How to Use a Wood Material in Computer Hard Disk Drives - Essay Example

How to use a Wood Material in Computer Hard Disk Drives Number Report on How to use a Wood Material in Computer Hard Disk Drives. Introduction Hard Disk Drive commonly referred to HDD or Hard drive are the primary devices for storing all data in a computer. They are the devices storing virtually everything in a computer from the operating system up to your regular files (Warwick, 2010). A hard disk drive is one of the most expensive components in a computer and comprises mostly of aluminium and other non-biodegradable materials (Bifano and Bierden, 1997). Therefore, coming up with new and easily available materials for the manufacture of hard disks would lower the cost of their installation. This report aims at coming up with a hard disk made up of wood materials. The report will commence by outlining the main parts of the device, as well as their main functions. Further, the choice of materials for each part of the appliance will be discussed. This will be tackled in two broad areas of the usage of wood currently where the same can be utilised to come up with efficient and effective hard disks. The report will conclude with a highlight of the importance of the use of wood in the manufacture of hard disks and the recommendation for the same. Breakdown of the Main Parts of the Hard Disk and the Main Function of Each The hard disk is made up of various components for data storage. Every computer possesses a hard drive; a majority of computer users are not much familiar with the hard disk and its composition. It is the brain of the computer and contains the following parts: (a) Heads or the Head Stack Assembly This part of the hard disk is very crucial in the sense that it magnetically reads and writes data to the platters that are in an incredible high-speed motion. This is done in extremely precise positions to achieve its function (Rubtsov, 2009). The heads can be termed as the eyes of the drive and float slightly higher from the platters approximately one micron. It is a sensitive, precise instrument and is generally the most frequent cause of hard drive malfunction (Braun 2009). (b) Spindle The spindle is highly crucial in rotating the platters at a certain speed that is measured in revolutions per minute (RPM). According to The Computer Technology Documentation Project, modern spindles have been modified to move at speeds as high as 4800 and 7200 rotations per minute. This is expected to be higher in the future with innovations to enhance the seek speed: this is the amount of time it takes the hard disk to search for a certain area of data. With growing file sizes and the speed of transfer, like a crucial part of computing, the platter must spin extremely fast (Rubtsov, 2009). (c) Platters Platters are found at the centre of the hard disk to hold all data on the hard disk. A hard disk may have one or more platters depending on the intended capacity. They are round with holes in the centre similar to a record used on a record player. In cases of a platter having a motor, it holds the platter together and rotates it at a certain speed measured in revolutions per minute (Braun 2009). The result is the creation of air pressure that lifts the read of write heads of the platters. The platters are very effective in holding the hard drive’s information and their sensitivity is very high (Rubtsov, 2009). A number of drives have contained more than one platter while others have only one. In cases of a drive having multiple platters, the spacing between them is consequently very precise, and in case of misalignment, the data on the drive is mostly lost forever. (d) Electronics The green circuitry found at the bottom of the hard drive is the electronics board. It constitutes of all the electronic resistors, capacitors, and other bits holding the parts in place (Osborne, 2010.). Their function is the provision of connection with the rest of the computer and contains information referred to as firmware that informs the hard drive on how to function (Braun 2009). The work of the circuit board is to receive electronic impulses from the rest of the computer, relay the necessary instructions to the spindle, and drive head that work in perfect tandem in the finding of the recommended data (Braun, 2010). The firmware varies from one drive to the other thus, in case of hard drives electronics having a similar model number; they cannot be just switched out (Campardo et al. 2011). In conclusion, a rectangular casing called the drive casing holds the internal components of a hard disk together. Further, a cover is mounted on the casing using multiple screws. The following section discusses the choice of materials in the hard disk drive manufacture and the innovation devised here using the wood material. The Choice of Your Materials for Each Part of the Appliance In the manufacture of a hard disk, it is critical to note and ascertain the kind of material to be used. The inner components of a hard disk are very sensitive and calls for materials that will conform to the data transmission (Campardo et al., 2011). The only real fabrication that is changeable with respect to the use of wood is the window for the LED (Hampton, 1996). This excludes the thinner end of USB socket. On the same note, a hard drive has only a few basic parts. A common hard disk has two electric motors incorporating a disk motor spinning the disk and an actuator motor that positions the read or writes head assembly across the spinning disks (Schultz, 2007). The concept behind the data storage and transmission is the magnetic field concept, which is very critical in the sense that it enhances the reliability of the material. The inner parts of a hard disk are very sensitive to dust, debris and fingerprints. A small volume of dust on the surface of a platter can destroy the whole data on the disk. a) Current Designs Hard disks are made of thin layers of materials and the inclusion of various materials for both mounting and data protection is very critical. The material used in the data transfer and storage are magnetic in nature, they are supported by non-magnetic materials that protect the inner components from dust and other contaminants that can destroy the data (IBM, 2000). The platters are highly crucial as explained earlier and they constitute of materials that are magnetic. The current adoption is the Solid States Drives that has further enhanced the reading and writing speed via the creation of a drive having few of no moving parts using silicon as the medium for data transfer as opposed to a magnetised platter. They are typically made of aluminium or glass and ceramic substrates. It may also be covered using a thin layer of Ferric oxide or cobalt alloy (hdd-tool, 2010). The drive mechanics are mounted and placed in a base casting and cover that is made up of aluminium and is placed on top to enclose heads and platters (Lamberton, 2007). The use of metallic materials has been