Quantum Bigfoot (hard Drive) - Overview

Overview

The main rationale behind the use of the 5.25-inch form factor was that the typical PC user already owns cases that made provision for 5.25-inch drives, and by using lower data densities and fewer moving parts, Quantum was able to deliver the products at lower prices, thus more competitively.

Initially, performance in the Bigfoot drives generally lagged behind most other drives of the era, but the large data capacities earned inclusion in many OEM PCs such as ones manufactured by Compaq and HP, as well as popularity with the PC enthusiast community. Interestingly, IBM also used Bigfoot drives in some of their Aptiva PCs despite the fact that they were also a major manufacturer of hard drives. Over time the data density (and therefore the overall capacity) of the drives increased, culminating in the 19.2GB Bigfoot TS, easily the largest consumer-grade drive available at its release. A side effect of the increased data density was an increase in speed, moving the Bigfoot to middle-of-the-pack status amongst its contemporaries. Unfortunately, the increased manufacturing cost associated with the higher density also caused an increase in price, moving the Bigfoot towards a premium price-point. Over time, increased prices combined with stiff competition caused sales of the drives to decline, leading to the line being discontinued in the late 1990s.

Bigfoot drives were produced by a variety of different plants in Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and other locations. They were among the first to support Logical Block Addressing (LBA) and Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) monitoring.