Multi-Actuator Disk Drive for Concurrent Data Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
The rapid increase in storage capacity of disk drives has led to a decline in performance per unit of storage, necessitating innovative solutions to enhance data access efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A storage disk design featuring multiple disk platters on a common spindle with two or more actuator assemblies, each with actuator arms and read/write heads, allowing simultaneous access and operation on different platter surfaces, effectively creating virtual disks within a single housing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If storage capacity is increased by using larger disk platters, then storage capacity doubles, but performance per unit of storage rapidly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides a single large storage system into multiple smaller disk platters (e.g., four 3.5-inch platters instead of one large platter). Each platter is accessed by dedicated actuator assemblies, creating segmented access paths that enable parallel operations. This segmentation maintains high performance per unit storage while achieving large total capacity through aggregation of multiple smaller units.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-plane access model to a multi-dimensional access architecture by stacking multiple disk platters vertically on a common spindle and assigning different actuator assemblies to different platters. This vertical dimensionality enables concurrent access to multiple surfaces simultaneously, improving overall throughput while maintaining performance efficiency.
2Productivity
If a larger number of smaller disks are used to increase concurrent parallel access, then performance improves, but device complexity and physical size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple smaller disk platters into a single integrated storage device with a common spindle and shared housing. Multiple actuator assemblies are merged within one device, allowing concurrent access to multiple platters without requiring separate disk packages. This merging achieves parallel performance while reducing overall system complexity and physical footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The common spindle serves multiple disk platters simultaneously, and each actuator assembly can service multiple platter surfaces. This multi-functional design allows a single device to perform multiple read/write operations in parallel across different platters, achieving the performance of multiple separate disks while using shared components to reduce complexity.
3Productivity
If multiple actuator assemblies are used to access multiple platter surfaces simultaneously, then concurrent data access improves, but actuator assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-assigns specific platter surfaces to specific actuator assemblies, establishing dedicated access paths before operations begin. This preliminary configuration allows the system to optimize access patterns in advance, reducing the complexity of real-time coordination between multiple actuators while maintaining high concurrent access capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A disk drive having a single drive motor and multiple platters that incorporates two discrete data paths, actuators and heads to the disk platters. Utilizing the economy of very large capacity disk platters, two or more disk drives can be created within a single physical enclosure. These two disks will be share many common parts such as the drive enclosure and spindle motor, but will have the performance and appearance to the system as two or more independent disks. Instead of having one actuator arm, the virtual disks will have two or more actuator arms and two or more sets of digital electronics. The storage on all the platters is divided up among the actuators so that no storage location is shared, but all the actuators will operate concurrently. Each actuator will have exclusive use of a subset of the data storage. Disks normally only have one actuator connected to multiple heads, at least one per surface, which only allow a single data seek and data transfer at a time. The virtual disks will have two or more actuators, one for each virtual disk, improving performance for the capacity of the platters through concurrent data seeks and transfers to different data areas.