DISK ADDRESS

As we have seen, the surface of a disk is divided into magnetized tracks that form concentric circles of
data. The floppy disk for a microcomputer may have 40 or 80 tracks on a surface, while the surface of a
mainframe disk could contain several hundred tracks. These tracks are logically divided into smaller
blocks or record locations where data records reside. Each location is unique and has an address—a
numeric value. Depending on the disk’s size and density, hundreds or thousands of records may be
stored on a single track. Figure 2-35 shows data storage on a disk. For illustration purposes, the physical
size of the records is greatly exaggerated. The concept of an address applies to all types of magnetic
disks, including individual floppy disks and hard disks used in microcomputers and the larger mainframe
disk packs. A difference lies in the way the disks are physically arranged. Mainframe disks are often
stacked on top of one another in a disk-pack arrangement that resembles a stack of phonograph
records. Figure 2-36 illustrates this technique. The disks are mounted to a central spindle that rotates at
over 3,500 revolutions per minute. Each disk surface is provided with a separate read/write head that is
used for storing and retrieving data.

DATA STORAGE ON A DISK PACK

Every disk in a disk pack has two surfaces with the same number of tracks on each surface. Figure 2-36
shows that Track 100 exists on the top and bottom surfaces of each disk in the disk pack. Therefore, this
FIGURE 2-34 RECORDS BLOCKED ON A MAGNETIC TAPE Record 2 Record 3 Record 1 Record 100 IBG
Interblock Gaps (IBG) Blocks of Records CHAPTER 2 Introduction to Transaction Processing 81 disk pack
containing 11 disks has 22 occurrences of Track 100. To protect the data from exposure to damage, the
very top and bottom surfaces of the disk pack are not used, yielding 20 data storage surfaces for Track
100. When viewed collectively, the same track on each surface in the disk pack is called a cylinder.
Therefore, in our example, Cylinder 100 contains 20 tracks of data. However, the cylinders on a
microcomputer’s floppy disk or hard disk contain only two tracks because these disks have only two
surfaces. LOCATING A RECORD BASED ON ITS ADDRESS A disk address consists of three components: the
cylinder number, the surface number, and the record (or block) number. To find a record, the system
must know the numeric value for each of these components. For example, if a record’s address is
Cylinder 105, Surface 15, and Record Block 157, the record in question could be directly accessed as
follows: First, the disk-pack control device moves the read/write heads into position above Track 105 on
each surface (Cylinder 105). Next, it activates the read/write head for Surface 15. Finally, as Record
Block 157 passes under the active read/write head, it is either read or written. The key task in direct
access storage and retrieval is ascertaining the record’s address. This may be determined from tables or
calculations based on its primary key. Several direct access techniques are examined in Chapter 9.