Center for Magnetic Recording Research at the University of California, San Diego. Hughes authored a report on the subject, which is slated for publication in the August edition of IEEE Spectrum. Getting Smarter "There is a tremendous opportunity to bring additional computing tasks, beyond simple data storage and retrieval, to disk drives," Hughes told NewsFactor. The problem, he said, is that the drives use a standard interface created for the mass market that limits their capabilities. Disk drives' current onboard capacity -- 32-bit internal microprocessors, several megs of internal RAM and tens of megs of disk space reserved for internal drive use -- already has enabled them to exhibit some intelligence, said Hughes, citing the ability to monitor internal hardware operations, recognize problems, and issue warnings to users to back up their data or replace the drives themselves. "They could do a lot more, taking on some of the work performed by computing systems, simply by adding extra processing power," Hughes said, which would enable the drives to take on such functions as data mining and encryption while shifting some of the processing burden from CPUs. No Incentive To Change The problem, said Hughes, is that computer companies, including Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) and Compaq, are operating under current consumer interface specifications, or standards. However, most computer users have not expressed a desire to upgrade their disk drives, because most have enough storage capacity to meet their needs. The specs are established by such organizations as the American National Standards Institute, which has to be brought on board before changes are made, he said. The most common interface in consumer PCs is the ATA (advanced technology attachment), also known as IDE (integrated drive electronics). SCSI (small computer system interface) is more prevalent in high-performance systems. Each comprises a bus adapter integrated into the host at one end and connected via a cable to the disk drive. Consumer Demand Drives Innovation Interfaces between computers, on one side, and drives, on the other, represent a contract covering the rules for storing and retrieving data. Adding intelligent drive features may require changing these standards, said Hughes, and may also require changes in operating system and application software. "This idea has to be widely perceived as exciting, or it won't happen," Hughes said. Drive manufacturers will not add smart features until computer manufacturers demand them, but PC companies will not provide support for features that do not yet exist. "We need companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) working on the computing side, and we need customers asking for new functions before any changes occur," said Hughes. Thus, he is leading the effort to inform consumers, businesses and software developers of the benefits of smarter disk drives and urging them to demand those features from computer makers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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