effective, but at the same time been faced by various challenges. These incorporate power loss, reactive nature of the mounting materials leading to their eventual decomposition and thereby exposing the inner components of the hard disk. This calls for a reliable and effective material that will help in alleviating any arising inconvenience with respect to the material used for hard disk manufacturing. According to Born et al. (1997), the making of a hard disk incorporate the formation of a porous body of ceramic, infiltrating a liquid in its pores, solidifying the infiltrated liquid and eventually machining the whole composition to come up with a hard drive. The porous body incorporated depends on the technique devised by the designer of the hard disk. Wood as a material in the computer technology manufacture has been used in the production of USB casing and proved to be very effective (Marino, n.d.). The wooden USB has been termed as eco-friendly and granting the opportunity to showcase the contribution of designers to the protection and care for the environment. The promotional USB drives have utilised the wooden bamboo that is supple and thin to fit the users size desire. The aesthetic value of the device is also enhanced and uses eco-friendly materials unlike the common ones using biodegradable materials like polymers and composites. b) Device Design The eventual technology has led to increased demand for computer hard disks; it is imperative to come up with effective devices that use materials that are easily available. On the same note, to make the hard disks affordable, the material used should cut the production cost but at the same time safeguard the hard disk and make it effective and efficient. The device under consideration incorporates the use of wooden material to support the components of the data storage and transmission in the hard disk. The earlier sections have illustrated the various components of a hard disk that are critical in data storage and transfer. The components are mounted and protected from damage by use of insulating materials. Wood comes in handy in the provision of a board for mounting, as well as casing for the outer covering. According to hdd-tool (2010), the entire disk contains a drive bay that incorporates the mounting of the disk in an enclosure that protects it from outside air and dust. This model utilises wood to come up with the enclosure and protects the read or write heads and platters from dust and other contaminants (Marino, n.d.). This protects the heads from crushing thus, safeguarding the data stored in the computer. Towards the bottom of the disk, there is the base casting that can utilise wood material instead of the common aluminium. The advantage of wood to aluminium is that it will reduce the occurrence of reactive circumstance as well as lower chances of any power loss. The substrate material which constitutes the bulk material of making the platters is just a media base upon which the media layer is deposited. Therefore, this model will incorporate wood as the base and mount the media layer on it. It is also placed on top as a cover and encloses the head and platters. The material will not only act as a mounting base, but also as a protective component to the disk for damage brought about by accidental contacts of the heads leading to head crush, as well as protect any foreign material from entering the drive. The wooden material to be used here is the plywood to enhance the components functionality and take less space in the mounting process. To the bottom of the base casting, a wooden board of larger width, approximately 0.1-1.0cm can be utilised as the logic board- this is separated from the base casting by use of a cushioning material (Marino, n.d.). The use of wooden materials utilises the wood glue to seal the gaps left of conjoining the wooden chips in the enclosure and mounting processes. Conclusion serenity The use of wood in the manufacture of hard disk is of great importance with respect to insulation of its inner components and protection from contamination. The platters due to their mode of working and material incorporated are very sensitive to heat (Chin, 2002). Thereby, the wooden material employed will act as a bad conductor of heat and will not interfere with the magnetic concept of the platters workings. Further, the innovation utilises a material that will not contribute in power loss. According to Schultz (2007), innovation with respect to computer hard disk drives ought to look into power use reduction and enhancing efficiency. This innovation keeps in mind the use of materials that is cheap, available and reduces power loss, as it is a poor conductor of electricity. The wooden encasing concept can be every effective particularly with respect to external hard disk drives. The encasing is durable, protective and inert; thereby does not pose any reactive environment to the inner component of the hard disk drive. References Bifano, T. and Bierden, P., 1997. Fixed Abrasive Grinding of Brittle Hard-Disk. London: Elsevier Science Ltd. Vol 37(7), p. 935-946) Born, D. et al., 1997. Hard disk Drive Components and Methods of making same. Braun, D., 2009. The Four Major Parts of a Computer Hard Drive. Michelle McDonough (Ed.). Related Guides: Hard Drive. Campardo, G., Tiziani, F. And Iaculo, M., (EDs.) 2011. Memory Mass Storage. London: Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht. Chin, M., 2002. Effective Passive Hard Drive Cooling. Hampton, S., 1996. Process Cost Analysis for Hard Disk Manufacturing: Data Storage Globalisation Project. California: University of California. Hdd-tool, 2010. Hard Disk and Hard Drive Physical Components. IBM, 2000. Enhanced IDE Hard Disks Drive. Users Guide 2nd Ed. International Business Machines Corporation. Lamberton, R., 2007. Current-in-Plane GMR Trilayer Head Design for Hard-Disk Drives: Characterisation and Extendibility. Vol. 43(2). Marino, S., (n.d.). review of Wood of the World of CD ROM. Osborne, M., 2010. How To Build a DIY Wooden Hard Drive Enclosure. Life hacker. Rubtsov, A., 2009. HDD from inside: Main Parts. Schultz, B., 2007. Innovative Power Solutions-HiVERT in Hitachi Hard Disk Drives. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. The Computer Technology Documentation Project (n.d.). Hard Drives Construction, Warwick, B., 2010. What is Your Backup Plan? How a Hard Disk Drive Works. Appendices General illustration of un-mounted disk (http://www.comptechdoc.org/hardware/pc/begin/hwharddrive.html) The inside of a HDD (http://hddscan.com/doc/HDD_from_inside.html) Platters on the Spindle hub (http://hddscan.com/doc/HDD_from_inside.html) A Model of Platters (http://www.hdd-tool.com/hdd-basic/hard-disk-and-hard-drive-physical-components.htm) Hard disk mounted on an enclosure for safety The Drive casing can utilise wooden materials for protection against the contaminants, air and dust. (http://www.hdd-tool.com/hdd-basic/hard-disk-and-hard-drive-physical-components.htm) Read More