High Sierra Format (HSF) is the early logical file system used for CD-ROMs. The ISO 9660 standard is based on revised HSF. The HSF standard was created in October 1985 when representatives of 12 computer hardware manufacturers gathered at Del Webb's High Sierra Hotel and Casino (currently called the Horizon Casino) near Lake Tahoe, California. This group became known as the High Sierra Group.
Present at the meeting were representatives from the following companies:
The meeting report was released in May 1986 and as the High Sierra Group proposal was submitted to ECMA. This led to the issue of the ECMA-119 standard in December 1986, later adopted as ISO 9660. [1]
HSF was built upon the Yellow Book 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 creation of 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.
The High Sierra Format was mainly used in the United States. The ISO 9660 format is used globally. Currently the High Sierra Format CDROMs are rare to encounter.