> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Hal Kaplan > Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 6:45 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [NF] A 5MB hard disk in 1956 > > => [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Andy Davies > => > => > http://allonlettera.com/?p=4 > => > > => > Compact. > => > => No markings but it *looks* like a FastRand (but 1956 seems v. early). > => FastRands (with optional fast access FastBands) took about 4 > => hours to get up to speed, and if one have ever come off its > => bearings would have taken out a small town! > => > => Andrew Davies MBCS CITP > > That is a strange pic because the machine looks awfully exposed. Computer > devices were shipped in hermetically sealed containers because one little > piece of dirt and ... > > This could be a Fastrand (as opposed to Fastrand II or III). Fastrand IIs > were horizontally oriented (to minimize gravity) and consisted of two > drums turning in opposite directions. These suckers could keep a 200-ton > battleship on course as they were essentially gyroscopes with magnetic > surfaces and pickups. Four hours is a bit of a stretch for stabilizing > though; it was more like 20 minutes when I worked with them but that was > after a 10-minute power-up checklist. > > And they worked without software from M$ ... and worked quite well, thank > you. > > B+ > HALinNY >
I saw something like this in use with at Univac. It was used to store data coming from satellites. I dont know how old it was or how long it was there, but I saw it in 1965. It was a horizontal drum. It must have been around for a while because at that time they had installed a whole floor of computers that were using disk packs. Jeff Jeff Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] 623-582-0323 Fax 623-869-0675 --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/signed text/plain (text body -- kept) application/x-pkcs7-signature --- _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
