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Fixed-block architecture
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<p>Fixed-block architecture (FBA) is an IBM term for the <a href="/facts/Hard_disk_drive/kekLSGSE">hard disk drive</a> (HDD) layout in which each addressable <a href="/facts/Block_(data_storage)/S3vT7c6N">block</a> (more commonly, <a href="/facts/Disk_sector/V1R9Ivul">sector</a>) on the disk has the same size, utilizing 4 byte block numbers and a new set of command codes. FBA as a term was created and used by <a href="/facts/IBM/QszA7nwd">IBM</a> for its <a href="/facts/IBM_3310/rot8kJdv">3310</a> and <a href="/facts/IBM_3370/rot8kJdv">3370</a> HDDs beginning in 1979 to distinguish such drives as IBM transitioned away from their variable record size format used on <a href="/facts/IBM_mainframe/0kPkgADx">IBM's mainframe</a> <a href="/facts/History_of_IBM_magnetic_disk_drives/rot8kJdv">hard disk drives</a> beginning in 1964 with its <a href="/facts/System/360/7znvpy4K">System/360</a>. </p>