Term of the Moment
Core M
Definition: disk pack
An early removable hard disk module used in minicomputers and mainframes that contained two or more platters housed in a dust-free container. For mounting, the protective bottom of the unit was removed, and the disk pack was placed into the drive. Then the top part of the disk pack was unscrewed and removed.
Disk Packs
The Real Thing
A Roomful of Drives
Disk drives used to be the size of a washing machine. These were the kinds of removable disk modules that were used in them.
This photo taken in the 1970s shows the disk pack being loaded into the drive. Such disks held only a couple of hundred megabytes. (Image courtesy of Unisys Corporation.)
All the storage in this room could be contained in one USB drive today. (Image courtesy of Control Data Corporation.)