High Sierra Format (HSF) is the early logical file system used for CD-ROMs in 1985/1986. The later ECMA-119 and ISO 9660 standards are based on revised HSF.
Overview
Compact Discs were originally developed for recording music, but soon were used for recording data as they allowed recording of large amounts of information in a reliable, economic manner.
At first, every CD-ROM maker designed their own method of storing data, as there were no standards except at the very lowest level. There was a need for a stable standard for organizing data on compact disks into logical units such as files.
In order to develop a CD-ROM file system standard (Z39.60 - Volume and File Structure of CDROM for Information Interchange), the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) set up Standards Committee SC EE (Compact Disc Data Format) since July 1985.
In September/October 1985 several companies invited experts to participate in the development of a working paper for such a standard.
In November 1985, representatives of 12 computer hardware manufacturers gathered at the High Sierra Hotel and Casino (currently called the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino) near Lake Tahoe, California. This group became known as the High Sierra Group (HSG).
Present at the meeting were representatives from the following companies:
The meeting report was built upon the Yellow Book CD-ROM standard for data CDs, which itself was so open ended it would otherwise lead to diversification and creation of many incompatible data storage methods. The High Sierra Group Proposal (HSGP) was released in May 1986.
A draft version was submitted to the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA). With changes this led to the issue of the initial edition of the ECMA-119 standard in December 1986. The ECMA submitted their standard for fast tracking to the International Standards Organization (ISO), where it was further refined to become ISO 9660. For compatibility the second edition of ECMA-119 was adjusted to become equivalent with ISO 9660 in December 1987. ISO 9660:1988 was published in 1988. The creation of ECMA-119 and ISO 9660 was needed because the HSF was geared primarily towards the needs of the US market. The international extensions are the bulk of the differences between the formats.
In order not to create incompatibilities, NISO had suspended further work on Z39.60, which had been adopted by NISO members on 28 May 1987. It was finally withdrawn before approval in favour of ISO 9660.