In one of my earlier posts, I salvaged two IBM Deskstar 75GXP DTLA-307030 30.7Gb hard drives. One of them was sick – to the point that recovery

Hard Drive Disassembly: The IBM Deathstar

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2025-01-22 10:00:06

In one of my earlier posts, I salvaged two IBM Deskstar 75GXP DTLA-307030 30.7Gb hard drives. One of them was sick – to the point that recovery just wasn’t economical timewise, so I decided to take the opportunity to take it apart and photograph it. Of course, I wasn’t expecting clear glass platters, as this drive didn’t seem too sick, but I wanted to have a chance to show exactly what is inside a modern hard drive.

Hard disk disassembly has been covered to the death online, this is just one more to add to the pile, I guess. The main difference is that this one is written by yours truly, and I’ll do my best to add some commentary along the way. I’ve also used a more decent camera (my Nikon D3200 with Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8) and lighting (fluorescent for focusing, and three flashguns on bounce for the shot).

Drive labelling back then was quite a detailed affair – lots of information there, but most importantly is the November 2000 manufacture date which gives us a reference for its age. While it can be said that it is hardly modern, IBM was at the forefront of hard drive technology back then, and some of their elements will be evident as we take a tour of its innards. The drive itself is made in Hungary, according to its label …