IBM, also known as International Business Machines Corporation, is a multinational technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911, IBM was a pioneer in the early days of computers and information technology. However, IBM has undergone many transformations over its long history and no longer manufactures computer hardware like hard drives.
IBM’s History with Hard Drives
In the early days of computing, IBM was a leader in the development and manufacturing of hard disk drives. The first hard drive created by IBM was the IBM 350 disk storage unit introduced in 1956. It contained 50 platters that were 24 inches in diameter and could store about 5 million characters of data. During the 1960s and 1970s, IBM continued to release new and improved hard drives for use with its popular System/360 and System/370 mainframe computers.
Some notable IBM hard drives from this era include:
- IBM 2314: Released in 1964, with a capacity of 29 million characters.
- IBM 3330: Released in 1970, with a capacity of 100 million characters.
- IBM 3340: Released in 1973, with a capacity of 35 billion characters.
IBM dominated the hard drive market during the mainframe computer era. However, with the rise of personal computers in the 1980s, the market shifted. IBM adapted by partnering with other companies to manufacture hard drives. In 1985, IBM partnered with storage company Seagate to make hard drives for IBM’s personal computers. Eventually, IBM sold its hard drive manufacturing assets to Hitachi in 2002.
Does IBM Make Hard Drives Today?
Today, IBM no longer manufactures hard disk drives. When IBM sold its hard drive manufacturing business to Hitachi in 2002, it marked the company’s exit from the market. Hitachi has continued production under the Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) brand, which is now a subsidiary of Western Digital.
Instead of manufacturing hardware, IBM now focuses on software, services, cloud computing, and AI. IBM does still produce data storage systems, including flash storage, tape drives, and storage servers. However, they utilize storage components from other vendors rather than manufacturing the drives themselves.
Some of IBM’s current data storage products include:
- IBM FlashSystem: All-flash storage arrays.
- IBM TS1160 Tape Drive: Tape drives for backup and archiving.
- IBM Cloud Object Storage: Cloud storage service.
- IBM Spectrum Storage Suite: Software-defined storage management.
While these IBM storage products do not contain IBM-made hard disk drives, they are still leading enterprise storage solutions. IBM partners closely with top hard drive manufacturers like Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba to incorporate their components into IBM storage systems.
Conclusion
In summary, IBM was once a major manufacturer of hard disk drives during the early days of computers. However, the company exited the hard drive market in 2002 and sold its assets to Hitachi. IBM now focuses on enterprise IT services, software, and cloud computing rather than hardware manufacturing. While IBM no longer makes hard drives, they continue to innovate and offer data storage systems and services by utilizing components from strategic storage partners.