Some time ago I was looking for a sources that would give me in-depth understanding of performance characteristics of large-scale storage. This is the best text on hard disk drives I’ve found so far, explaining details such as various switch times, zoned recording or head skew. It’s almost 20 years old, though, and so misses some developments. I wonder if you know any more modern sources?
When I first read your title, I thought it was “how hard disk drives work” like “Do you know how hard your mom works for you?” And I thought “well yeah, I guess they do work hard, and we kind of take it for granted”. Then I realized I’m an idiot.