Data Storage Timeline

When	What
1940s	In the 1940s, data was mostly stored on punched cards and punched paper tape. The punched cards and tapes are the distant relatives of the modern CD and DVD disks, which use small 'punched' pits to store information.
late 1940s	The first magnetic memory was introduces in the form of an array of magnetic cores, with each core storing one 'bit' of data - the smallest unit of data storage. The interconnections between the cores allowed for random access to the data during read and write operations. This memory was non-volatile, reliable, and fast, but, unfortunately, the data was erased every time it was read, requiring an immediate rewrite. This technology later evolved into three-dimensional arrays of doughnut-shaped ferrite cores with 'large' capacities of a few Kilobits (Kb).
1951	UNIVAC 1 (universal automatic computer), which is also the first computer to use magnetic tape for storage.
1956	In 1956 IBM introduced the RAMAC (random access method of accounting and control) - the first commercial hard disk drive.
1961	The first hard disk drive with the air-bearing slider was introduced, advancing hard disk drive technology towards much higher recording densities and reliability.
1962	The laser diode was invented (also in IBM) becoming the fundamental technology for read-write optical storage devices.
1963	IBM introduced the first storage unit with removable disks (IBM 1311), effectively ending the era of the punched-cards.
1967	The next major achievement came in 1967 the form of digital audio demonstrated by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). The medium used was a 1-inch tape for a helical-scan video tape recorder (VTR). The encoding used for recording was called PCM (Pulse Code Modulation). This first digital sound system is a close relative of the modern computer magnetic tape, the floppy disk, and the hard disk drive. From this point in time, high-quality audio technology became digital. A mix of sound and picture eventually gave birth to a new non-mechanical (like the gramophone) and non-magnetic (like the tape) technology - the compact disk, or CD.
1967	IBM decided to discontinue the development of magnetic core memory in favor of volatile monolithic semiconductor memory chips with much faster data access and lower cost. This completed a logical separation of computer memory and storage.
1970	Portable storage was born with the invention of the floppy disk.
1977	Three Japanese companies - Sony, Mitsubishi, and Hitachi, demonstrated their optical digital audio disk (DAD) systems which used large disk, about 30 cm in diameter (like the LP records). By 1978, Philips developed a much smaller version of DAD. It used disks with a diameter of only 11.5 cm. After some negotiations, a compromise was reached and the modern CD was born with a diameter of 12 cm and with 74 minutes of play-back time. This is the approximate length of a Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
1978	The first patent for RAID (Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks) technology was filed.
1981	The history of SCSI is started when Shugart Associates (presently, Seagate Technology Corporation) joined NCR Corporation in their efforts to develop an intelligent interface for disk drives. This new interface was called Shugart Associates Systems Interface or SASI interface, a predecessor to SCSI interface.
1981	IBM introduced its first personal computer, the IBM PC, which rapidly became a standard in microcomputing.
1982	SCSI was born on base of SASI (see 1981).
1984	The history of the IDE interface was started by Compaq with the idea to embed the hard disk drive controller on a drive. Compaq, together with Western Digital Co., produced the ST506 controller that could be mounted on the hard disk drive and connected to the PC using a 40-pin cable.
1985	A company called Imprimis built the first IDE drive by integrating a ST506 controller in the hard disk drive.
1987	The initial definition of RAID levels is introduced at Berkeley.
1986	SCSI (pronounced scuzzy) specification is defined in an ANSI standard X3.131-1986. SCSI is the acronym for Small Computer System Interface, a high performance parallel peripheral interface that can independently distribute data among peripherals attached to the PC.
1987	A 1-gigabit-per-square-inch magneto-optical recording with a blue-wavelength gas laser was demonstrated. A few years later, the same recording density barrier was broken for magnetic recording with the help of the first magnetoresistive (MR) head.
1989	A 1-gigabit-per-square-inch recording density barrier was broken for magnetic recording with the help of the first magnetoresistive (MR) head.
1994	SCSI-2 became a ANSI standard X3.131-1994. By incorporatin synchronous data transfer mode, SCS-2 increased DTR to 10 MB/s.
1994	The IDE standard was approved by the ANSI under the name ANSI X3.221-1994.
1995	The first commercial products implementing Firewire technology were Sony's DCR-VX700 and DCR-VX1000 digital video camcorders.
1996	The ATA-2 interface that complies with the ANSI X3.279-1996 standard and is the AT Attachment Interface with Extensions. Offers higher DTR and some new commands.
1996	The ATA-3 interface that complies with the ANSI X3.279-1996 standard and is the AT Attachement-3 Interface. ATA-3 doesn't offer higher speed but adds new commands and more precisely defined procedures.
1998	The first DVD-ROM drives became available for the computer users.
1998	IBM demonstrated the ability to write 100 GB of data on a single LTO (linear tape open) tape cartridge, the highest tape cartridge capacity in the industry at the time.
1998	The ATA/ATAPI-4 interface that complies with the ANSI NCITS 317-1998 and is the AT Attachment Interface with Packet Interface Extension. Supports the maximum DTR of 33 MB/sec (in burst mode).
1998	The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed into law by President Clinton on October 28, 1998. The legislation implements two 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties: the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. The DMCA has significant impact on how data is distributed, copied, and stored.
1999	After the motion picture industry spent years negotiating the encryption standard for digital video discs (DVD), a small group of Norwegian hackers released a program, called DeCSS, that can break the encryption on almost any DVD disk.
1999	Usbyte.com is started to cover the data storage technology.
2000	The ATA/ATAPI-5 interface that complies with the ANSI NCITS 340-2000 and is the AT Attachment Interface with Packet Interface-5. One of the newest and fastest IDE interfaces. Doubles the DTR of ATA-33 by supporting the maximum DTR of 66 MB/sec (in burst mode).
2000	The Serial ATA 1.0 Working Group was established to specify Serial ATA for desktop applications.
2000	IBM introduced the 1-GB microdrive, which was smaller than a matchbook and weighed only 16 grams.
2000	The first ATA-100 hard disk drive was announced in June/2000 by the Quantum Corporation
2003	Hitachi buys IBM Data Storage Division. A new company - Hitachi Global Storage Technology - is formed. IBM's involvement in the disk drive technology is ended.
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