Quantum Bigfoot (hard drive)

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1.28GB Quantum Bigfoot 5.25" drive

The Bigfoot hard drive was a brand of hard disk marketed by Quantum Corporation in the mid-1990s which featured a larger physical size than hard disks typical at the time. Typical hard drives are 3.5" in diameter, while Bigfoot hard drives were 5.25" wide and fit in a standard IBM PC drive bay. The main rationale behind the design change was that the typical PC user already owns cases that made provision for a 5.25" drive, and by using lower data densities and fewer moving parts, Quantum was able to deliver the products at lower prices, thus more competitively.

Initially performance in the Bigfoot drives generally lagged behind most other drives of the era[1], but the large data capacities earned inclusion in many OEM PC's such as ones manufactured by Compaq and HP[2], as well as popularity with the PC enthusiast community. Over time the data density (and therefor the overall capacity) of the drives increased, culminating the the 19.2GB BigfootTS, easily the largest consumer-grade drive available at its release. A side effect of the increased data density was an increase in speed, moving the Bigfoot to midle-of-the-pack status amongst its contemporaries. Unfortunately, the increased manufacturing cost associated with the higher density also caused an increase in price, moving the Bigfoot towards a premium price-point.[3] Over time, increased prices combined with stiff competition caused sales of the drives to decline, leading to the line being discontinued in the late 1990's[4].

Bigfoot drives were produced in capacities of 1.28GB, 1.6GB, 2.1GB, 2.5GB, (single platter) 3.2GB, 4.3GB, 6.4GB, 8.0GB, 10.0GB, 12.0GB, 13.0GB, 19.2GB (double platter) and were produced by a variety of different plants in Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and other locations. The interface with the computer was an ATA-3 interface. Bigfoot drives were amongst the first to support Logical Block Addressing (LBA) and Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) monitoring.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Quantum Bigfoot TX". http://www.storagereview.com/articles/9804/980427bigfoot8.html. 
  2. ^ "Quantum Bigfoot Disk Drive Selected by HP for Use in HP Pavilion Multimedia Personal Computers". http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Quantum+Bigfoot+Disk+Drive+Selected+by+HP+for+Use+in+HP+Pavilion...-a019759094. 
  3. ^ "Quantum Bigfoot TS". http://www.storagereview.com/articles/9811/981129qmbfts.html. 
  4. ^ "5.25" Form Factor". http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/formIn525-c.html. 

[edit] External reference

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