Isolated shingled bands of fractional tracks

A method comprising:

• formatting a data storage medium to include a plurality of bands, each band including a plurality of tracks configured to store data in a shingled manner;
• formatting a first band of the plurality of bands to include a first circumferential portion of a track to store data;
• formatting a second band of the plurality of bands;
• and
• formatting the data storage medium to include a guard area disposed between the first band and the second band, the guard area including a second circumferential portion of the track as a partial guard track.

An apparatus comprising:

• a disc data storage medium including:
• a plurality of bands, each band having a plurality of data tracks configured to store data in a shingled manner, each data track including a plurality of data sectors;
• a first band of the plurality of bands including a first circumferential portion of a selected track designated for data storage, the first circumferential portion including less than all data sectors of the track;
• and
• a guard area including a number of sectors designated as not writable to isolate all user data writable sectors of the first band from all user data writable sectors of a second band, the guard area including a second circumferential portion of the selected track designated as not writable.