It’s no surprise that disc drives crash: the way read/write heads fly close to a spinning magnetic disc has been likened to a jumbo jet flying a few millimetres off the ground. IBM now thinks it can predict these data-destroying crashes.
The magnetic surface of hard discs is protected by a tough carbon layer covered by a lubricating polymer film. But contaminants from the magnetic layer can corrode the protective layers. If the resulting irregularities become too large, the read/write head can no longer react fast enough to compensate, and it hits the surface and destroys the disc. IBM’s answer…
