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After exploring varied applied sciences, together with wire matrices and rod arrays, IBM invented the laborious disk drive in 1953 at its San Jose, California, lab. Initially, the expertise was known as a “Random Entry File.” It proved to be inexpensive however slower than drum reminiscence, whereas being sooner and costlier than tape drives.
The primary industrial laborious disk drive was launched in 1956 as a part of the IBM 305 RAMAC (Random Entry Technique of Accounting and Management) system, that includes the IBM Mannequin 350 disk storage unit (US Patent 3,503,060). This groundbreaking drive provided 5MB of storage at $10,000 per MB.
On the time, prospects would pay over $3,200 monthly to entry and retailer data, as IBM leased its programs as an alternative of promoting them. Adjusted for inflation, that is equal to over $31,000 monthly in 2021. Three generations of RAMAC drives have been developed, with capability doubling in every technology.
The IBM 305 RAMAC comprised 50 24-inch disk platters housed in a big, boxy cupboard, which resembled washing machines – a far cry from at present’s 3.5″ or 2.5″ disk drives, not to mention strong state drives that are coming within the even smaller M.2 kind issue.
IBM’s invention of the laborious disk drive revolutionized information storage by permitting random entry to information, versus the sequential entry utilized by earlier storage strategies like magnetic tape. This functionality laid the muse for contemporary information storage programs, making the IBM 305 RAMAC launch a pivotal second in computing historical past.
The period of real-time information processing enabled industries like banking, airways, and authorities businesses to handle huge quantities of knowledge extra successfully – even when storage capability was a minuscule 5 MB – it was a revolutionary leap on the time.