<s>
Hardcard	B-Device
is	O
the	O
genericized	O
trademark	O
for	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
disk	B-General_Concept
controller	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
host	B-Architecture
adapter	I-Architecture
on	O
an	O
expansion	B-Device
card	I-Device
for	O
a	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
(	O
HDD	O
)	O
installs	O
into	O
a	O
drive	B-Device
bay	I-Device
;	O
cables	O
connect	O
the	O
drive	O
to	O
a	O
host	B-Architecture
adapter	I-Architecture
and	O
power	O
source	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
lacks	O
an	O
available	O
bus	B-General_Concept
on	O
a	O
compatible	O
host	B-Architecture
adapter	I-Architecture
,	O
then	O
one	O
may	O
have	O
to	O
install	O
an	O
adapter	O
into	O
an	O
expansion	B-Device
slot	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Hardcard	B-Device
supplies	O
its	O
own	O
host	B-Architecture
adapter	I-Architecture
,	O
and	O
does	O
n't	O
require	O
an	O
empty	O
drive	B-Device
bay	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Plus	O
Development	O
,	O
a	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
Quantum	O
Corporation	O
,	O
developed	O
the	O
first	O
ISA	B-Architecture
Hardcard	B-Device
,	O
and	O
released	O
it	O
in	O
October	O
1985	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
has	O
been	O
used	O
generically	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
any	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
on	O
a	O
card	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Plus	O
Development	O
invested	O
their	O
efforts	O
in	O
developing	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
that	O
the	O
average	O
computer	O
owner	O
could	O
install	O
easily	O
without	O
much	O
technical	O
knowledge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1985	O
,	O
Plus	O
Development	O
had	O
engineered	O
their	O
first	O
Hardcard	B-Device
;	O
it	O
had	O
a	O
10	O
megabyte	O
(	O
MB	O
)	O
capacity	O
;	O
its	O
suggested	O
retail	O
price	O
was	O
$	O
1,095	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
mid-1980s	O
,	O
hard	B-Device
drives	I-Device
were	O
as	O
small	O
as	O
1.6inches	O
tall	O
,	O
but	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
fit	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
ISA	B-Architecture
PC	O
card	O
expansion	B-Device
slot	I-Device
a	O
custom	O
one-inch	O
thick	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
had	O
to	O
be	O
designed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Having	O
spent	O
$15	O
million	O
on	O
the	O
project	O
,	O
Plus	O
Development	O
started	O
shipping	O
Hardcard	B-Device
in	O
October	O
1985	O
,	O
and	O
trademarked	O
the	O
Hardcard	B-Device
brand	O
in	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Hardcard	B-Device
provided	O
the	O
computer	O
industry	O
with	O
the	O
first	O
one-inch-thick	O
HDD	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
an	O
interface	O
and	O
form	O
factor	O
only	O
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
full	O
length	O
card	O
slot	O
of	O
the	O
ISA	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
first	O
introduced	O
with	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
sources	O
inside	O
the	O
company	O
during	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
Hardcard	B-Device
claim	O
it	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
HDD	O
controller	O
integrated	O
into	O
the	O
drive	O
printed	O
circuit	O
board	O
,	O
Xebec	O
,	O
a	O
HDD	O
controller	O
manufacturer	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
,	O
had	O
already	O
done	O
that	O
with	O
their	O
Owl	O
product	O
around	O
August	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
a	O
complete	O
5.25inch	O
half-height	B-Device
HDD	O
with	O
an	O
integrated	O
controller	O
and	O
drive	O
electronics	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
printed	O
circuit	O
board	O
with	O
a	O
SASI	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
Hardcard	B-Device
,	O
Plus	O
Development	O
continued	O
working	O
on	O
higher	O
capacity	O
hard	B-Device
drives	I-Device
in	O
the	O
same	O
form	O
factor	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
Hardcard	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Hardcard	B-Device
II	O
and	O
Hardcard	B-Device
II	O
XL	O
were	O
advertised	O
with	O
effective	O
access	O
times	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
the	O
disk	O
cache	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Hardcard	B-Device
II	O
listed	O
both	O
times	O
,	O
but	O
Hardcard	B-Device
II	O
XL	O
only	O
listed	O
the	O
effective	O
access	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Hardcard	B-Device
EZ	O
line	O
returned	O
to	O
listing	O
the	O
access	O
times	O
without	O
the	O
benefit	O
of	O
the	O
cache	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
Hardcard	B-Device
products	O
up	O
to	O
and	O
including	O
Hardcard	B-Device
II	O
XL	O
were	O
produced	O
under	O
the	O
Plus	O
Development	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Hardcard	B-Device
EZ	O
was	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
Quantum	O
name	O
after	O
Quantum	O
absorbed	O
the	O
wholly	O
owned	O
subsidiary	O
Plus	O
Development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
300px300px	O
A	O
generic	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
card	O
from	O
a	O
1993	O
Nortel	O
telephone	O
voice	O
messaging	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
one	O
year	O
of	O
the	O
Plus	O
Development	O
introduction	O
of	O
Hardcard	B-Device
,	O
28	O
companies	O
had	O
released	O
similar	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
that	O
time	O
,	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
other	O
products	O
were	O
using	O
a	O
standard	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
with	O
a	O
1.6-inch	O
height	O
forcing	O
the	O
card	O
to	O
hang	O
over	O
the	O
adjacent	O
PC	O
slot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
was	O
located	O
on	O
the	O
opposite	O
side	O
away	O
from	O
the	O
connector	O
sometimes	O
enabling	O
a	O
short	O
half-length	O
expansion	B-Device
card	I-Device
to	O
be	O
installed	O
in	O
the	O
adjacent	O
slot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
cards	O
were	O
usually	O
described	O
as	O
occupying	O
1.5	O
expansion	B-Device
slots	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Below	O
are	O
some	O
of	O
companies	O
and	O
product	O
names	O
with	O
a	O
similar	O
product	O
to	O
the	O
Plus	B-Device
Hardcard	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tandy	O
offered	O
a	O
proprietary	O
20	O
megabyte	O
hard	B-Device
card	I-Device
for	O
$799	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
8-bit	O
ISA	B-Architecture
slot	I-Architecture
was	O
required	O
to	O
accommodate	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
card	I-Device
,	O
preserving	O
the	O
drive	B-Device
bays	I-Device
for	O
disk	O
drives	O
and	O
CD-ROMs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
many	O
hard	B-Device
cards	I-Device
such	O
as	O
those	O
offered	O
by	O
Plus	O
development	O
were	O
13	O
inches	O
long	O
,	O
and	O
hence	O
were	O
not	O
compatible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hard	B-Device
cards	I-Device
had	O
to	O
be	O
certified	O
as	O
Tandy	O
compatible	O
,	O
meaning	O
they	O
fit	O
in	O
a	O
Tandy	O
1000	O
model	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
SX	O
,	O
TX	O
,	O
SL	O
,	O
and	O
TL	O
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
hard	B-Device
card	I-Device
must	O
be	O
no	O
more	O
than	O
10	O
inches	O
long	O
and	O
use	O
an	O
8-bit	O
ISA	B-Architecture
interface	O
to	O
work	O
in	O
a	O
Tandy	O
1000	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Tandy	O
1000	O
's	O
60	O
watt	O
power	O
supply	O
is	O
n't	O
sufficient	O
to	O
run	O
some	O
hard	B-Device
cards	I-Device
,	O
so	O
a	O
more	O
power-efficient	O
card	O
is	O
preferable	O
.	O
</s>
