MicroVAX equipment

From: Clint Wolff <vaxman_at_qwest.net>
Date: Fri Jul 20 00:43:16 2001

Winchester actually refers to a head that flys on an air cushion
above the media. Developed, one would assume, by a guy named
Winchester... Contamination inside the HDA is a major issue because
a dust particle can get between the head and media and scrape off
the coating, creating more dust, scraping off more coating, until
the head doesn't fly anymore, and scrapes off the rest of the coating
and makes a really pretty groove where your data used to be :)

Also, the HDA isn't actually sealed. There is a filtered air path
into the HDA to prevent pressure changes due to temperature and
'oilcanning'. A curious feature of sealed boxes is they collect
water... Basically, when the air inside heats up it expands and
pushes out through whatever imperfection in the sealing exists.
When in cools down, in draws in outside air (including water)
through the same path. The water condenses, and the cycle repeats.
After a few months, you end up with several inches of water in
the 'sealed' box.

Clint

On Thu, 19 Jul 2001, Dave McGuire wrote:

> On July 19, Iggy Drougge wrote:
> > >No, they're large, heavy and winchesters (HDA which can only be repaired
> > >in a clean room).
> >
> > AFAIK winchester is just old nomenclature for fixed disks. What do you mean by
> > winchesters?
>
> The term "winchester" (taken from the IBM 3030 disk drive) implies a
> sealed HDA which cannot (or should not) be opened in an "ordinary"
> environment.
>
> -Dave McGuire
>
>
Received on Fri Jul 20 2001 - 00:43:16 BST