Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
ards,therewouldbenocompatibilitybetweendifferentchassis,motherboards,cables,and
drives.
You might wonder how these form factors are established. In some cases, it is simply that
one manufacturer makes a popular product of a particular shape and connection protocol,
and others copy or clone those parameters, making other products that are physically or
electrically compatible. In other cases, various committees or groups have been formed
to dictate certain industry standards. Then it is up to the companies that make applicable
products to create them to conform to these standards.
Overtheyears,diskdriveshavebeenintroducedinseveralindustry-standardformfactors,
usually identified by the approximate size of the platters contained inside the drive.
Table
9.1
lists the various disk drive form factors that have been used in PCs and portables.
Table 9.1 Hard Disk Form Factors
