disk drive
Enable an AI agent to recognise a disk drive, assess its media and operating condition, and determine which connection, reading, writing, maintenance or retirement actions are appropriate.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions
Disk mechanism and boundary Establishes what mechanism makes the thing a disk drive and where the drive ends and its media begin.
Recording mechanism
Identifies the recording surface and the means of accessing it.
Disk-based access
Record evidence of rotating disk media and the magnetic, optical or other read/write mechanism without inferring it from a software device label.
- What physical medium rotates, and what mechanism reads or writes its recording surface? definition
- Does the evidence identify a physical disk mechanism, an SSD, an enclosure or a logical disk abstraction? boundary
Drive and media separation
Distinguishes fixed media from separately handled disks.
Media ownership and removal
Record whether media are integral to the drive or removable in normal use, and attribute media-specific observations to the correct object.
- Can the recording medium be exchanged through the intended user procedure? definition
- Which capacity, damage and data-retention observations concern the drive, and which concern the installed disk? boundary
Host and media compatibility Determines whether the drive can be connected, powered and used with a particular disk.
Host attachment
Covers electrical, protocol and mounting requirements.
Attachment requirements
Record connector, transport, command protocol, supply requirements and physical mounting constraints, including limitations introduced by adapters.
- Which manufacturer documentation establishes the connector, protocol, supply and mounting requirements? provenance
- Can the proposed host and any bridge provide the required power and expose the commands needed for the intended operation? action
Media format support
Separates media acceptance, reading and writing capabilities.
Supported media operations
Record supported disk families and recording variants separately for reading, writing and rewriting.
- Which disk sizes, recording formats and media variants are explicitly supported for each operation? definition
- What documentation or observed identification result supports compatibility with the currently installed medium? provenance
Capacity and data access Describes the addressable storage and the conditions under which data can be accessed.
Address space
Records device-visible capacity and addressing units.
Reported storage extent
Capture capacity from an identified observation and distinguish addressable storage from filesystem free space.
- What capacity and addressing units does the device report for the installed medium? measurement
- Does the value describe raw media, host-visible blocks, a partition or filesystem-available space? boundary
Access behaviour
Relates access speed and write completion to the operating conditions.
Performance and write completion
Record observed access performance with workload context and distinguish command completion from evidence that writes reached persistent media.
- What transfer rate and latency were observed, with which medium, access pattern, request size and cache conditions? measurement
- What supported flush or completion procedure is required before treating a write as persistent or removing power? action
Condition and failure assessment Connects operating state and diagnostic evidence to decisions about continued access.
Readiness and symptoms
Records observable states and symptoms before attributing a failure.
Access failure localisation
Distinguish absent media, spin-up failure, connection loss and read errors while retaining uncertainty about their causes.
- What state, error reports, unusual sounds or interruptions occur, and under which access conditions? measurement
- What evidence distinguishes a media defect from a drive mechanism, cable, bridge or power problem? boundary
Diagnostics and recovery
Assesses the evidential value and operational cost of diagnostic actions.
Health evidence and next action
Record the origin, time and coverage of supported diagnostics and choose further activity according to symptoms and the importance of the data.
- Which health counters or self-tests are supported, and what documentation explains their interpretation for this drive? provenance
- Should the next action be a limited read, imaging, a self-test, power-down or specialist recovery given the symptoms and data-preservation objective? action
Handling and media lifecycle Governs physical handling, media changes and the final disposition of stored data.
Installation and ejection
Covers permitted handling and transitions between operating and removable states.
Safe mechanism transitions
Record the drive-specific prerequisites for movement, disconnection, media ejection and maintenance.
- What documented limits apply to orientation, shock, temperature and handling while the disk is spinning? provenance
- Which operations must complete and which locks or loading mechanisms must be released before media removal or drive disconnection? action
Data disposition
Distinguishes reusing the mechanism from clearing or destroying its recording medium.
Sanitisation scope and evidence
Record the authorised disposition of the data, the method supported by the particular technology, and evidence of completion without equating formatting with sanitisation.
- Which media contain the data at retirement, including any disk removed from the drive? boundary
- What authorised sanitisation or destruction method is applicable, and what evidence can establish its completion and limitations? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of disk drive this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of disk drive this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of disk drive this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of disk drive this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of disk drive this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of disk drive this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of disk drive this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of disk drive this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.OBJ
What it is Filled
A disk drive is a data-storage device that rotates a magnetic or optical disk and uses a head or optical pickup to read recorded data and, where supported, write data.
