Head-media interface instability under hostile operating conditions

In the office environment, computers reliably transfer data to and from the hard disk drive and data transfer errors are extremely rare. However, when even "ruggedized" computers are operated in hostile conditions, valuable data can be lost as a result of read-write error due to either shock or vibration, seriously impairing drive performance. For this work, drives have been vibrated over large frequency ranges in order to characterize their data-transfer performance. In order to observe the cause of the problems, a drive has been modified with integral sensors to identify internal system failures and the results of these investigations are presented. These sensors have enabled the first unobtrusive tests of the drives' mechanical frequency response while the drive is in operation with sensors that can be easily and inexpensively embedded within a hard disk drive for use in a generic, smart, vibration resilient drive.