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Definition: ST506
The first hard disk drive for personal computers, introduced in 1979 by Shugart Technology (later Seagate Technology). The smallest disks until then were 8", but the ST506 platters were 5.25". With a storage capacity of 5MB, it transferred data at 625 KBytes/sec using the MFM encoding method. Later, RLL encoding was adopted. For many years, the ST506 interface was used by other disk drive manufacturers. See ST412 and hard disk interfaces.
The ST506
Seagate's ST506 was the first hard disk drive for personal computers. This 5.25" full-height drive held 5MB and became the standard for CP/M machines as well as the IBM PC and its successors. (Image courtesy of Seagate Technology, Inc.)