Heya Explorers!
World's First Storage Disk: IBM 350Did You Know?
The world's first storage disk was the IBM 350 Disk Storage, introduced on September 13, 1956, as part of the IBM 305 RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) system. It marked a significant advancement in data storage technology. Here are the key facts about the IBM 350:Diving in....
1. Physical Description: The IBM 350 Disk Storage was a large cabinet containing a stack of 50 aluminum discs coated with magnetic material. Each disk was about 24 inches (61 cm) in diameter.
2. Storage Capacity: The system provided a total storage capacity of 5 million characters (approximately 5 MB), a groundbreaking amount at the time.
3. Access Time: The average seek time for the data was about 600 milliseconds, which was much faster than tape storage, the predominant technology at the time.
4. Data Organization: Data was organized in concentric tracks on the disks and could be read or written using two read/write heads that moved across the disks.
5. Longevity and Reliability: Despite its massive size, the IBM 350 was known for its reliability and set a precedent for disk storage technology.
6. Impact on Computing: The IBM 350 enabled faster and more efficient data access, transforming data storage and retrieval, and paving the way for modern hard disk drives.
The introduction of the IBM 350 marked a turning point in computing history, setting the foundation for the data storage technology we use today. Hope y'all loved reading about the Fact #5 of our series!
Signing off
~Tej Dave
