hackertube.io

Harder Drive: Hard drives we didn't want or need

suckerpinch · demo · Watch on YouTube

Hardware (other)Networking & internet infrastructureStand-up & sketch comedy

What it is

Tom7 (suckerpinch) builds and evaluates a series of absurd hard drives, including storage made from ping packets across the internet. The video accompanies his paper and mixes deep technical hacking with comedic storytelling.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN treats it as a favorite example of silly but educational computer science, recommended often when threads touch odd storage hacks.

  • 12 people recommended it
  • 9 different months
  • 5 strong recommendations
  • first 2022, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “His Harder Drive paper was amazing”

    Amazing absurd data storage project with a memorable ending.

    shadowgovt, 2022-12 · Strong recommendation · in “I ran the length of every street in Pittsburgh: PAC TOM [video]”

  2. “his style is amazing”

    Block storage built from ping packets, with great storytelling.

    josephg, 2023-02 · Strong recommendation · in “Store files inside of YouTube videos”

  3. “everything on his channel is gold”

    alserio, 2023-07 · Strong recommendation · in “GradIEEEnt half decent: The hidden power of imprecise lines [video]”

  4. “one of my favorite Tom7 videos”

    A favorite Tom7 video; worth strapping in for.

    mk_stjames, 2023-12 · Strong recommendation · in “NASA sends cat video over laser from 80 lunar distances”

  5. “recommend this video to anyone here.”

    Silly computer science that teaches a lot.

    godelski, 2025-03 · Strong recommendation · in “Vramfs: Vram Based Filesystem for Linux”

  6. “I found these esoteric storage methods greatly entertaining as well”

    Entertaining esoteric storage methods.

    Lt_Riza_Hawkeye, 2023-02 · Recommendation · in “Store files inside of YouTube videos”

  7. “Reminds me of Harder Drive by Tom 7”

    Best watched unspoiled; a fun hard-drive hack.

    mtlmtlmtlmtl, 2023-06 · Recommendation · in “Anything can be a message queue if you use it wrongly enough”

  8. “The whole thing is great, but the part relevant to the parent comment starts at 2:31.”

    Whole video is great; a relevant part starts at 2:31.

    cbm-vic-20, 2023-06 · Recommendation · in “Happy 50th Birthday, Ethernet”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: tom7, ping storage, hilbert curve, hacks, humor

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