What is a Microdrive?

The microdrive is a very small hard disk drive that has a platter size under an inch. The most common form factor is the CompactFlash Type. The form factor terminology can be confusing because the micro drive is not flash memory. It is a true hard drive with a spinning platter and an actuator arm. The continued decline in the cost of flash memory has significantly the narrowed the price gap between flash memory and hard disk drive technology.

The USB thumb drive interface is another popular application for the micro drive. Adding a USB connector makes the drive unit much thicker than it would otherwise be. The PATA interface is also available but the large connector size makes this an unpopular application for this small of a drive.

The small physical dimensions of this disk allow it to overcome some of the physical disadvantages of the larger hard drives. The heads do not have to travel as far to find the next track, and the small platter diameter means that the desired sector will be under the head that much sooner.

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