<s>
A	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
hardware	I-Device
emulator	I-Device
or	O
semi-virtual	B-Device
diskette	I-Device
(	O
SVD	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
device	O
that	O
emulates	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
with	O
a	O
solid	O
state	O
or	O
network	O
storage	B-Device
device	I-Device
that	O
is	O
plug	B-Device
compatible	I-Device
with	O
the	O
drive	O
it	O
replaces	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
how	O
solid-state	B-Device
drives	I-Device
replace	O
mechanical	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Older	O
models	O
of	O
computers	O
,	O
electronic	O
keyboards	O
and	O
industrial	O
automation	O
often	O
used	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
for	O
data	O
transfer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Proper	O
operation	O
may	O
require	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
software	O
and	O
data	O
to	O
be	O
read	O
and	O
written	O
from	O
and	O
to	O
floppies	B-Device
,	O
forcing	O
users	O
to	O
maintain	O
floppy	B-Device
drives	I-Device
on	O
supporting	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
and	O
floppy	B-Device
drives	I-Device
are	O
gradually	O
going	O
out	O
of	O
production	O
,	O
and	O
replacement	O
of	O
malfunctioning	O
drives	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
systems	O
hosting	O
them	O
,	O
is	O
becoming	O
increasingly	O
difficult	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
themselves	O
are	O
fragile	O
,	O
or	O
may	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
replaced	O
often	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
alternative	O
is	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
hardware	I-Device
emulator	I-Device
,	O
a	O
device	O
which	O
appears	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
standard	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
to	O
the	O
old	O
equipment	O
by	O
interfacing	O
directly	O
to	O
the	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
controller	I-Device
,	O
while	O
storing	O
data	O
in	O
another	O
medium	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
USB	B-Protocol
thumb	O
drive	O
,	O
Secure	B-Device
Digital	I-Device
card	I-Device
,	O
or	O
a	O
shared	B-General_Concept
drive	I-General_Concept
on	O
a	O
computer	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Emulators	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
higher-performance	O
replacement	O
for	O
mechanical	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
typical	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
controller	I-Device
sends	O
an	O
MFM	B-Protocol
/	O
FM	B-Application
/	O
GCR	B-Device
encoded	O
signal	O
to	O
the	O
drive	O
to	O
write	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
expects	O
a	O
similar	O
signal	O
returned	O
when	O
reading	O
the	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
the	O
interface	O
to	O
the	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
is	O
very	O
low-level	O
,	O
emulators	O
must	O
maintain	O
the	O
approximate	O
timing	O
of	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
operations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
emulator	O
saves	O
the	O
data	O
written	O
to	O
the	O
floppy	B-Device
in	O
either	O
local	O
storage	O
(	O
stand-alone	O
emulators	O
)	O
,	O
or	O
in	O
a	O
remote	O
storage	B-Device
device	I-Device
or	O
data	O
exchange	O
module	O
(	O
stateless	O
emulators	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
emulator	O
can	O
provide	O
other	O
systems	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
data	O
on	O
the	O
emulated	O
floppy	B-Device
in	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
ways	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Direct	O
access	O
to	O
some	O
dedicated	O
disk	B-Application
partition	I-Application
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Floppy	B-Device
file	O
system	O
translation	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
images	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct	O
access	O
and	O
floppy	B-Application
image	I-Application
implementations	O
can	O
also	O
emulate	O
system	O
/	O
non-standard	O
floppies	B-Device
,	O
whose	O
file	O
system	O
ca	O
n't	O
be	O
simply	O
translated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Floppy	B-Application
image	I-Application
implementation	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
coupled	O
with	O
a	O
virtual	B-Application
drive	I-Application
to	O
seamlessly	O
emulate	O
floppy	B-Device
drives	I-Device
on	O
a	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
devices	O
can	O
store	O
multiple	O
floppy	B-Application
images	I-Application
,	O
and	O
provide	O
a	O
mechanism	O
to	O
select	O
which	O
emulated	O
floppy	B-Device
is	O
mounted	O
on	O
the	O
emulated	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
