IBM 1301 DISK STORAGE SYSTEM - 1963

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The IBM 1301 Disk Storage Unit was a dual model fixed-disk hard drive system introduced in June of 1963 to connect to the IBM 7000 series mainframes and the IBM 1410 Data Processing System via the IBM 7631 File Control Unit. Like IBM’s previous drives, the IBM 350 (1956) and 1405 (1961) systems, the 1301 used the same twenty-five x 24-inch diameter fixed disk modules, but utilized separate vertically-aligned read/write heads, one per disk surface, rather than the single vertically traveling head of the previous model. This new head design, plus advances in recording technology resulted in storage capacity 13 times higher than the IBM 350 of 1956. The 1301 Model 1 contained a single 25 disk module with a data capacity of 28 MB for the 7000 series mainframes (25 MB with the 1410), while the Model 2 with two stacked modules doubled the capacity of the Model 1. This model represents the IBM 1301 Model 2, along with the IBM 7631 File Control Unit.