In scope
- Disk-based storage mechanism, including fixed or removable media and read-only or writable operation
- Drive interfaces, command capabilities, power requirements and physical installation constraints
- Media compatibility, addressable capacity and access performance
- Drive states, diagnostic evidence, failure symptoms and recovery constraints
- Read, write, eject, sanitisation and retirement actions with their prerequisites
Out of scope
- Files, directories, partitions and filesystems as logical information structures
- Storage arrays, RAID policies and distributed storage services
- Removable disks as independently managed physical media, except their compatibility with the drive
- Host computers and operating systems beyond their connection to the drive
- Product catalogue records and individual asset histories as independently modelled records
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to recognise a disk drive, assess its media and operating condition, and determine which connection, reading, writing, maintenance or retirement actions are appropriate.
Distinguishing features Filled
- For the provisional physical-media scope, the device accesses recording surfaces on a rotating disk; a flash-only SSD lacks this mechanism even when called a disk by software.
- A drive contains the mechanism that accesses the medium; a loose optical disc or floppy disk is media rather than a drive.
- A USB enclosure or interface bridge alone is not a disk drive unless it includes the storage-access mechanism.
- A logical volume or disk image can expose disk-like addresses without being a physical drive.
- Compatibility depends on the recording technology and supported media formats, not merely the disk's shape or nominal diameter.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Read or copy data from a drive without the owner's authorization.
- Erase, reformat or repartition a drive without a verified backup and authorization.
- Dispose of a drive that holds personal data without secure sanitization.
- Open a sealed drive outside a clean environment.
Only with a human decision
- Sanitizing or destroying a drive that holds other people's data.
- Attempting recovery from a failing drive where data could be lost.
May
- Read health and status data from a disk drive on a system it administers.
- Copy or back up data from a drive with the owner's authorization.
Moral aspects Filled
- Drives hold private and business data; disposal and access raise privacy risks.
- Electronic waste harms workers and the environment where it is processed.
Who is affected
- Data owners
- People whose data is stored
- E-waste workers
Owners Filled
Steward
The owner of the device; the data controller answers for the data on it.
Master systems
- Asset registers of the organization that owns it
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q64817736 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.disk-drive
- Wikidata: Q25399170 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25399170)
Direct properties required Filled
- Recording technology: Magnetic rigid disk; magnetic flexible disk; optical disk; other evidenced disk technology; unknown
- Media arrangement: Fixed internal media; user-removable media; unknown
- Supported media: Links to supported media families, physical formats and recording variants
- Host connection: Physical connector, transport, command protocol and any intervening bridge
- Addressable capacity: Bytes, with reported block count and bytes per block where applicable
- Physical envelope: Width, height and depth in mm; mounting pattern or documented form-factor designation
- Power requirements: Supply voltage in V and current in A or power in W, distinguishing startup and steady operation
- Access performance: Transfer rate in MB/s with byte convention stated; latency in ms; workload and media conditions recorded
- Operational state: Unpowered; initialising; ready; busy; standby; no media; fault; unknown, where applicable
- Write capability and protection: Read-only capability; write-capable and enabled; write-protected; media-dependent; unknown
- Health evidence: Timestamped diagnostic reports, read-error observations, self-test results and physical symptoms
Recognition required Filled
- A sealed rectangular metal unit with a data and power connector, typically in 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch form.
- Optical drives have a tray or slot for discs.
- A label shows model, capacity and serial number.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Match a drive to a host, power supply and compatible medium using documented interface and media requirements.
- Identify the device and inspect available status information while recording whether the inspection changes device state.
- Read or image accessible media under an appropriate preservation and error-handling policy.
- Write, format or erase only when capability, media suitability and authority to alter the data are established.
- Mount, power down or eject media after checking outstanding operations and mechanism-specific prerequisites.
- Select continued use, limited diagnostic work, specialist recovery or retirement from observed condition and data importance.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Mechanical failure loses data without warning.
- Discarded drives leak data if not sanitized.
- Dropping a running hard drive can damage the platters.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- NIST SP 800-88 Guidelines for Media Sanitization, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
- ATA/ATAPI command set standards, INCITS Technical Committee T13.
Context of use required Filled
- Disk drives are used in computers, external storage equipment and media systems to retrieve data from rotating magnetic or optical disks.
- Writable combinations of drive and medium also support saving files, distributing data and maintaining backups.
- They are encountered in maintenance and archival work where media compatibility, interface type and mechanical condition affect access to stored information.
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q25399170: disk drive - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia (it): Unità a disco - general description of the item
Open questions
- Does vr.tr.disk-drive denote all drives using disk-shaped media, only hard disk drives, or a broader storage-device category that includes SSDs?
- Which existing Vercy world model or registry entry already owns any overlapping disk-drive concept and should be linked instead of duplicated?
- Which interface, media-format, safety and sanitisation standards apply to each included drive technology, and which issuing bodies and editions should be recorded?
- What sourced capacity, physical-dimension, power and performance ranges are useful for the included drive families without implying universal limits?
- Which technology-specific diagnostic indicators and handling procedures can support decisions reliably, especially when interface bridges hide commands or health information?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q25399170/spec.json